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Justin Bieber has a New Year’s resolution, and it’s reportedly to become the next pastor of Hillsong, megachurch to the celebs.
According to a source who spoke to OK! magazine, Bieber, who is an active member of the congregation, is studying to become a “full-fledged minister” in 2021.
“Justin has never felt happier or healthier, and he says he owes it to the church,” the source told OK! “[He] doesn’t plan to give up his music career, but he feels there’s a bigger calling out there for him.”
If all goes according to plan, Bieber would be replacing Carl Lentz, his former spiritual advisor with whom he has since had a falling out, for reasons unrelated to what I’m going to say next. Lentz, once the mustachioed face of Hillsong, got ousted from the church earlier this year for “moral failures,” which included cheating on his wife and having multiple affairs. Shortly after these revelations it came out that Hillsong is rife with these sorts of “moral failures” and apparently much worse: In 2018, whistleblowers within the church sent a letter to its leaders alleging “inappropriate sexual behavior amongst staff/interns,” calling Hillsong “a breeding ground for unchecked abuse.”
So one could say Bieber has a lot of spiritual healing to do for this church should he become its new leader, which I suppose is not unlikely but does seem difficult to imagine. But what do I know!
MF Doom, the enigmatic masked rapper known for his intricate rhymes, has died. The news arrived via an Instagram post by the rapper’s wife Jasmine, who wrote that her husband, whose real name is Daniel Dumile, had passed away on October 31. He was 49.
“Thank you for showing how not to be afraid to love and be the best person I could ever be,” she wrote. “My world will never be the same without you.”
Dumile earned a cult following over the course of his music career, and was known for rapping under multiple different aliases and pulling off stunts like having body doubles perform for him. He began rapping with his trademark mask in the late 90s and developed the MF Doom persona out of a desire to “create a character with a complete backstory,” Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote for The New Yorker in 2009.
“I wanted to get onstage and orate, without people thinking about the normal things people think about,” Dumile told Coates at the time. “A visual always brings a first impression. But if there’s going to be a first impression I might as well use it to control the story. So why not do something like throw a mask on?”
Rest in Peace, Doom.
- Jonathan Van Ness revealed that he got married in the caption on an end-of-the-year Instagram slideshow, much like everyone I went to high school with. [Instagram]
- Lori Loughlin would reportedly like to return to acting, now that she’s been released from prison. [Page Six]
- Anyone have any ideas about this apparent Midsommar reference?
Update, 4:44 p.m. EST: It’s been brought to my attention that Hailey Bieber has debunked rumors of her husband studying to be a minister with a comment on one of the Shade Room’s Instagram posts. I look forward to hearing about other, actual dreams and aspirations of Justin’s!