In 2009, he released his debut single, “One Time,” and an EP called My World, which featured hit songs like “One Less Lonely Girl” and “Favorite Girl.” The EP debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard charts, with four of the seven tracks making it onto the Top 100.
By the end of that year, Justin was known across the world and had firmly established himself as a rising star of his generation — and the rest is history.
However, a resurfaced clip from that time shows that he still had his doubters.
In 2009, Canadian TV network CTV sat down with a then-15-year-old Justin to talk about his wild rise to fame, going from a small town in Ontario to the world stage.
In the special, Justin was interviewed by journalist Sandie Rinaldo, who grilled him on his journey to superstardom, asking him to explain why he, specifically, had found such success.
“I think that as a 15-year-old kid, I’m able to … not a lot of kids are able to play as many instruments as I play,” he says in the resurfaced clip, crediting his diverse musical skills and ability to play the drums, piano, guitar, and trumpet. “I’m not trying to be cocky or anything, but I’m able to sing and write music.”
Seemingly disregarding Justin’s explanation, Sandie responds by raising the argument that his success is purely down to marketing.
“Critics will say that you are basically a product of marketing, that when it comes down to it, it’s all the YouTube hype, it’s all the attention you get online,” she says as Justin politely nods. “Do you see yourself as a product of marketing hype?”
In turn, Justin recounts how his YouTube videos garnered the attention of Scooter and subsequently Usher, noting that “everything happened organically” and his rise “wasn’t something that the record label was pushing.”
“It basically happened because my fans liked me,” he says before adding that he felt his small town beginnings also contributed to his global appeal.
“I think that coming from Stratford, Ontario … it basically gave others hope because I come from basically somewhere that nothing really comes from there … like, nobody’s ever come out of Stratford, Ontario, and been ... famous,” he explains.
However, midway through his sentence, the reporter interjects and tells Justin that he is wrong, noting that news anchor Lloyd Robertson is also from Stratford.
In response, Justin politely claps back and reiterates that his point was in reference to “worldwide” levels of fame, implying that Lloyd doesn’t qualify.
Initially, Sandie refuses to agree that he is correct, telling Justin “it’s hard to say” whether he’s right in suggesting that Lloyd’s degree of celebrity isn't comparable to his.
In response to her reluctance, Justin doubles down and puts his claim to the test, asking whether she thinks Lloyd would be known in “a little town in Germany,” to which Sandie says, “Probably not, because he anchors the national news in Canada.”
Finally she admits defeat and comes to partially acknowledge Justin’s valid argument: “So you’re saying you’ve got international appeal — that’s the point you’re making?”
In reply, Justin grins and says, “Yes, ma’am.”
Now, amid a viral trend in which X users share celebrity interview clips that live “rent free” in their minds, the video of Justin’s clapback has gained a lot of attention over the weekend, amassing nearly 24 million views on a single post.
In response to the resurfaced interview, fans have criticized Sandie’s condescending tone and attempts to seemingly humble Justin — who was a literal child at the time.
“She…why was she talking to a child like this?” someone wrote in response, echoed by others who described her approach to the interview as “hostile” and “weird.”
“Right. This grown woman is so weird for this. Why is she speaking to a child like this?” added someone else, highlighting that Justin was an “international superstar” at the time. “No one cared about some local reporter who came from Canada. 😭😭”
Right. This grown woman is so weird for this. Why is she speaking to a child like this? Justin Bieber is an international superstar. No one cared about some local reporter who came from Canada. 😭😭
Elsewhere, others said Sandie was acting out of “jealousy,” accusing her of being “bitter” and “pressing a then 15 year old kid for coming up in the industry.”
I actually respect JB now, woah. That reviewer was really nasty. Jealousy is a hell of a drug.
— b a n a f s h e h *-* بنفشه 🐑 (@banafsheh_esma) October 22, 2023
Interestingly, the clip also raised comments about the “nasty” way Justin was treated by the media more generally in the early years of his career.
“no cuz he really went through so much as a kid in the industry and on top of that being bullied by everyone [completely] breaks my heart....,” someone wrote, garnering more than 14,000 likes.
no cuz he really went through so much as a kid in the industry and on top of that being bullied by everyone comfortably breaks my heart....
However, the main response to the resurfaced interview was praise for Justin’s measured response to the journalist as he stood his ground, with the original post saying that he “politely ate her up.”
“Bro was mature early in his mind,” someone said, as others hailed his “wildly articulate” response for a teen.
