TOM LEONARD: Why those who care about Justin Bieber fear that being plunged into Diddy's sleazy world at just 15 left psychological scars he carries to this day

A sixth wedding day would usually beryllium a origin of joyousness and laughter. But erstwhile Justin and Hailey Bieber emerged from the Los Angeles edifice wherever they had been celebrating theirs connected Monday night, they looked similar they were leaving a funeral.

As his exemplary wife, dressed down successful jeans and baggy jumper, walked respective paces up of him, staring fixedly astatine the floor, the 30-year-old popular superstar followed behind, looking tense, his eyes and look hidden down acheronian glasses and a shot cap.

How antithetic from a twelvemonth agone erstwhile they released loving photos of 1 different amid communal expressions of devotion online.

One crushed for their drained quality could beryllium the sleepless nights experienced by truthful galore caller parents – the commencement of the couple's archetypal kid Jack Blues Bieber was announced successful August – but galore fishy that they whitethorn person been nether strain since Bieber's person and mentor, the euphony mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs, was engulfed by a enactment and maltreatment scandal.

Last month, Diddy was sensationally charged with racketeering, 'sex trafficking by force, fraud oregon coercion' and 'transportation to prosecute successful prostitution'.

Since then, scores of accusers – antheral arsenic good arsenic pistillate and including a lad arsenic young arsenic 9 – person travel guardant to accidental Combs, 54, sexually abused them, often successful speech for a committedness to beforehand their euphony careers.

When Canadian Bieber exploded connected to the popular satellite aged 15, helium was taken successful manus by Combs and by R&B prima Usher, who owed his ain vocation successful ample measurement to Combs.

Bieber was inactive a teen erstwhile helium started going to Combs's parties and, arsenic precocious arsenic past year, collaborated connected songs for the rapper's caller album, inactive calling him his 'brother'.

He has yet to remark publically connected the stunning charges against his aged person – charges that Combs denies – amid claims by insiders helium has unopen himself disconnected from the extracurricular satellite to unrecorded successful a 'baby bubble'.

However, his soundlessness has done thing to quell fevered speculation that the popular icon's intelligence issues whitethorn not beryllium unconnected with his narration with Combs.

While determination is nary proposition that Bieber is 1 of Combs's alleged victims, fewer would see the tutelage of a suspected abuser to beryllium an perfect spot to turn up.

'Beliebers', arsenic hardcore fans are known, person been picking done his vocation – from the songs he's sung to the interviews he's fixed – for immoderate signs of specified trauma.

He's surely touched connected the difficulties – peculiarly the isolation – faced by young stars successful songs specified arsenic 2021's Lonely successful which helium sings: 'What if you had it each / With no-one to telephone / Then you'd cognize me.'

Some fans judge the video for different of his hits, Yummy, contains hidden references to Diddy's celebrated 'white parties'.

Meanwhile, different opus that has gone viral connected societal media is 1 successful which Bieber sings: 'Lost myself astatine a Diddy enactment / Didn't cognize that's however it goes / I was successful it for a caller Ferrari / But it outgo maine mode much than my soul' appears to person been a clever fake created with artificial intelligence.

Old videos of Bieber and Combs unneurotic person besides been wide shared by those looking for telling evidence.

Some reason that the precocious Bieber should person been amended protected by his parents – a dysfunctional brace who allowed their lad to plunge into an big satellite wherever alleged abusers could enactment without compunction.

In 1 present notorious encounter, erstwhile Bieber was 15 and starting to go famous, Combs, 24 years older, proclaims: 'He's having 48 hours with Diddy, wherever we hanging retired and what we're doing we can't truly disclose. But it's decidedly a 15-year-old's dream.'

Asked what helium wants to bash with a antheral who has promised they're 'gonna spell subordinate fool crazy', Bieber tells his friend, 'Let's spell get immoderate girls', to which Combs replies: 'Man aft my heart. That's what I'm talking about.'

However, successful different enactment reportedly recorded the pursuing year, Bieber looks acold much uncomfortable with Combs, who chides him for supposedly keeping his region and not 'calling maine and hanging retired the mode we utilized to bent out'. Bieber seems to suggest that his 'business partners' kept them apart.

Hindsight is simply a fantastic thing. At the time, cipher questioned wherefore a antheral pushing 40 wanted to 'hang out' with a 15-year-old – as, of course, fewer did erstwhile alleged paedophile Michael Jackson (a prima who Combs erstwhile admitted was his 'dream collaboration') surrounded himself with prepubescent boys.

Videos are besides circulating of Bieber and Combs dancing astatine what look to beryllium 2 abstracted Diddy parties, though neither was 1 of the stomach-churning 'freak-off' orgies astatine the centre of the transgression charges against the older star.

Unsurprisingly, Bieber fans person besides drawn attraction to a 2020 interrogation successful which Bieber became tearful portion describing however he'd wanted to support Gen Z superstar vocalist Billie Eilish from the excesses of the euphony industry.

'I don't privation her to spell done thing I went through. I don't privation that upon anybody,' helium said. 'It was bad... it was dark. Think astir however young I was and truthful impressionable... I conscionable privation radical to recognize the science of wherefore I perchance could person problems successful my life.'

Insiders adjacent to Bieber person insisted helium was wholly 'thrown' by the transgression charges against Combs. They adhd that the claims person caused him sizeable accent and symptom astatine a clip erstwhile helium was trying to ore connected household life.

'Justin feels similar determination is nary 1 helium tin speech to that understands and, to beryllium honest, helium doesn't adjacent afloat understand,' a root told MailOnline. 'He was a kid.'

But the accusations against Combs get worse by the day. Prosecutors successful New York, wherever helium is being held successful a notoriously-unpleasant detention centre, assertion helium orchestrated 'a transgression enterprise' that engaged successful enactment trafficking, drugs offences, forced labour, arson, bribery, kidnapping and decades of carnal maltreatment against women dating backmost to 2008.

It's alleged that Combs would not lone unit women to instrumentality portion successful his 'freak-off' enactment marathons with prostitutes but grounds them, truthful helium could usage the footage arsenic leverage against participants.

Some of his accusers assertion Combs would spike the drinks of radical helium wanted for his freak-offs with a cocktail of drugs that included cocaine, Viagra and the equine tranquilliser ketamine.

Jaguar Wright, a vocalist and songwriter, has sensationally claimed Combs managed to merchantability a video of assorted celebrities taking portion successful freak-offs for $500million connected the acheronian web, though determination is nary grounds specified a portion exists.

Ariel Mitchell-Kidd, a lawyer for 1 of Combs's accusers, says a pornographic video of Combs with an adjacent much celebrated personage – who she didn't place – is being 'shopped around' Hollywood.

Combs's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura has accused the rapper of subjecting her to carnal and intersexual maltreatment including beating her and forcing her to person enactment with a succession of antheral prostitutes portion helium filmed. He apologised for a carnal battle which took spot successful 2016 but 'vehemently denies' each different allegations

However, it wasn't conscionable women who were allegedly the entity of Combs's intersexual predations. His erstwhile grounds producer, Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones, is besides suing him for intersexual assault.

At a property league connected Tuesday, matters became immeasurably much superior for Combs erstwhile Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee announced helium is representing 120 further accusers who accidental the prima sexually abused them betwixt 1991 and today.

They see 25 radical who were under-age astatine the time, including a nine-year-old lad and different boys who were arsenic young arsenic 14 and 15.

The nine-year-old claims helium was taken to an audition astatine Combs's, Bad Boy Records company, successful New York, wherever – according to his ineligible assertion – 'This idiosyncratic was sexually abused allegedly by Sean Combs and respective different radical astatine the workplace successful the committedness to some his parents and to him himself of getting a grounds deal.'

'Other boys were determination to audition arsenic well,' said Buzbee. 'All of them were trying to onshore a grounds deal. All of them were minors.'

Combs's lawyer, Erica Wolff, says that her lawsuit 'emphatically and categorically denies arsenic mendacious and defamatory immoderate assertion that helium sexually abused anyone, including minors'.

Bieber wasn't the lone young personage befriended by Combs, who has been accused of trying hard to pull the celebrated to his parties successful bid to summation an aura of respectability. This week, Christopher Andersen, a biographer of King Charles, said Diddy attempted to invitation princes William and Harry to his 'wild' parties successful their bachelor days but, acknowledgment to their 'palace handlers', those invitations were 'wisely turned down'.

Sadly, it appears Bieber had nary specified handlers looking retired for his interests. His emergence from impoverished obscurity successful Ontario to go 1 of the biggest euphony artists was meteoric – his debut medium topped the US charts successful 2010 erstwhile helium had conscionable turned 16.

But the young Justin's representation arsenic a squeaky-clean, God-fearing, boy-next-door teen idol would soon beryllium swept distant arsenic helium went spectacularly disconnected the rails and his backstage beingness descended into chaos.

In 2014, Bieber – down the instrumentality of a yellowish Lamborghini – was arrested for driving nether the power of intoxicant and drugs aft constabulary halted a chaotic pre-dawn contention connected the streets of Miami Beach. It was conscionable 1 among myriad accusations of obnoxious and anti-social behaviour.

In 2019, helium went connected societal media to situation Tom Cruise to a fight.

His parents, who divided up erstwhile helium was a baby, person been accused of failing to adequately support their son.

Mother Pattie reportedly supplied Bieber with immoderate of the medicine drugs helium abused successful his younker and sat successful connected interviews astatine which helium was asked wholly inappropriate questions astir his enactment beingness erstwhile helium was inactive a minor.

Father Jeremy really helped his lad artifact disconnected the Miami thoroughfare connected which helium conducted his amerciable resistance contention successful 2014 and 2 years aboriginal responded to bare pictures of Bieber appearing online, by commenting: 'He's a beaut.'

Nevertheless, Bieber present enjoys a affirmative narration with some his parents.

And Bieber Sr is not the lone 1 who's been accused of queasily exploiting the enactment entreaty of the baby-faced, mop-topped teen.

A compilation video shared wide connected societal media this week shows assorted examples of seemingly uncomfortable moments for Bieber successful those years.

They see Katy Perry touching his bottom, James Corden gushing implicit his smell, Ellen DeGeneres showing a bare representation of him connected her chat amusement and histrion Jenny McCarthy grabbing him connected signifier astatine an awards ceremonial and forcibly kissing him.

'Wow I consciousness violated close now,' helium told the audience.

In different instance, a pistillate vigor big asked him to speech astir sex. 'I really, I consciousness uncomfortable close now,' helium replied. 'Why bash you privation to cognize the enactment speech from a 15-year-old boy? That's beauteous weird.'

Also 'weird' was a cryptic societal media video precocious enactment retired by Bieber's father-in-law, histrion Stephen Baldwin, successful which helium said: 'There's a calm and past a tempest and past different calm, and successful that second calm is the mentation for... the adjacent storm.'

Many judge helium was referring to Justin Bieber but, if so, what calm and what storm?