Gene Simmons has urged Justin Bieber to “get a life” and enjoy his “white privilege”.
The Kiss musician weighed in on the controversy surrounding Justin’s decision to call time on his Purpose World Tour with 14 dates to go. Despite Justin posting a lengthy statement on Instagram explaining the move and telling fans he had done it in order to stay “sustainable”, Gene isn’t convinced by the explanation.
Asked by TMZ what he thought about the tour cancellation, Gene told Justin to “get a life. You don’t have to worry about anything. You’re rich. In case you didn’t notice, you’re white. You’ve got white privilege… You have nothing to complain about.”
The 67-year-old singer added to the gossip website that he doesn’t wish Justin any harm though, and believes he won’t have any trouble moving on from the scandal, adding: “He’s young; he’s got lots of fans.”
Justin attempted to set the record straight about the reasons he had axed the remaining tour dates in a lengthy message on social media last week.
“Me taking this time right now is me saying I want to be SUSTAINABLE,” he wrote. “I want my career to be sustainable, but I also want my mind heart and soul to be sustainable. So that I can be the man I want to be, the husband I eventually want to be and the father I want to be.”
Justin continued the post to tell his followers that their support has been what has kept him going over the past few, tough weeks.
“Im grateful for the tours but most of all I am grateful i get to go through this life WITH YOU!” he wrote. “Learning and growing hasn’t always been easy but knowing I im not alone has kept me going. I have let my insecurities get the best of me at times… Im VERY aware i’m never gonna be perfect, and I’m gonna keep making mistakes, but what I’m gonna do is let my past dictate my future (sic).”