Thrust into the limelight at an early age, Justin Bieber was the perfect example of a child star who needed his parents to step up and guide him.
While his mother Pattie Mallette was by his side, she’s admitted she found the task of signing Justin’s legal documents as his career took off and making decisions for him ‘daunting’ and felt out of her depth.
Meanwhile, Pattie – who gave birth to her son at a home for teenager mothers a month before her 19th birthday – has described in detail her tumultuous relationship with his father, Jeremy, who was not exactly the doting dad Justin needed during his critical years.
Jeremy has been described as a ‘deadbeat father’ who only resurfaced when Justin became successful, although Pattie has defended her former partner, insisting that he had ‘worked at becoming a better father’ before their son found fame.
She admits, however, that Jeremy struggled with substance abuse issues, was in jail the day Justin was born, and was in and out of his life as he grew up after walking out when he was a baby, taking all their furniture.
Jeremy’s parenting decisions have been thrust into the limelight again this week, after MailOnline revealed that he runs an Instagram account that posts bikini pictures of the star’s six-year-old sister – which has attracted thousands of male followers and disturbing comments.
It’s perhaps no wonder, then, that fans have questioned if Justin’s trajectory would have been different if he’d had a consistent guiding hand from his father.
When Justin signed his first record deal in 2008, he was left potentially vulnerable to some of the industry’s most dangerous and predatory stars – with his friendship with P Diddy now under renewed scruntiny amid allegations of sex trafficking and racketeering offenses against the rapper.
Just a year after being signed to Island Records, a 15-year-old Justin spent a now-infamous 48-hour period with Diddy seemingly unsupervised at the rapper’s home, where they went ‘full buck crazy’.
Fans have now questioned why his parents didn’t intervene. However, when Jeremy was in contact with his son, he too led him astray.
In 2014, Jeremy guided Justin, then 19, as he drag raced a Lamborghini in a residential street while allegedly under the influence of drink and drugs, which ended with the teen star being arrested.
Justin Bieber, 30, needed his parents more than ever at the time he was thrust into the spotlight as a teenager (pictured in 2011 with his mum Pattie, dad Jeremy and half sister Jazmyn)
Two years later, fans were disgusted when Jeremy bragged about his son’s penis size on social media when nude photos of Justin leaked.
While most father’s provide for their teenage sons, the roles were reversed in Justin’s household and he became the one to fund Jeremy’s lifestyle, paying Jeremy a ‘$50,000 a month living allowance’, which he blew on boozy bashes.
Despite their history, the popstar has always wanted to have a tight-knit relationship with his father.
He’s spoken about how he became closer to his father than his mother, and maintains a relationship with Jeremy’s children, his half siblings.
Here, MailOnline delves into the complex relationship between father and son.
While his mother Pattie Mallette took charge of signing Justin’s legal documents as his career took off, his father Jeremy wasn’t exactly the doting dad he needed during his critical years
Jeremy’s life before Justin was born
Jeremy and Pattie, who were just teenagers when Justin was born in 1994, barely just got out of high school when they realised they had the future king of pop on the way.
The two youngsters were never married and called it quits on their relationship just a few months after Justin was born.
Other rumours claimed Jeremy had addiction problems and was involved with fight clubs and mixed martial arts fighting.
According to reports, Jeremy spent time in prison when he was 22 due to non-compliance with the probation terms imposed on him.
On the day his son was born, Jeremy was in the county jail for getting into a fight – and remained there for the first 11 days of Justin’s life.
There is no official recording of Jeremy’s time in jail at the time of Justin’s birth – although records are expunged after a certain period of time in Canada.
But he has got other offenses on his rap sheet. In 1997 he was convicted of assault and sentenced to 90 days in prison.
Two years later he spent another 21 days in jail after violating his probation. He was also convicted of a second probation violation at the same time.
Then in January 2004 he was charged with assault again, but the case was dismissed.
As Pattie become more of a manager than a mother and his father was hardly present in his upbringing, it potentially steered Justin into a path of some of the industry’s most dangerous and predatory stars
When Justin signed his first record deal with Usher ‘s label in 2008, Jeremy was in and out his life – leaving a naïve Justin even more vulnerable
Jeremy has been described as a deadbeat father who only resurfaced at the peak of Justin’s fame and success (Justin and Jeremy seen in 2016 at a party in Toronto)
Pattie opened up in detail about her and Jeremy in her memoir Nowhere But Up: The Story Of Justin Bieber’s Mom in 2012.
Aged 15, Pattie was raped by a boy her age she met at a party, shortly before getting together with Justin’s father Jeremy – a four-year on and off relationship she admits was ‘doomed from the start’.
By the age of 16 Jeremy was already attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but found it hard to stick to the 12-step program and would fly into a rage when drunk and accuse her of cheating.
‘The majority of our on-again, off-again four-year relationship would be unhealthy, suffocated by mind games and distorted by insecurities,’ she recalled.
Aged 17, she tried to take her own life by stepping in front of an oncoming truck after yet another row with Jeremy, who threatened to expose her darkest secrets.
‘In that moment all I could hear was a threat that cut to the deepest part of my core. All I felt was darkness. Pure, utter darkness,’ she said.
Luckily, the driver swerved and her life was spared – though she was admitted to the psych ward in Stratford General Hospital, where she found her faith in God for the first time.
After leaving hospital, she did her best to distance herself from her old partying lifestyle, but there was a shock in store.
At a routine gynecologists appointment, Pattie discovered she was pregnant with Jeremy’s baby.
Her mother told her she was done raising children, and Pattie had to leave home.
Jeremy throughout Justin’s early life
In Justin’s early years, it appears Jeremy was only around periodically while he lived with his mother Pattie.
While Jeremy was in an out his life, he did in fact teach Justin how to play songs on his guitar – which could have led to his interest in music.
Later in life, Justin spoke of the small, but vital part his father had impacted his life when he would see him.
He said: ‘I have a great relationship with my dad. When I was younger, he taught me how to play some songs on the guitar, like ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ by Bob Dylan.
‘He taught me how to drive, too. He’s cool.’
In 2015, Justin admitted Jeremy had not been around for a whole year when he was just four-years-old.
And when Jeremy has have been in contact with his son, he has often steered Justin astray (Justin pictured in 2009)
In 2014, Jeremy guided Justin in a drag race in a residential street which saw the teen star at the time get arrested (Justin’s arrest handout photo)
While most father’s provide for their teenage sons, the roles were reversed in Justin’s household as he would be the one to fuel Jeremy’s lifestyle (Justin pictured in 2011)
He told Billboard: ‘He was immature. He left for like a year when I was about 4, went to British Columbia, came back on Father’s Day.’
Justin has often defended his father’s parenting style, insisting he has been around more than people think.
The hitmaker – who lived with his mother Pattie growing up – previously shared that Jeremy would look after Justin on weekends and Wednesdays.
Before Jeremy and Pattie split, the couple got engaged after years of being in an on-off relationship.
During their engagement, Jeremy moved back into Pattie’s apartment and were besotted by their little family of three.
But their future marriage got called off quickly as Pattie learned of Jeremy’s infidelity again – which led her to call off the engagement.
When Pattie forced Jeremy to move out after she found out he cheated on her, she came back to her apartment one day to find everything completely gone.
She recalled in her memoir: ‘I came back to my apartment the next day. It was practically empty. Jeremy had taken all the furniture out of the house, leaving Justin and me with just a television. ‘
Jeremy throughout Justin’s teens
Jeremy’s little play in Justin’s had a part to play in his path to a whirlwind life of fame.
Just a year after being signed to Island Records, a 15-year-old Justin spent a now-infamous 48-hour period with Diddy seemingly unsupervised at the rapper’s home, where they went ‘full buck crazy’.
Sean Diddy Combs has now been charged with a host of sex trafficking and racketeering offenses with upwards of 120 alleged victims already coming forward, with the rapper’s relationships with Usher and Justin coming under renewed scrutiny in the wake of the allegations. Diddy denies the claims.
Justin himself, a new father to Jack Blues with wife Hailey, is said to feel ‘disgusted’ by the allegations against Diddy and wants ‘nothing to do with’ him.
Questions have been raised about how such a doting mother and father could leave their only son in such a vulnerable position and allow Diddy to become a ‘mentor-like’ figure to him.
Sources close to Justin exclusively told the Daily Mail that he ‘should never have been allowed to party with Diddy or anyone else when he was a teen.’
They claim he was ‘thrown to the wolves’ by his mother and largely absent father.
There is no evidence to suggest Justin’s parents, Usher, or Reid knew about Diddy’s alleged criminal activity at the time.
While Justin was raised by his mother, he and Pattie were estranged for two years as Justin made headlines for poor public behavior.
The star confessed to Billboard their relationship was ‘pretty nonexistent’ and he distanced himself from his mother because he was ashamed of himself.
During this time Justin seemed to have become closer to his dad, as he told GQ in 2016 that he was ‘a lot closer to my dad than I am to my mom’ at the time.
However, before Justin and Jeremy fixed their relationship a lot that has happened indicates the type of father he really is.
Two years later, fans were disgusted when Jeremy bragged about his son’s penis size on social media when nude photos of Justin leaked
Justin would pay Jeremy a ‘$50,000 a month living allowance’, which he blew on boozy bashes
Despite Jeremy’s poor upbringing of Justin, the popstar has always wanted to have a tight-nit relationship with his father regardless of the bad choices he has made
In 2011, when Justin was just 16-years-old, he and Jeremy got matching tattoos on their ribs.
The pair had the word ‘Yeshua,’ – which many believe to be Jesus’ Hebrew or Aramaic name – is etched onto the left side of their torsos.
The name Yeshua frequently appears in the Hebrew Bible to describe Joshua the High Priest.
At the time of Justin’s drag race arrest, Justin was apparently ‘crying his eyes out’ in his orange prison-issue jumpsuit as the stark reality of his situation sank in.
Justin, 19, had also been drinking underage with Jeremy the night before — the legal age limit in Florida is 21.
Jeremy reportedly arranged for his entourage to use their cars to block off the street so the racing could go ahead.
The day after Justin was released from custody on a $2,500 bond, the father and son pair were pictured out partying.
And then on January 31 in 2015, Jeremy was present again when his son was accused of smoking marijuana on a private flight and verbally abusing a flight attendant.
In March 2014, Justin’s jail-bird father was pictured partying in a grass skirt and comedy wig at the luxury mansion bought for him by his superstar son, who was also paying him the whopping $50,000-a-month allowance.
Jeremy posed for the snaps at one of the regular, wild blow-outs held at his $850,000 ranch in Stratford, Canada at the time.
He would often invite friends round to the house for the boozy bashes – which were sometimes attended by Justin as well.
After nude photos of Justin leaked online in 2016, Jeremy jokes about his sons penis size and wrote on Twitter ‘My boy’ alongside a cactus emoji.
Nowadays
Justin, who now has a stronger bond with Jeremy, previously told Billboard in 2015 that his dad was ‘not in a place where he could raise a kid.’
The star added: ‘He was immature. He left for like a year when I was about four, went to British Columbia, came back on Father’s Day.’
Despite his absence during Justin’s former years, the star confirmed he has been involved in his life since he was about five.
Justin explained: ‘I remember my mom said, “If you’re going to be here, you have to be here.” There’s a misconception that he’s this deadbeat dad, but he has been in my life since. I was with him on weekends and Wednesdays.’
The pair often feature on each other’s Instagram accounts, and in December 2017 Justin declared his love for his dad as he opened up about their growing relationship.
He added: ‘I️ love continuing to get to know my father I️ love working through hard things to get to the good things.. relationships are worth fighting for especially with family!! Love you forever and always daddy!’
Jeremy’s little play in Justin’s had a part to play in his path to a whirlwind life of fame (pictured with P Diddy in 2010)
Justin himself, a new father to Jack Blues with wife Hailey, is said to feel ‘ disgusted’ by the allegations against Diddy and wants ‘nothing to do with’ him
While Justin was raised by his mother, he and Pattie (pictured) were estranged for two years as Justin made headlines for poor public behavior
Justin has often defended his father’s parenting style, insisting he has been around more than people think
Justin, who now has a stronger bond with Jeremy, previously told Billboard in 2015 that his dad was ‘not in a place where he could raise a kid’
Pattie insists that contrary to some reports, Jeremy didn’t just show up again when Justin became famous – she recalled in her memoir.
‘Today, Jeremy is a totally different person than he was when Justin was a baby,’ she said. ‘He has changed in many ways for the better. Being a father is his first priority. It’s evident in the way he is a full-time parent to his two younger children (from another relationship) and to Justin. I’m proud of what a great dad he has become.’
In a sweet Father’s day post in 2022, Justin wrote: ‘Love you pops! Happy Father’s Day! So much to look forward to. Best is still ahead of us! Honored to be your son.’
Jeremy is also a father to four other children, daughter Jazmyn and son Jaxon with his ex Erin Wagner, and daughter Bay with his wife Chelsey Rebelo.
He is also stepdad to Chelsey’s daughter Allie from a previous relationship.
Jeremy and Chelsey tied the knot in 2016 and Justin served as a groomsman at the pair’s nuptials.
In June 2023, Jeremy’s behaviour hit headlines again after he posted an ‘offensive’ message about Pride Month on Twitter.
The post read: ‘Don’t forget to thank a straight person this month for your existence’.
He later apologised for the tweet as he explained: ‘My post was to acknowledge families, that’s it! and before you say I abandoned my son, move on! that’s an old narrative pushed!
‘Its ridiculous and didn’t happen. Now my delivery may have been poor but it was not to be hateful or homophobic.’
At the start of Pattie’s memoir, she claimed she and Jeremy had a ‘particularly difficult relationship’ growing up before Justin was born, but insisted that he had ‘changed’ from his past.
‘You’ll see that Jeremy and I had a particularly difficult relationship. We were both young and immature when we were together.
‘And I especially want you to know that just as I have changed, Jeremy has too, and he is a different man than he once was. I’m proud of how far he has come as a man and as a father. Today, I consider him a friend.’
