Sorry ‘Beliebers’: Your Favorite Pop Star Might Be Getting Deported

Image: NRK P3 via Flickr CC

By now you’ve probably heard about the newest scandal surrounding pop star Justin Bieber. If you’ve been lucky enough to evade the barrage of news reports on the issue, a brief recap: Bieber was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida last week after getting busted for drag racing in the early hours of the morning. The singer was subsequently charged with a DUI, resisting arrest, and having an expired driver’s license, details The Hollywood Reporter. And the latest news? Due to a major petition to deport Bieber, signed by more than 100,000 people, the White House is now reportedly being forced to issue a response.

It seems like it was just yesterday that Justin Bieber emerged on the music scene. You remember, right? The wholesome, young singer with the signature long blond ‘do delighted tweens worldwide, gaining fame as rapidly, and mysteriously, as his entrance into pop stardom. Fast forward to 2014: Bieber joins the brigade of young stars that are caught acting publicly reckless, erratic, and, as many have pointed out, coddled by the limelight. Miley Cyrus, Brittney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Amanda Bynes have all been part of this media-spun “downward spiral” of young stars. And really, it’s like what they say about car crashes, you just can’t look away.

From a legal standpoint, there just isn’t any chance that Bieber would get deported from the United States for a DUI offense, or any of his other crimes, and as legal analyst Kendall Coffey points out, Bieber’s charges make him both “a lawyer’s dream and a lawyer’s nightmare.” Miami-based Coffey also explains that Bieber’s case will stir up a lot of public scrutiny. “On the one hand, you don’t want to punish him worse than some crazy kid from a local junior college,” Coffey told Steve Malzberg on Newsmax TV. “On the other hand you don’t want the public to think, yeah, the rich people can drive like crazy and get away with it.”

Obviously, the public is already very much invested in the charges against Bieber. More than 100,000 people want the pop star deported, and many more are engulfed in the dramatic media portrayal of the whole mess. According to The Hollywood Reporter, once a signature goal on a petition is met, the White House is required to issue a response, adding another layer to the Bieber drama. The White House (unsurprisingly) has yet to comment.