Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

12 Years Ago, Justin Bieber Sparked Controversy by Wishing Anne Frank Would Have Been a ‘Belieber’

In April 2013, Justin Bieber visited the Anne Frank Museum while on tour in Amsterdam, and his guestbook message sparked massive outrage.

By Stephen Andrew Galiher

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

We all said and did some controversial stuff as teenagers. We just weren’t all as unlucky as Justin Bieber was to have those cringy moments play out on a global stage. Like that time in 2014 when he publicly wished Anne Frank “would have been a Belieber.”

On April 14, 2014, a then-19-year-old Justin Bieber stopped by the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He’d been in the country on tour. When signing the museum guestbook, Bieber wrote a note that sparked massive outrage.

“Truly inspiring to be able to come here,” Bieber penned. “Anne was a great girl. Hopefully, she would have been a belieber.”

Shortly after the message went viral,........

© Vice