Justin Bieber’s manager arrested over mall fracas -- and tweets
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Scott ‘Scooter’ Braun, manager of teen pop singer Justin Bieber, turned himself in to authorities in New York on Wednesday and was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and criminal nuisance related to mall mayhem in November.
Essentially, they’re saying he ignored what cops told him to do on Twitter, like, right now, dude, and in the process made a dangerous situation worse.
Braun’s attorney says, like, not even.
Cops say they called Braun when the situation at a planned mall appearance got out of hand and asked him to send a Twitter message that the gig had been canceled; seems the last note at the time on the @justinbieber account -- ‘On my way to Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, NY to sign and meet fans! I’m pumped. See u there’ -- was causing more people to show up at an already chaotic scene.
Three thousand fans had showed up by 1:30 p.m. for a 4 o’clock event at which organizers had expected 1,000 people; a stampede ensued -- allegedly after someone shouted that Bieber was at the Abercrombie Kids store -- and one girl wound up being taken off in a stretcher. The crowd wouldn’t go home because they thought Bieber was still coming, Newsday reported at the time.
Braun’s attorney, who is asking that the investigation be reopened, told NBC New York that his client, who wasn’t at the event or, he says, in front of a computer when cops called, found a computer and tweeted within 10 minutes of the police request. He said Braun, who was awaiting arraignment, will plead not guilty.
‘Absent Scooter having a Superman’s cape, he couldn’t have done it any faster,’ attorney Ravi Batra told NBC New York. ‘As a result of his lawful compliance with police instruction, [we believe the D.A.] will dismiss the charges after reopening the investigation.’
The prosecutor says Braun didn’t send the messages until after a record-label exec in charge of the event was arrested -- about 90 minutes after the first request, police said; prosecutors say another person was unable to tweet sooner because Braun had changed the password on the account.
The alleged motive? To maximize publicity.
So maybe the biggest news here is that Justin Bieber’s manager seems to be the only 29-year-old without a smart phone in his pocket at all times? We hope ‘Law & Order’ will address that angle if and when it rips this one from the headlines.
— Christie D’Zurilla
Related dispatches from the Ministry of Gossip:
PREACH IT! Justin Bieber’s 16th birthday party is, like, to die for! And it so totally screams for a poll! Adam Lambert, Justin Bieber in VMan [pictures and video]
Who scored swag at Z100’s Jingle Ball?
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