Fact Check

Justin Bieber Stabbed

Has Justin Bieber been stabbed by a crazed fan?

Published April 19, 2012

Claim:

Claim:   Justin Bieber has been stabbed by a crazed fan.


FALSE


Example:   [Collected via Facebook, April 2012]


Justin Bieber STABBED By CRAZED Fan Outside L.A. NightClub!

OMG! NOOOO! Could YOU Even Imagine?!?



 

Origins:   In April 2012, Facebook users began seeing a resurgence of posts (which first popped up in December 2011) teasing the story that singer Justin Bieber had been stabbed by a crazed fan outside a nightclub (either in Los Angeles or New York) and offering links to a video that presumably documented the alleged stabbing incident. The photograph employed in the lure of a man with a slashed back had itself been used in a 2006 hoax about an airman purported to have been stabbed during a bar fight near Kunsan Air Base in South Korea.

No such act of violence was perpetrated against the teen idol, however. The reports of the stabbing were just typical bait employed by scammers to lead the curious down the trail of the common survey scam, directing them to "like" or "share" links with their Facebook friends and complete online surveys, all with the goal of getting them to enrich the scammers by disclosing sensitive personal information, spreading malware, buying products, and signing up for costly, difficult-to-cancel services.

In May 2013 this scam was recycled using the name of rapper Eminem in place of Justin Bieber's.

Last updated:   17 May 2013

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.