Justin Bieber Posts Pics With Possible New Girlfriend, Prompting Belibers to Lose It

Impact

Justin Bieber is dating someone new and for his devoted fan base, this is just the last fucking straw. The ultimate betrayal. 

Why it comes as such a blow is unclear, though, because the 22-year-old pop star dates people all the time (very recently, model Sahara Ray; maybe Kourtney Kardashian). But his fans are outraged, simply outraged, at this latest  lady friend and are turning their backs, en masse, away from their beloved, spawning the melodramatic hashtag #RIPBeliebers. 

Bieber posted a series of six photos to his Instagram Saturday night, in which he and Sofia Richie — daughter of Lionel Richie — are goofing around in a car and Bieber is wearing sunglasses that make him look like a space invader. 

They're being flirtatious and having fun and generally it all looks fine. But his fans are abso-fucking-lutely incensed, taking the photos as a blanket slight against them. 

"You forgot about us," one user commented on one of the pictures. "You know how it is? You don't know Justin. We are with you from the beginning. And she? How long is she with you? ... So don't throw our love away. Don't let yourself be fooled by false smiles, these people just want to suck on things of you. Like the girls from Hawaii. I love you, but it's like I'm turning my back to our love."

That sentiment was not unpopular, although it is somewhat baffling because these people probably don't know him at all.

Bieber's last Instagram post addressed the firestorm of rage. "I'm gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don't stop the hate," he captioned it, "this is really getting out of hand, if you guys are really fans you wouldn't be so mean to people that I like." 

Bieber has done blatantly disrespectful things to his fans, such as charging them thousands to pose with a cardboard cutout of himself; refusing to take photos with them on the ground that the Beliebers have dehumanized him and reduced him to purchasable commodity. In May, he was caught on camera throwing a gift a fan gave him out his car window. Rude. [Maybe] dating someone isn't one of these disrespectful things, though.

The resentment bred by Bieber's cold treatment might explain the root of this outrage, per this scathing indictment of Bieber's lack of gratitude for his fanbase.

Bieber and the Beliebers: It's a love-hate relationship, clearly.