Despite a turbulent year outside of the recording booth that has seen Justin Bieber surreptitiously video-taped by an alleged Brazilian sexworker, fined for spray-painting a wall in Rio De Janerio, and forced to apologize after stepping on the Argentinian flag during a performance, the 19-year-old pop megastar has been producing solid, mature, sonically explorative music.

Still, it appears that the pressures associated with his superfame and rebellious, borderline illegal teenage antics may be getting to him. Earlier today, Bieber appeared on Los Angeles hip-hop station Power 106 and abruptly announced he plans on retiring. “After the new album, I’m retiring, man,” he said, completely stunning host Kurt Alexander (AKA Big Boy of Big Boy’s Neighborhood). Bieber quickly rephrased his plans, stating, “I just want to grow as an artist. And I’m taking a step out. I just want my music to mature.……”

Still, the damage was done on the emotional psyches of thousands of teenagers. Here are some tweets for proof:

……For the record, Bieber’s reps told TMZ that he was “just joking.” Or, as one fan succinctly put it:

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Jordan Sowunmi is a writer and editor at the Toronto Standard. He is on Twitter: @jordanisjoso

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