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Justin Bieber Says He Was “Suffering” From the Hate He Received Early On in His Career

Getty Images, Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor

In his brand new docuseries for YouTube, titled Justin Bieber: Next Chapter, Justin Bieber picks up where his series Justin Bieber: Seasons left off. In the premiere episode of Next Chapter, Bieber dives back into his past and reflects on how, at one point, his fame caused him to be "really, really suicidal."

"I was so surrounded. Millions of people in the audience. But I still felt lonely. I still felt misunderstood. I still felt hurt," Bieber says in the episode while he and his team watch the October 16th music video for his single "Lonely," which stars Jacob Tremblay as a young Bieber.

Bieber continued, "There was so many people who were just so mean. Random people saying, 'you suck,' 'you look like a girl.' I would shake it off and act like it didn't bother me, but that stuff bothered me."

He said the hate he received ultimately affected how he treated others down the road—"hurt people hurt people," Bieber said.

"There was times where I was really, really suicidal," Bieber continued in the premiere episode, recalling the times he wondered "is this pain every going to go away?" He said, "The pain was so consistent. I was just suffering. So, I’m just like, man, I would rather not feel this than feel this."

Having gone through such dark times, and having come out the other side, Bieber is now sharing the importance of taking care of one's mental health from the get go.

“I just would encourage people, like, hey, if you’re feeling lonely, talk about it," he said. "Say it out loud. There’s a freedom in that. I could have avoided a lot of pain.”

In recent years, Bieber has opened up about the negative effects of childhood fame and how his faith and family, including wife Hailey Bieber, have helped him cope. And it's through docuseries like Next Chapter that Bieber is passing on his newfound knowledge to fans and followers so that they can potentially get the help they need, too.