Justin Bieber's Gaffe... He Said WHAT About Anne Frank?
by Shannon KeirnanJustin Bieber has gotten some negative backlash after he visited the Anne Frank museum over the weekend, while touring in Europe.
Bieber stayed over an hour at the museum along with his group of friends and guards, as fans lingered outside hoping to see the “Never Say Never” singer.
However, it was what Bieber left behind that has some outraged. The museum noted on its Facebook page,
"In our guestbook he wrote: 'Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.’”
Anne Frank died of typhus at 15 years old in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. Her diary was first published in 1947, and has served as a glimpse into the real victims of the Holocaust. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands, Anne and seven others, including her family, went into hiding in her father’s office building.
A representative for Bieber declined to comment.
Reaction to Bieber’s comment has, overall, not been good.
Annemarie Bekker, a spokeswoman for the Anne Frank House, said museum officials were "a bit overwhelmed" by the negative reaction to Bieber's statement.
"He's a 19-year-old boy taking the effort to come and see the museum, and we'd like to point that out, and I think it's quite innocent what he put down," Bekker said.
Maatje Mostart, a museum spokeswoman, said ““He was very interested in (Anne Frank’s) story. It’s great that he’s been here, and we hope a lot of his fans will want to read about Anne Frank.”
Allegedly, photos of Bieber at the museum show him “goofing off” and “mugging for the camera” rather than displaying respect.
A source close to Bieber tried to clarify his intentions, saying the singer meant that “it would have been an honor if Anne Frank had been a fan.”