Justin Bieber’s ‘disgusting’ April Fools’ Day pregnancy prank sparks furious backlash

The singer shared images of a sonogram and wife Hailey Baldwin cradling her stomach 
Criticised: Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey Baldwin
SplashNews.com
Emma Powell3 April 2019
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Justin Bieber sparked a backlash after joking he is expecting his first child as part of an April Fools’ Day prank.

Bieber, 25, was condemned for the “disgusting” post which claimed his wife Hailey Baldwin is pregnant.

He shared a picture of a sonogram on April 1 before posting another of Baldwin cradling her stomach at a doctor’s surgery, which he captioned: “If U thought it was April Fools.”

He later confirmed it was a prank with a picture of a dog in the centre of a sonogram. “Wait omg is that a,,, APRIL FOOLS,” he wrote.

Fans struggled to understand why he would pull the prank as they opened up about personal struggles with fertility, branding his post “disgusting” and a “classless act”.

One user commented: “These jokes aren’t funny... do you understand how many families have to deal with infertility and loss of pregnancy? Shame on you.”

Another wrote: “Honestly people would die to become parents, I hate the ‘I’m pregnant’ April Fools. Let’s hope you and your wife aren’t infertile so you don’t feel the heartbreak of not being able to carry your own child. Just coming from a place of experience.”

A third posted: “And when I thought I couldn’t hate you more. Congrats on being a piece of s***. Faking a pregnancy announcement is not funny. Some women can’t get pregnant.”

He was also condemned by The Miscarriage Association who said he should be more sensitive to issues affecting those trying to get pregnant, or those who are dealing with a loss.

Spokesperson Ruth Bender Atik told Standard Online: “I don’t suppose Justin thought for a moment that it might cause upset. Hopefully, any comments that are made will make him more aware of the sensitivities of pregnancy loss and infertility.”

Bieber later apologised for the “insensitive” post, telling his 107 million Instagram foillowers he will “take responsibility and say sorry to people who were offended".

“I truly don't want anyone to be hurt by a prank.. it's like when I shoved cake in my little sisters face for her birthday expecting her to laugh but she cried,” he said.

“You sometimes just don't know what will hurt someone's feelings not to compare pregnancy with cake in the face but it's just to paint the picture of not knowing what will offend.”

Bieber and Baldwin tied the knot last year. It was recently reported that he is “ready to be a dad”.

Justin and Hailey Bieber out and about in New York - In pictures

1/7

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in