Concerned fans were shocked by Justin Bieber posting a series of photos, including one of his son, to Instagram.

Celebrity

Justin Bieber Sparks Outrage After Fans Spot ‘Unsafe’ Detail In Photo With Son

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Updated: 13:03 21 September 2025

Published: 14:08 19 September 2025


Justin Bieber has sparked outrage among fans after posting a series of photos on Instagram.

The ‘Baby’ singer introduced the world to his and wife Hailey Bieber’s first child last August with a sweet social media post that read: “Welcome home, Jack Blues Bieber.'”

Since then, the one-year-old has featured heavily in the promotion for his father’s Swag album and has become a regular fixture on both his and 28-year-old Hailey’s profiles.

But one of these posts landed the dad-of-one in hot water with fans.

Justin Bieber
A photo of Justin Bieber and his son has sparked outrage. Credit: @lilbieber/Instagram

Bieber uploaded a carousel to the social media platform, with images showing the singer in various situations during what appeared to be a mountain getaway with friends.

It was captioned: “Gonna be a good summer.”

Photos from the carousel showed Bieber carrying Jack on his shoulders outdoors, lying shirtless on a couch with his son’s tiny feet resting on his leg, and various shots of the singer with friends at what appeared to be a restaurant with an outdoor bar.

In one photo, he gazed down adoringly at his son while relaxing on a porch. In another frame, he was spotted on the same couch, in the same outfit, smoking what appeared to be a joint with a friend – though Jack was not visible in that particular image.

It appeared that both photographs had been taken on the same rural retreat, with the father-son duo also being joined by a select few members of Bieber’s friend group.

Many of Bieber’s fans took to the comments and questioned why the ‘Beauty and a Beat’ singer was seemingly smoking in front of his only child.

Justin Bieber and son
Justin Bieber posted a carousel featuring an image of his son. Credit: @lilbieber/Instagram

One person wrote: “Smoking is bad, but in front of your baby?????”

Another said: “Don’t smoke in front of your kid.”

While a third penned a lengthy message, beginning: “Children are particularly vulnerable to health problems from exposure to smoke.”

They added: “Even smoke that lingers on clothes or furniture (known as thirdhand smoke) can be harmful. So… maybe consider that. You’re a parent now. Act like one.”

Someone else asked Bieber to be ‘better like [they] know [he] can be,’ as a fifth commented: “Bestie, you did not just smoke in front of baby Jack.”

Many encouraged his wife, Hailey, to intervene, with some calling the behavior ‘unsafe’ and urging Bieber to ‘be better.’

Justin Bieber and son
One of the images of Justin Bieber’s son featured an ‘unsafe’ detail. Credit: @lilbieber/Instagram

However, some fans came to Bieber’s defense, pointing out the timing and context of the photos.

“Guys, the picture with the baby, you can see Jack’s feet on his leg. The picture of him smoking the baby is clearly NOT there,” one supporter wrote.

Another added: “Everyone in the comment section, let’s use our brains now, Jack isn’t even pictured in the photos where he’s smoking. He didn’t smoke in front of Jack.”

“You don’t see that man smoking with his baby in NONE OF THESE PICS! y’all say anything for attention,” somebody else penned in the singer’s defense.

Fans noted that the images appeared to be taken at different times, with Jack not present in the frames where Bieber was smoking.

Justin Bieber
Another image in the carousel appeared to show Justin Bieber smoking. Credit: @lilbieber/Instagram

Bieber has been candid about his various vices in the past, admitting to having a dependency on both drugs and alcohol when he was younger.

He told Vogue in 2019 how he’d previously used illicit substances as a coping mechanism.

“Drugs put a screen between me and what I was doing,” he shared. “It got pretty dark. I think there were times when my security was coming in late at night to check my pulse and see if I was still breathing.”

Last year, the ‘Peaches’ singer explained that during the height of his substance abuse, he’d wake up and ‘pop a pill’ and ‘smoke a blunt’ before even starting the day.

Recalling exactly how he turned things around, Bieber added: “I basically said to myself: ‘God, if you’re real, you get me through this season of stopping these pills and stuff, and if you do, I’ll do the rest of the work,’ and then I did that, and then I was good from there.”

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