Justin Bieber is all about his personal space5 min read

While in Australia for a leg of his Purpose World Tour, the 23-year-old Grammy winner was approached by a female fan looking to take a selfie on the street. During the encounter, which was filmed and shared on the Internet, the singer rebuffed her request, telling her, “Look at your respect level. Look at you—you make me sick.” In one swift move, he took a bite of some food he was holding and got into his car.

While it may have been an off day for the singer, his social media continues to tell a different narrative when it comes to the mood of his interactions with his fans.

After the brief dispute, the star seemed to go into digital damage control, uploading more photos of himself welcoming his fans, including a throwback shot of himself shaking hands with a young girl on the beach.

While the snub seems harsh, the singer previously publicly declared that he doesn’t want to take pictures with fans because it makes him feel like a zoo animal.

“If you happen to see me out somewhere know that I’m not gonna take a picture I’m done taking pictures,” he wrote on Instagram in May 2016. “It has gotten to the point that people won’t even say hi to me or recognize me as a human, I feel like a zoo animal, and I wanna be able to keep my sanity.”

“I realize people will be disappointed but I don’t owe anybody a picture and people who say ‘but I bought ur album’ know that you got my album and you got what you paid for AN ALBUM! It doesn’t say in the fine print whenever you see me you also get a photo,” he concluded.

While he certainly doesn’t mince words, it seems Bieber is treading a thin line between wanting to connect with his fans and protecting his own limits.

Presented by: Talia Soares