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U Smile? Justin Bieber Gets Sweet Revenge on TMZ in April Fools’ Prank

Justin Bieber Prank TMZ April Fools Phone Calls Hotline

All signs of late have pointed to the distinct possibility that pop star Justin Bieber has gone off the rails — of course, most of those signs were issued by celebrity news site TMZ. They’ve got their legitimate journalistic sources, but it’d be a bit optimistic to call their approach even-handed. (Hey, SPIN liked Believe.) “Bullying” would be more accurate, so it’s only fair that the Biebz fired back with a little April Fools’ Day prank yesterday.

“As promised taking all fan phone calls TODAY at (888) 847 9869. Talk to u soon!” Justin tweeted on Monday (April 1) to his nearly 37 million followers. That’s TMZ’s tip line, naturally. He deleted the post after a little while, but as El-P will tell ya, that doesn’t mean the message didn’t make it out. And as Billboard points out, the “888” area code signifies that the number is toll-free, which means the recipient (TMZ) has to foot the bill.


TMZ has yet to report on the incident, but they do have extensive coverage on the doings of Bieber’s pet monkey, his barely famous friends, and Miss Canada’s opinion on the kid. Perhaps a story in which Bieber seems lucid, clever, and playful just doesn’t fit the narrative. Could the 19-year-old star be growing up just a wee bit? Doubtful, but if we’re lucky, Tyler, the Creator won’t have to lock him in a cage after all.