This is the question Justin Bieber is supposedly asking Justin Bieber. A source tells PEOPLE that:
“He’s happy and content. He is in love with Hailey. She encourages him to do whatever he wants to do, and is encouraging him in this season of self-discovery.”
The “season of self-discovery" part is a little too feels for me, but this also makes complete sense. We talk about it all the time - how fame can freeze you at the age you are when it arrives, how it warps your perspective before you’re fully formed, which is part of the reason why so many child stars struggle, why Justin has struggled. He’s 24 now. He’s been famous for over a decade. And it’s a major self-revelation, to look at yourself and wonder: who are you?
What’s tricky is trying to figure that out while you’re MARRIED to someone who is also figuring that out. Hailey Baldwin is only 21. She’s still coming into herself too. But, whatever, they’re so in love, it’s not like they’re listening to anyone or anything else but their hearts. Beating as one. For now.
For now, JB is all about himself and Hailey. And not about the music. In fact, according to PEOPLE’s source, Justin is not thinking about his career at all:
“It actually bugs him when people ask when he’s going back to the studio or on tour,” the insider says. “He has worked for years, and the first time he takes a significant break, everyone’s all, ‘When’s he coming back?’ To Justin, those aren’t just questions — those are demands. For years, everyone has tried to take a piece of him. Just let him be.”
The insider adds that, “Justin is searching for his purpose right now.”
“He’s thinking, ‘Hey, maybe it’s not music. Maybe there are other things I should be doing.’ So while he’s figuring it out, the last thing he needs is people asking him when he’s going back into the studio,” says the source.
You know who this reminds me of? Macaulay Culkin. Probably because I just read the new Vanity Fair profile on Kieran Culkin, Macaulay’s brother. It’s a great piece, focused mostly on Kieran’s career, which of course cannot, at least not yet, be separated from his older brother’s, because of what Mac went through, and why he decided he’d had enough. Macauley Culkin pretty much retired from serious, consistent acting in his 20s, around the same age-ish that JB is right now. He worked through his childhood. Some would say he was made to work through his childhood by his father, Kit. Like Justin, “everyone tried to take a piece of him”. So he decided not to make himself available. I’m not saying this is where Justin Bieber is going to end up. I’m just saying the similarities are there. Even physically the similarities are there.
Will this “season of self-discovery” become a permanent self-exile? Could Justin Bieber decide that he’s out of the game, no more, not ever? If that’s what he wants, would they even let him?
