For the past few days a story about Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin smacking Justin Bieber at a Hollywood Starbucks for not pulling up his pants or not wearing a shirt has been making the rounds. We thought it was clear that this story is not true, but the original (which was posted on empiresports.com satire site) continues to make the rounds. WE REPEAT, IT’S FROM A SATIRE SITE.
Deadspin tried to reach out to the Clippers to get an official denial (they didn’t get one). But in their story they pointed out how the story has been shared on Facebook 418,000 times. So, either everyone’s sharing it because they would like it to happen, or they actually believe it. Here’s the story in full:
Justin Bieber simply can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble.
Police were dispatched this morning to respond to an altercation at a Starbucks in West Hollywood involving some familiar faces. A barista at the coffee house was apparently confronted by Bieber when he refused to serve the pop star because he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“He came in with no shirt on and his pants hanging down and underwear showing and tried to order a caramel apple machiatto.”, said Joey Goldsmith, the Starbucks barista, “I just told him he would have to put a shirt on if he wanted to order.”
That’s when Bieber snapped.
According to the police report Bieber started cussing at the barista and threatening to have his bodyguard, “kick his ass”. Fortunately for Goldsmith, LA Clippers star Blake Griffin had been enjoying a drink at a table when he witnessed the altercation and stepped in.
Witnesses at the scene reported that Griffin tried to calm Bieber but the Biebs wasn’t having any of it.
There was more yelling, and some pushing and that’s when Griffin smacked Bieber, knocking him to the floor. “He smacked the shit out of him” said one witness, “then I saw Justin stumble out of the door looking like he was crying.” Bieber was gone before police arrived at the scene.
But trust us, it’s from a fake site. The next time you see someone posting it on their Facebook page, feel free to look down on them condescendingly and let them know that this didn’t happen. (Although it would be great if it did.)