Rejoice! English’s future is looking a little bit brighter all thanks to the man who initially put the language in its grave, Justin Bieber.
In a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the pop sensation and purveyor of all-things cool has dismissed the term “swag,” calling his famous buzzword “played out.” (So don’t expect him to “swag on you” anytime soon.)
“I’m very influenced by black culture, but I don’t think of it as black or white. It’s not me trying to act or pose in a certain way. It’s a lifestyle — like a suaveness or a swag, per se. But I don’t really like to say the word [‘swag’] anymore,” says Bieber, who once employed a “Swagger Coach” and tattooed the word “swaggy” on a now presumably uncool friend.
As for those who may claim that the 19-year-old is turning his back on the word that he helped put in the Oxford English Dictionary, Bieber says he doesn’t care about what his haters think.
“I don’t give a f**k. Not ‘I don’t give a f**k’ to just be reckless and do whatever, but ‘I don’t give a f**k what they say,’” Bieber explains. “I know who I am and what I’m doing in my life and what I’ve accomplished and continue to accomplish as a performer, as a writer, as an artist, as a person, as a human being. I’m happy with the man I’m becoming.”
He continues, “When people see a negative thing about me on a magazine, they’re gonna buy it. Every time some site writes something bad, all my followers go on there, and it brings them more traffic. Now they have all the Beliebers on their site, which gives them money from advertisers. They’re just worried about money. They don’t care about ruining someone’s name.”
Likewise, Bieber’s longtime manager, Scooter Braun claims the singer’s recent string of antics has been played up, telling the publication, “Say whatever the f**k you want. Justin’s not going to go crazy. He’s not going to end up in rehab. He’s not going to end up a statistic. Nine months ago, they said he lost his mind — he hasn’t missed a show since. So we’re just going to shut up.”
