Why is noone talking about Justin Bieber’s bizarre drama with his clothing brand?

Justin Bieber seems to have had a falling out with the creative director of Drew House – who has repeatedly called his church a cult (Picture: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock)

While everyone seems to be speculating about what exactly is going on with Justin Bieber, not nearly as many are discussing the bizarre drama surrounding his clothing brand, Drew House.  

Justin, 31, has been met with raised eyebrows from fans over the last few months, with concerns ramping up during the annual Coachella music festival in Indio, California.

The singer smoked an unidentified roll-up next to his teenage brother at one event, with separate fan footage showing him hunched over and bobbing along loosely to his 2015 song What Do You Mean?, appearing unsteady on his feet and even somewhat disoriented.

Given the pop icon’s recent appearance of poor health, a string of erratic social media posts, and aggressive behavior toward paparazzi, many fans suspect that all may not be well with the Baby singer.

Perhaps the real source of the drama is an aspect of the star’s life that the media has largely ignored: the disintegration of his clothing brand, Drew House, and his relationship with the brand’s creative director, Ryan Good. 

Although Ryan was the best man at Justin’s wedding, the two reportedly haven’t spoken in over a year, with tensions arising from Justin’s relationship with his pastor, Judah Smith.

Justin posted a clear message telling fans not to ‘waste their money on Drew House’ (Picture: Justin Bieber/Instagram) The bizarre AI video showed Bieber burning Drew House merch (Picture: Justin Bieber/Instagram)

A source close to the situation told TMZ that Ryan felt the faith community he and Justin were a part of – called Churchome and led by Judah – ‘was a cult and he wanted out.’ 

As Ryan began to separate himself from the church, Justin only got closer to Judah, according to the source, even adding him to the board of Drew House a few years ago, a decision with which Ryan disagreed. 

After TMZ posted the article with statements from this source, a follow up post went up hours later with sources close to Justin explaining the singer felt that the brand was ‘no longer his’ and wanted to distance himself from his ex-manager, Scooter Braun, who is heavily involved with the brand. 

Drew House was founded by the popstar in 2018(Picture: Gotham/GC Images)

This source also claimed that Justin was always outvoted on board decisions, which Drew House subsequently denied via comments from…even more sources. 

The Drew House sources stressed to the publication that Ryan is not angry with Justin, but is very concerned about the amount of influence Churchome and Judah have in his life. These sources again called Churchome ‘a cult.’

Now, it appears that Justin has distanced himself from the brand altogether. Here’s everything we know about the drama in Drew House. 

Is Churchome a cult? Who is Judah Smith? Judah Smith has known Justin since he was 16 (Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Pattie Mallette, Justin Bieber’s mother, first saw Judah Smith speak in 2010 when he was the co-leader of the youth ministry at the City Church, which was then an average-sized place of worship. 

She liked what he had to say and thought her 16-year-old son, who was dealing with the tumult of stardom, could benefit from his influence. So she invited him and his wife, Chelsea, to a concert. 

It was the beginning of one of the most enduring influences in Justin’s life (he and Judah even have matching tattoos), and nearly a decade later, the Smiths’ nondenominational church, now called Churchome but formerly known as City Church, draws more than 10,000 people a week across five West Coast locations. 

Judah often repped Drew House in public appearances (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images) The pastor has become a celebrity in his own right, often getting his picture taken at sports games and other high-profile events (Picture: James Devaney/GC Images)

The church’s L.A. services are nearly as star-studded as an awards show, with the Kardashians and other A-listers often spotted in the pews. 

The Smiths also introduced Justin to Carl and Laura Lentz, who lead the New York location of Australian megachurch Hillsong, which serves as a sort of sister church to Churchome. Chad Veach, another friend of the Smiths, leads L.A.’s Zoe Church, which is attended by Chris Pratt, Katherine Schwarzenegger, and Ashley Benson, among others. 

While the church advertises itself as progressive and hip, with Judah often dressed in designer street style as he preaches, their actual values are far more conservative. In 2005, Judah told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, that he aimed to get congregants while they were young and made it clear he thought abortion was an abominable sin. 

Ryan Good and Justin have reportedly not spoken in a year (Picture: Toronto Star via Getty Images) Sources have said Ryan has called Churchome ‘a cult’ (Picture: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)

When asked about his views on homosexuality, he left litte room for confusion: ‘[It’s] a sin, the same as murder, rape, or living with your girlfriend.’

Of course, none of this means that Churchome is a cult, though it is notable that there seems to be a degree of financial buy-in expected of its congregants (The church’s total revenue in 2017 was about $20 million; $18.5 million of that came from ‘tithes,’ traditionally a tenth of congregants’ incomes and offerings). 

There is also a lack of information available about the church, which creates a hush-hush attitude surrounding its values and practices – a common aspect of cult-like groups. 

Ryan Good believes Judah has far too much influence over Justin (Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Judah will no longer answer questions about the church’s beliefs on contentious topics like homosexuality and abortion, telling The Daily Beast diplomatically: ‘Those are topics that I think are very important, but I wonder sometimes if we are approaching them with people in mind, or policies in mind. And I’d love to err on the people-minded side.’

Is Justin Bieber no longer a part of Drew House?

Earlier this month, Justin dropped an AI-generated video of him setting fire to a house filled with the brand’s merch, then leaving the fire to join his wife Hailey and their new baby, Jack. The family then moves towards a structure shaped like the logo for his upcoming brand, Skylrk, which he’s been teasing for over a year.

Later that week he made things even clearer, posting an Instagram story that read: ‘I Justin Bieber am no longer involved in this brand,’ the singer wrote over a screenshot of Drew House’s Instagram page. ‘Drew House doesn’t represent me or my family or life … If your [sic] rocking with me the human Justin Bieber don’t waste ur money on Drew House.’

There will undoubtedly be more drama to come (and probably more ‘anonymous’ sources pleading their cases), but it’s clear that something is rotten in the House of Drew.

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