Monday, April 29, 2024

UPDATE Justin Bieber More Devoted Than Ever to Pastor Sued by Church Staff for Demanding Donations, Britney Spears’ Controversial Ex-Manager on Board of Directors

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It’s not so long since Justin Bieber’s spiritual adviser, Carl Lentz, was exposed as an adulterer and drug user at Hillsong Church. Bieber had treated Lentz like a best friend and bought into the whole fraud of Hillsong. The church, based in Australia but with outlets in New York and Los Angeles, has been under investigations of different kinds ever since 2022 for financial malfeasance including accusations of tax fraud and money laundering by a member of the Australian parliament.

Bieber, who’s not terribly bright, still doesn’t get it. Today he posted a video made by Judah Smith, who runs Churchome, another organization like Hillsong. Bieber was actually introduced to Lentz by Bieber, according to reports. You’d think after everything that happened with Hillsong, Lentz, et al Bieber would have cut ties and never looked back,

Guess again. Bieber is more involved than ever with Smith and Churchome. And now it turns out a class action suit was filed last spring against Churchome by its employees. Smith, the suit alleged, requires all staff to kick back 10% of their earnings to run his religious institution. The case is now in arbitration.

Imagine how happy Smith is when he lands a celebrity like Bieber, whose annual income is in the millions. Some of Smith’s other members include Russell Wilson, TD Jakes, Devon Franklin on his boards — and his website — pushing his agenda.

More alarming: Smith, his wife Chelsea, and his COO David Kroll have also got Lou Taylor in league with them. Her picture is on their website. She’s on the Board of Directors. Taylor is a linchpin here. She was Britney Spears’ business manager and is said to have been in partnership with Spears’s father, Jamie, in executing the famous (now ended) conservatorship. She’s now thought to be involved with Justin Bieber.

Taylor is infamous in the Britney Spears saga. In 2021, the New York Times called her “a deeply religious former bookkeeper who had few notable clients before Ms. Spears.” According to the Times, in 2008 Taylor (whose husband, Rob, is a pastor in a local Tennessee church) loaned money to Britney’s father, Jamie, then created a management company and helped Jamie Spears put Britney into the conservatorship. When Britney broke with her father in 2020, she fired Taylor as the #freeBritney campaign began.

Taylor is said to now be working with Bieber since his breakup with Scooter Braun. It’s unclear now what Lou Taylor is doing for, or to, Bieber, who has suddenly seen his career — like Britney’s — put on ice. He sold his song catalog this year for $200 million, which is unusual for a recording artist under 60, let alone 30. He’s stopped touring altogether and has no plans for a new record.

What is clear is that Judah Smith — on whose board Lou Taylor sits — is so important to Justin Bieber that the singer is posting his sermons on Instagram. And it’s possible the price for Bieber’s friendship with Smith is huge– like 10% of his income.

PS If you know more about this, email me at showbiz411@gmail.com

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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