Justin Bieber has apologised to fans for delaying his London concert by 40 minutes on Monday night.
Many young fans left the city’s O2 Arena early this week without seeing their idol, sparking anger among both the devotees and their parents.
But Justin explained he had to start his performance late due to ‘technical issues’ and was not as delayed as the two hours
claimed.
Making amends: Justin Bieber has apologised to fans for appearing late on stage at London’s O2 Arena on Monday night
On Tuesday afternoon, he tweeted a series of rambling messages to his fans explaining his version of events following the furore which erupted after the highly anticipated show on Monday night.
Justin tweeted: ‘last night i was scheduled after 3 opening acts to go on stage at 935 not 830 but because of some technical issues i got on at 10:10..so…
‘i was 40 min late to stage. there is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it was great show and Im proud of that
‘and tonight we will run on time and look forward to putting on an amazing show for everyone in attendance.
Public apology: Justin used his Twitter page to say sorry to fans in the audience of his London show on Monday night and promised an impressive performance would follow on Tuesday
‘my relationship with the media is not always easy but im trying. Im all about the music and the performance and i respect my fans.
‘i never have any intent to upset or let anyone down. and Im not okay with things being exaggerated. once again sorry for anyone upset.
‘now we have a show to do today and Im gonna focus on the positive and put on a great show tonight here in London
‘NIGHT 2 at the 02 is gonna be even better. get ready. thanks
‘we have also made adjustments to the set times to have me go on earlier for the coming shows. see u there’
Weathering the storm: Justin waves to fans outside the Langham Better late than never! Justin Bieber eventually took to the stage – two hours late – but it was too late for many fans who left without seeing their idol
Empty seats: As Bieber came onstage expensive front row seats were empty – as younger fans were forced to leave
Bieber was even tweeting to his 35 million Twitter followers in the lead up to the show that he was thrilled to be performing in the UK capital, and told fans to ‘get ready’.
But a source told MailOnline crowds were booing the Baby singer after being forced to sit through three warm-up acts, Cody Simpson, Jaden Smith and Carly Rae Jepsen, before being left to wait for the main attraction.
Following Carly Rae’s set, fans were left to wait listening to Michael Jackson hits for around 45 minutes until Justin finally appeared on stage at 10.23pm.
Big upset: Fans of Bieber were seen crying outside the venue after he arrived on stage so late, seen here on Sky News
Nice of you to make an appearance: Justin was seen waving and making a peace sign at fans from the balcony of his hotel on Tuesday
Still smiling: Justin seemed in a chirpy mood despite the anger he caused after his later appearance on stage on Monday. On Tuesday he apologised
Disgusting: Parents have branded Bieber’s late entrance as despicable, considering it was a school night
A Bieber fan told MailOnline: ‘It’s disgraceful, so many children were distressed and left heartbroken they had to leave the show. Many had been looking forward to seeing Justin for weeks.’
Justin has since apologised to his fans via Twitter for keeping them waiting, but has insisted it was a 40-minute delay, rather than two hours.
The teen idol also said ‘adjustments’ had been made to ensure there wouldn’t be a repeat of the situation at tonight’s concert.
Writing on his Twitter page, Justin said: ‘Waking up to a crazy day. Day 2. 02. #London #BELIEVEtour
‘Since i have been here it hasnt been easy with the press at times but I have loved it. so let me say this… 
He is no angel this evening! Justin descends on the stage, after being booed by the remaining fans
‘Last night i was scheduled after 3 opening acts to go on stage at 935 not 830 but because of some technical issues i got on at 10:10..so..i was 40 min late to stage. there is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it was great show and Im proud of that
‘And tonight we will run on time and look forward to putting on an amazing show for everyone in attendance. my relationship with the media is not always easy but im trying. Im all about the music and the performance and i respect my fans.
‘I never have any intent to upset or let anyone down. and Im not okay with things being exaggerated. once again sorry for anyone upset. now we have a show to do today and Im gonna focus on the positive and put on a great show tonight here in London.
‘NIGHT 2 at the 02 is gonna be even better. get ready. thanks. we have also made adjustments to the set times to have me go on earlier for the coming shows. see u there.’
Parent Lloyd Becker, whose wife took their eight-year-old daughter Isabella to the concert, said that his little girl was left devastated by Bieber’s behaviour.
He told MailOnline: ‘I called the O2 yesterday to find out what time the show was ending. They told me that Carly Rae Jepsen was on at 8 and then Bieber was on at 8.30, finishing at 10.15. But he didn’t even come on until 10.35.
‘My brother was also there with my nephew, but by the time Bieber came on, the kids were fed up and half asleep. They stayed for half an hour and then left, so they missed all the best songs.
‘Keeping the fans waiting for two hours is an absolute disgrace. Isabella got to bed at after one in the morning and then had to get up for school this morning. And I know that at least two or three children have actually missed school today because they couldn’t cope with the late night.
Onstage: When Justin eventually got onstage, after some booing he kept the audience entertained
‘Isabella absolutely hates him now. She’s going to see One Direction next month and I guarantee that they won’t be keeping their fans waiting for that long.’
Asked if he would be asking for a refund for the tickets, which ranged in price from £57 to £68, Lloyd said: ‘I absolutely 100% want a refund. They scanned the tickets so they knew what time they had left, and I will be demanding a refund.’
Jade Owen, 25, had taken her teenage sister to the show. She said: ‘There were parents there with children aged four or five who were asleep on their shoulders as they were leaving early. The last train left at just after midnight and when the show finished there were people seriously running for that station.
‘What I’m shocked about is that he still hasn’t apologised on Twitter. After he came out, after a couple of songs he gave a speech thanking the fans and saying how it was his dream and I was thinking “you are going to apologise, right?” I didn’t get home until 1am.
Not a fan anymore: Louise Cooper had taken her daughter to the concert, but the little girl scribbled over her pledge of love for the singer after the disappointing event
‘I think he was just hanging out with his friends back stage for too long. I was near a box that had celebrities in it. I saw Kylie Jenner, the Kardashians’ sister, and Will Smith, and they disappeared after the warm up acts and came on two minutes before Bieber came on stage so they must have been with him and knew he was coming on.’
After the show Twitter was ablaze with fuming parents, former Coronation Street actress Wendi Peters tweeted: ‘I shall have an extremely moody daughter tomorrow .. Livid.’
Others accused the singer of being ‘rude, disrespectful and arrogant’ for keeping his young fans up so late on a Monday night.
According to reports, some children were so tired that they even fell asleep inside the arena, with one woman saying a young girl ‘fell fast asleep’ in the audience before her father picked her up and carried her out.
It was also reported that Bieber cut his set by 30 minutes to coincide with time constraints.
‘Rude and disrespectful’: Fans took to Twitter to comment on Justin’s lateness, with many accusing him of being ‘disrespectful and arrogant’
In a statement to MailOnline, a spokesperson for the venue said: ‘Our main concern was that all the fans left the venue safely and were able to get home.
‘To this we put in a contingency to ensure the safety and welfare of all our customers as a first priority. A number of transport contingency plans were actioned to ensure all fans were able to leave the venue safely. These included mobilising the Thames Clippers boat service to ensure there would be nine departures from North Greenwich pier after 11pm if required.
‘Transport for London was also notified to hold the last trains from North Greenwich station. Taxi marshals at The O2 were also called upon to bring additional car services to the venue. These swift actions made sure that all Bieber fans were able to make their way home safely after the concert finished.’
With regard to the possibility of refunds, the spokesperson added: ‘Refunds will be dealt with on a case by case basis dependent on the credibility of the claim and all complaints should be sent via customer services at AEG Live.’
At 11.36pm, the official account for the O2 tweeted: ‘Justin Bieber is now on stage and apologises for the lateness of his show.’
It later added: ‘Sorry to all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight. The Tube will still be running when the show finishes.’
An official account for Transport for London warned of busy trains on the Jubilee line following the concert, with the last train at 12.15am.
And the late running of Bieber’s show meant that thousands of fans were forced to either run to get catch the last tubes and trains, or seek alternative means of getting home.
Father Wayne Parsonage tweeted that he ended up missing Bieber’s performance so he could make the last train home, and later added: ‘Disgusting!! Waste of my time and money…never again.’
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