YOUR FAVORITE MTV SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

Justin Bieber Fans Snatch His Hat, Knock Down His Mom In New Zealand

'I don't condone thievery!!' the Canadian pop star tweeted.

[artist id="3187077"]Justin Bieber[/artist] must be used to creating hysteria everywhere he goes these days. But one day after a [article id="1637748"]Sydney, Australia, performance was canceled[/article] when the crowd began to surge and young girls were injured in a crush, the 16-year-old Canadian pop phenom urged his fans to, like, seriously chill out.

The latest incident occurred at the airport on Wednesday in Auckland, New Zealand, where Bieber had flown for some more promotional appearances. "Finally got to New Zealand last night," he tweeted after landing. "The airport was crazy. Not happy that someone stole my hat and knocked down my mama. Come on people ... I want to be able to sign and take pics and meet my fans but if you are all pushing security won't let me."

As a result of the crush at the airport, police refused to let the 500 or so New Zealand fans greet Bieber out of safety concerns. The singer was quickly whisked through Auckland International Airport and shoved into a black SUV, according to the New Zealand Herald, leaving the mostly young girls -- some of whom had waited more than four hours -- disappointed.

Luckily, no one was hurt in the airport scrum, but Bieber's prized purple New York Yankees baseball cap was swiped by a pair of teenage girls who held it for ransom in the hopes of getting a hug from their musical icon. According to TVNZ, 17-year-old Emah Hira Matiu admitted she stole the hat, which could have resulted in theft charges by police had Bieber filed a complaint.

"I just reached my hand through a massive crowd of screaming teenage girls and big arse police guys and took it right off his head," she said. "Then shoved it down my shirt ... got trampled ... and then I ran away." Matiu said she later tweeted Bieber to tell him she was the hatnapper and that she'd give it back if he would dole out a hug.

"I do know that I have technically stolen it," she said. "But he's a celebrity and this is what you get for being famous ... kinda comes with the deal ... we didn't mean to upset him, all we wanted was a hug."

After thinking it over, though, Matiu decided to do the right thing and hand the hat back to Bieber's management, though there was no hug or photo at the end of the rainbow for her. Matiu and pal Beki Diamond left a note in the hat -- which included their phone numbers and e-mail addresses -- that read, "Hey Justin, so sorry for stealing the hat. It just happened in the excitement. You can have it back. We kept good care of it."

The Bieb hit them back with a tweet: "Sorry, u can't hold me ransom. I got my hat back. No hugs. No thanks u's. Just glad they did the right thing. I don't condone thievery!! Haha."

Bieber had only one planned appearance in New Zealand, a private show on Wednesday at South Auckland's Academic Colleges Group Strathallan school, where he greeted students in a music class, played drums during an impromptu jam session and later performed a private show for the school.

Latest News