Justin Bieber will ‘hopefully’ inspire fans after questionable Anne Frank comment

16 Apr 2013

Justin Bieber performs during his Believe Tour in October 2012. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Anne Frank House has come to the defence of pop star Justin Bieber on Facebook, following his visit to the Amsterdam museum and his guestbook comments that unleashed a backlash online. The museum said Bieber’s visit will hopefully inspire his fans to learn more about the Holocaust victim’s life.

Bieber visited Anne Frank House on Friday, while in the Netherlands on tour, and wrote in the museum’s guestbook that he hoped Anne would have been a fan.

“Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber,” wrote the 19-year-old. ‘Belieber’ is the term Bieber’s fans use to describe themselves.

The Anne Frank House mentioned Bieber’s visit on its Facebook page and quoted his guestbook comments, which have been followed by thousands of replies.

Many Facebook users have criticised Bieber’s comments as being self-serving, but others have defended the singer.

Yesterday, Anne Frank House posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying they were pleased to have welcomed Bieber.

“We think it is very positive that he took the time and effort to visit our museum. He was very interested in the story of Anne Frank and stayed for over an hour. We hope that his visit will inspire his fans to learn more about her life and hopefully read the diary.”

Anne Frank kept a diary while she and her family hid in the house, now the museum, for two years during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. After the family was arrested, Anne was sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she died in 1945. She was 15.

Because of her diary, The Diary of a Young Girl, first published in 1947, she has become one of the most well-known victims of the Holocaust.

Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic

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