Justin Bieber broke down in tears as he spoke of his intense desire to “protect” teenage superstar Billie Eilish from the same pressures of fame that he says almost killed him.
“Yeah, so um, yeah — I just want to protect her,” Bieber told Beats 1 interviewer Zane Lowe, wiping away tears, taking deep breaths and sniffing loudly in a clip Eilish, 18, shared with her fans.
“I don’t want her to lose it. I don’t want her to go through anything I went through,” he told Lowe, having admitted elsewhere that his path of self-destruction from finding fame so young almost killed him.
“I don’t wish that upon anybody. So um, yeah, if she ever needs me I’m just a call away,” said Bieber, now 25.
Eilish has never hidden her love for the Biebs — and posted photos of her wearing one of his shirts as well as her bedroom covered in his posters alongside the clip of his tearful interview.
“Love you !!!” Bieber commented on her post.