Turns out there may be expensive side-effects to Bieber fever.
Popstar Justin Bieber is being sued for more than $9 million by an Oregon mom who claims the teen heartthrob’s throbbing-loud show caused her ear damage, TMZ reports.
Stacey Wilson Betts and her daughter attended Bieber’s Portland show at the Rose Quarter on July 14, 2010. The concert was already loud, Betts claims, but things grew worse when Bieber positioned himself in a “heart-shaped aluminum/steel gondola.”
Carted above the crowd in the metallic gondola, Betts alleges Bieber “created a wave-like effect of screaming by pointing into various sections of the arena. Then enticed the crowd into a frenzy of screams by continuously waving his arms in a quick and upward motion.”
Betts’ suit claims the gondola served as a “sound conductor creating a sound blast that permanently damaged both of [her] ears.”
This blast led to severe tinnitus – a condition that produces a whooshing sound in the ear – she claims.
“I am an ordinary person who bought a service, I took my daughter to a pop concert,” Betts wrote in her statement. “I had no reasonable way to anticipate the gondola could create a sound blast that would permanently damage my ears.”
This is only the latest in a series of legal troubles for the Canadian teen troubadour, who scored a speeding ticket for racing through Los Angeles earlier this month.
In May, 49 Bieber fans were injured before a show in Norway. There, screaming fans caused a bout of chaos so dangerous that 14 fans were transported to the hospital.
Bieber’s record label, the Portland arena and the concert promoter are also included in Betts’ suit.
© by CHARLIE WELLS
