Justin Bieber took home the first award of the night at the 40th annual American Music Awards--Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist--but instead of his usual positivity, he set a rather bratty tone for the remainder of the evening. Instead of leading off with the usual accolades (you know: God, parents, hard-working staff, that sort of thing), Bieber chose the rubbing-in route for his thank-you speech. "This is for all the haters who thought I'd be around for 1, 2 years," he announced, adding, "I feel like I'm gonna be here for a very long time."
Link to the video
In all fairness, Bieber was already under scrutiny upon arrival to the show, due to the fact that his breakup with Selena Gomez had just become public only a week ago, and they've been bouncing back and forth from off to on to off again. So, it stands to reason that he might be feeling a little prickly. At any rate, Bieber, who was left dateless after his separation, rose to the occasion by bringing his mom, Pattie Mallette, as his date to the awards show instead. Like any modern teenager, he chose social media as his platform to invite Mom, tweeting "@pattiemallette miss u. love u. wanna be my date this weekend? :)" on Thursday. Luckily, Mallette was free on such short notice, and tweeted back, "I would be honored! Love u sooo much!!" Bieber was a little more gracious when he won the top award of Artist of the Year, choosing that time to thank his mother rather than taunt his haters.
