Justin Bieber has revealed the reason behind his show cancellations this week – the singer is suffering a rare neurological disorder that has paralysed half of his face.
The Canadian pop star said he had been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome after a virus damaged the nerves in his ear. He added he was suffering a “pretty serious” case in a video posted to Instagram.
Demonstrating the effects of the paralysis during the three-minute video, Bieber tries to smile, blink and flare his nostrils, with one half of his face unresponsive.
“As you can see, this eye is not blinking. I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move, so there’s full paralysis on this side of my face,” he said. “So for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I’m just physically, obviously not able of doing them.”
Bieber said he is resting and doing facial exercises to get his face “back to normal”.
“I wish this wasn’t the case but obviously my body is telling me I gotta slow down,” he said. “I hope you guys understand, and I’ll be using this time to just rest and relax and get back to 100% so I can do what I was born to do. But in the meantime, this ain’t it.”
A few hours after the initial video, Bieber posted an Instagram Story in which he wrote: “Been getting progressively harder for me to eat which has been extremely frustrating please pray for me”.
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Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a rare but serious condition caused by the same virus that causes shingles and chicken pox.
The syndrome is similar but worse than Bell’s palsy, another condition that causes facial paralysis.
It is treated with antiviral medications and corticosteroids. Patients usually recover completely, although facial paralysis and hearing loss can be permanent for some.
“We don’t know how much time that’s going to be but it’s going to be okay,” Bieber said. “I have hope and I trust god and I trust that this is all for a reason. I’m not sure what that is right now but in the meantime I’m going to rest and I love you guys.”
Bieber is currently still scheduled to perform at Madison Square Garden on Monday, June 13th. The North American leg of the Justice World Tour ends in July, and will hit Australia in November this year.
