A Mexican official said Friday that Canadian pop star
Justin Bieber and his entourage were asked to leave the Mayan archaeological
site of Tulum after he apparently tried to climb onto or among the ruins.
The official of the National Institute of Anthropology and
History spoke on condition of anonymity because he or she was not authorized to
be quoted by name.
Bieber was visiting the seaside ruins on Thursday when the
incident occurred.
The official could not specify which of the site’s
structures Bieber allegedly had climbed, but said he was “asked to
leave.”
Visitors can climb some pre-Hispanic pyramids in Mexico,
but officials rope off or place ‘no entry’ signs on some ruins that are
considered vulnerable or unstable.
Bieber has been involved in several incidents in Latin
America in recent years.
In 2013, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto denied a
tweet by Bieber saying the singer met with the leader and his family prior to a
show.
Apparently, Bieber was confused about whether the president
was there or not. Bieber later wrote in a tweet, “correction. I met the
presidente’s family and all their friends in the private meet and greet with
all their security. They were very nice.”
That same year, Bieber faced two criminal complaints and
demands for refunds in Argentina, in addition to trouble with police for
allegedly spraying graffiti in Brazil.
Bieber angered Argentines by abandoning a concert after
less than an hour and not showing up for a photo-op that some fans paid
hundreds of dollars extra for. The singer’s manager said Bieber came down with
food poisoning after a concert.
One Argentine lawyer accused Bieber of sending bodyguards
to attack a photographer outside a Buenos Aires nightclub.
Another accused him of defiling the national symbol by
dragging two Argentine flags off stage with his feet and a microphone stand
before 45,000 “beliebers” during the first of two concerts in River
Plate stadium.
Bieber also walked off the stage in Brazil, ending a
concert early after someone threw a plastic bottle at him and Brazilian police
tried unsuccessfully to question him about defacing a public building with
graffiti, a crime that carries a year’s prison sentence.
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