'X-Factor' Star Cher Lloyd Claims She Was Told as a Teen to Seduce Justin Bieber

Ever since he first exploded onto the music scene in 2009, Justin Bieber has been a household name in pop superstardom. He was just 13 when extraordinary fame found him, and he's had a difficult road from seeing his name suddenly go up in lights to trying to be a functional adult who can maintain a career, marriage, and mental health.

Yet as a podcast interview with X-Factor winner Cher Lloyd proves, nothing in the world of Justin Bieber's career launch was as sparkly and pristine as it seemed from the outside. Cher sat down with Paul C. Brunsen for the We Need to Talk podcast and opened up about the fact that she was told to seduce Justin when she was just a teen.

Here's what we know about her revelation, as well as hints Justin has dropped through the years that he had a very difficult road through young superstardom.

To give some context, Cher Lloyd was 31 years old at the start of 2025, and Justin Bieber was 30. So they are very close in age and were therefore both quite young when the incident occurred, which makes what she's alleging all the more disturbing.

In that interview with Paul, Cher reveals that she was looking for someone to give her a chance while she was trying to launch her career.

Cher described going to her record label as a teenager and saying, "Look, I really need some cash to try and push this record." She was told no, adding that they told her, "What I needed to do to make this record take off was hit some of the clubs and find out where [Justin] Bieber is. And I should go try to get with him."

She described the conversation as "going back years ago [when] I was a teenager." Even though she was young, she was still "very much" with her now-husband at the time, she added.

Cher described realizing that they weren't going to spend money on her album, but that they expected her to go "hook up" with someone famous and "leech off the back of someone else's fame."

She made a face of disgust as she questioned, "Was I not good enough to invest in, that you would rather use me in that way?"

Cher then added that they even told her to hide her marriage to her husband from the record label, because they would have tried to stop it.

Cher's disturbing story is not only a cautionary tale for young women trying to break into the industry, but it's a condemnation of the way a young Justin was treated by industry professionals.

Rather than being appreciated as a talented young star, he was a commodity to be bought, bartered, and sold. His fame was valuable not for the sake of his success, but because of the opportunity it offered to those who could benefit from his star power.

Justin has long been the subject of concern for fans who believe he was exploited and subject to alleged abuses. But one comment he made in an interview with Zane Lowe really drove home just how deeply Justin was impacted by his sudden fame and the way industry professionals used him.

Zane asked him about comments he's made in the past where he says he wants to protect young music superstar Billie Eilish from the damages of the industry.

Justin explained that her fame came on quickly, adding that when he saw her explode onto the scene much like he did, "I wanted to protect the moment. We never know how many opportunities we're gonna get." He continued, "I just want her to be a good example. It was hard for me being that young and being in the industry and not knowing where to turn. Everyone telling me that they loved me and then just turning their back on you in a second."

"So," he clarified, "If she ever needs me, I'm going to be here for her." He got tearful as he explained, "I just want to protect her. I don't want her to go through anything I went through. I don't wish that upon anybody."

While Cher's story about being advised to buy her way into fame by seducing Justin is disturbing, it's just as disturbing to consider the implications of what that meant for a young Justin who probably never knew who to trust or believe.

If everyone is just there for your fame and the opportunities you present, who do you trust?

Luckily, both Justin and Cher are in a place in their lives where they're married (to other people) and seem to be doing well, healing from the ravages of an industry that many feel is designed to use up the potential of young people and spit broken adults out the other end.