In response to an allegation made this weekend, Justin Bieber took to Twitter Sunday evening to deny sexually assaulting a woman while staying at an Austin Four Seasons Hotel on March 9, 2014. While the singer admits he was in town that week to perform, Bieber says he stayed at an AirBnB, then a Westin, during his trip, where he was joined by ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez. The singer also posted a hotel receipt and AirBnB confirmation email in an attempt to refute the accusation. “Rumors are rumors but sexual abuse is something I don’t take lightly,†Bieber tweeted. “I wanted to speak out right away but out of respect to so many victims who deal with these issues daily I wanted to make sure I gathered the facts before I made any statement.â€
According to the singer, he never had a room at the Four Seasons in Austin and suggests a tweet spotting him at the hotel’s restaurant is the source of the claim. Bieber says he stayed with Gomez at an AirBnB March 9 and moved to a Westin on March 10, posting redacted confirmation emails and a hotel checkout slip under the name Mike Lowery, which Bieber claims is a now-former alias. The singer alleges he has also “confirmed with the Four Seasons regional manager that I was never on property on the 9th of March 2014 and never a guest on the 9th or the 10th and I welcome all press to inquire with them if needed or wanted.â€
Writes Bieber, ‘’Every claim of sexual abuse should be taken very seriously and this is why my response was needed. However this story is factually impossible and that is why I will be working with twitter and authorities to take legal action.†The singer has yet to reply to a separate accusation stemming from an alleged May 2015 sexual assault.