Last month, two anonymous Twitter accounts accused Justin Bieber of sexual assault in 2015 and 2014, respectively. On Thursday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted a motion allowing the singer to officially subpoena the platform for the identities of his accusers, nearly a month after the singer filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against the users, referred to in the filing as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2.
“We just want to uncover who is behind these two accounts and it may be the same person,†Bieber’s attorney Evan N. Spiegel told L.A. Superior Court Judge Terry Green, who, according to NBC Los Angeles, was not familiar with Bieber or his work. When told the singer was very well-known to certain demographics, the judge quipped, “I gather demographics not 73 and over.†Per NBC LA, “Spiegel told Green that the women cannot be served until they are identified and that the subpoena placed on Twitter will help, but that it may take months to obtain the information from the social networking service.â€
On June 20, a Twitter user identifying herself as Danielle alleged that the singer sexual assaulted her at a Four Seasons hotel while he was in Austin performing during March 2014. Another user, going by Kadi, alleged Justin Bieber’s bodyguard invited her up to a New York hotel room following a 2015 meet-and-greet, where she claimed Bieber assaulted her. The singer denied the allegations in a subsequent Twitter thread, claiming they were “factually impossible†while posting Austin hotel receipts and AirBnB confirmation emails to bolster his denial. Said Bieber, “Rumors are rumors but sexual abuse is something I don’t take lightly.â€
Per Twitter’s guidelines, “Non-public information about Twitter users will not be released to law enforcement except in response to appropriate legal process such as a subpoena, court order, other valid legal process, or in response to a valid emergency request.†In his lawsuit, the singer alleges the users “fraudulently schemed to seek attention and fame by maliciously posting despicable, blatantly false, fabricated, defamatory accusations that Justin Bieber engaged in sexual assault.â€