Justin Bieber explains 'German' gaffe

Justin Bieber has explained why he appeared to tell an interviewer that he did not know what the word "German" means.

The teen pop star was asked in New Zealand if "Bieber" was German for basketball and, after apparently being shown the word on a card, said: "I don't know what that means... We don't say that in America."

Soon after, The Guardian reports, footage recorded in Germany surfaced of Bieber talking about his German great-grandfather and counting to ten in German.

Bieber explained: "I couldn't understand what the guy was saying. I know what German is. Obviously. It sounded like he was saying Jewman.

"I didn't know what he was saying... it's not even German for basketball... It was weird and I didn't get it."

Interviewer Jon Ronson quipped: "By the way, the Jewman word for basketball is 'The game we don't play well'." Bieber responded: "Are you Jewish?" to which Ronson replied "Yes".

After reciting the first line of the Jewish morning and evening prayer, Bieber then said: "Christianity was based off of Jesus being a Jew. I pray all the time. I pray two to three times a day. When I wake up I thank him for my blessings. I thank him for putting me in this position.

"And at the end of the day I get out my Bible. At home-school my tutor is Christian, so we go over Bible verses. It's something that keeps me grounded."

Asked about whether atheists would be better off being Christian, Bieber replied: "They're definitely missing out."

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