Justin Bieber cancels shows after half of his face is left paralyzed by virus

Justin Bieber revealed on Friday that a virus has left the right side of his face paralyzed, forcing him to cancel a number of shows.

The 28-year-old musician announced in an Instagram video shared with his 240 million followers that the condition is due to a diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

According to Mayo Clinic, Ramsay Hunt syndrome is when “a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near someone’s ears” which is what Bieber explained in the video.

Earlier this week, the ‘Peaches’ singer postponed the opening stretch of the North American leg of the Justice World Tour, at the time citing an unspecified “sickness”.

“It is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis,” the Canada-born singer said in the three-minute video, pointing to the right side of his face.

Bieber asked his fans to be patient as more of his upcoming dates will likely get canceled, adding that he is “physically, obviously, not capable of doing them”.

The ‘Baby’ singer tried to smile and blink to show fans how the side of his face does not move, saying: “This is pretty serious, as you can see. I wish this wasn’t the case, but, obviously, my body’s telling me I’ve got to slow down.”

“I hope you guys understand. I’ll be using this time to just rest and relax and get back to a hundred percent so that I can do what I was born to do,” he added.

Bieber comforted fans that his facial paralysis will subside over time. “I’m doing all of these facial exercises to get my face back to normal,” he said, highlighting that “it will go back to normal, it’s just time, and we don’t know how much time it’s going to be”.

He concluded: “I have hope, and I trust God, and I trust that this is… all for a reason. I’m not sure what that is right now, but in the meantime, I’m going to rest.”

The Mayo Clinic says that for most people, the symptoms of Ramsay Hunt syndrome are temporary but can become permanent.

It’s not confirmed when the singer will be back on stage. In an update posted to his Instagram Story just hours ago, he noted that “[it’s] been getting progressively harder to eat, which has been extremely frustrating”.

Credit: InstagramBieber had been scheduled to perform in Washington DC and Toronto earlier this week, with tour dates also planned in New York’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

He was also set to return to perform in Europe, followed by concerts in South America, South Africa, India, South East Asia, Japan, and Australia throughout the remainder of 2022.

We wish Bieber all the best in his recovery.