Justin Bieber corrects himself, didn't meet Mexico leader

MEXICO CITY - Agence France-Presse

AP Photo

Pop star Justin Bieber was forced to correct himself on Tuesday after claiming on Twitter that he had met President Enrique Pena Nieto before a show in Mexico City, prompting the government to deny such a meeting had taken place.
 
It was the latest twist in the 19-year-old Canadian singer's controversy-filled "Believe Tour" in Latin America.
 
Late Monday, Bieber, who calls his fans "beliebers," wrote to his 47 million followers on Twitter that he had "just met some amazing mexican beliebers and the presidente of mexico and his familia." Minutes later, the president's office tweeted to its more than 845,000 followers: "@PresidenciaMX denies a meeting between the holder of the executive @EPN and the singer @justinbieber." Bieber changed his tune on Tuesday, writing: "*correction. I met the presidente's family and all their friends in the private meet and greet with all their security. They were very nice." The president's press office said it could not confirm whether his family had been at the show, but Pena Nieto was busy working with his cabinet at his official residence late Monday.
 
Bieber, who will perform again on Tuesday in Mexico City, attracted throngs of adoring and screeching fans outside his hotel in the ritzy district of Polanco early Monday.
 
Bieber's tour of Latin America has been plagued by scandals.
 
In Rio de Janeiro, the singer was charged with tagging the wall of an abandoned hotel, photographed leaving a notorious brothel and thrown out of another hotel.
 
Before heading to Mexico, he caused outrage in Argentina by stepping on an Argentine flag thrown onto the stage during a concert.
 
Then Argentine authorities seized his concert gear following a lawsuit filed by a photographer who sued for damages, alleging that Bieber's bodyguards hit him and damaged his equipment as the singer was leaving a nightclub.