Justin Bieber’s incredible turnaround: Star looks happy and healthy as he makes a sweet comment about his son Jack while attending charity hockey match after hitting back at drug claims

Justin Bieber was in good spirits after hitting back at claims that he is using drugs, as he attended the Skate For LA Strong charity hockey game on Sunday.

Just over 24 hours before, the singer, 30, sparked concern with his dishevelled appearance, leading his representatives to assure fans all is well.

And now, Justin has proven he is the picture of health, speaking to the Los Angeles Kings’ media team before taking to the ice for the match.

Offering a glimpse into his life as a new father, Justin revealed he is hoping to teach his son Jack Blues how to ice skate ‘as soon as possible.’

Asked by the reporter whether it’s ‘too early’ to teach his son how to skate, Justin replied: ‘It’s never too early.’

As he took to the ice in a personalised jersey, Justin flashed a smile for the crowds while joking around with hockey great Mark Messier, and even took part in a playful brawl with former play Jeremy Roenick. 

‘We’re looking to have a good time and show when we come together, good things happen,’ Bieber said prior to the ‘Skate for LA Strong’ game aimed at benefitting victims of the recent wildfires. 

It comes days after the Biebers shut down speculation regarding fans’ concerns over the pop star’s health.

Fans who have seen recent paparazzi images of the entertainer looking unusually tired and disheveled have speculated online that the former teen heartthrob could be using drugs. 

But a rep for the Yummy hitmaker told TMZ last week: ‘The recurring narrative that Justin is using hard drugs is absolutely not true.’

It was added that the father-of-one is ‘in one of the best places in his life.’

Bieber’s representative also explained that he has endured a ‘very transformative’ past year, in which ‘he ended several close friendships and business relationships that no longer served him.’

As he prioritises his marriage, fatherhood and creating art he’s passionate about, the star is said to feel drained by rumors that he is struggling with his mental and physical health.

The rep described the recent reports as ‘exhausting and pitiful,’ adding that it ‘shows that despite the obvious truth, people are committed to keeping negative, salacious, harmful narratives alive.’ 

Earlier this month, Justin had worried fans after he was seen looking red-eyed with dark circles around his eyes in New York City. 

Sources told TMZ, however, that his weary appearance was the result of a restless night recording in the studio and ‘caring for his son who was having trouble falling asleep as well.’

In 2020, Bieber bravely spoke out about his past experiences with drug addiction. 

In an episode of his documentary series Justin Bieber: Sessions, the performer revealed he first began smoking marijuana when he was ’12 or 13.’ 

By 13, he recalled launching to fame and the ‘overwhelming transition’ of navigating life in the spotlight as a young teenager. 

Eventually, he said he started to do ‘pretty heavy drugs’ and began depending on marijuana heavily, before also turning to alcohol.

According to USA Today, Bieber also revealed he would drink lean (also known as Sizzurp, which is a mixture of Codeine cough syrup, soda, and hard candy), taking pills, MDMA and psychedelic mushrooms.

He ended up deciding to get sober after feeling like he ‘was dying.’ 

‘My security and stuff would come into my room at night to check my pulse,’ he said on his docuseries. ‘People don’t know how serious it got. It was legit crazy scary. I was waking up in the morning and the first thing I was doing was popping pills and smoking a blunt and starting my day. It just got scary.’ 

His former manager, Scooter Braun, stated that Bieber entered a ‘dark period’ between 19 to 21. 

‘He’s gone through a lot in a very short life,’ Braun explained. ‘You don’t always agree with someone’s decisions in that moment. There’re young people making decisions that affect a lot of people and sometimes in those scenarios, you’re gonna make the right the right decision, sometimes you’re gonna make the wrong.’ 

Bieber’s wife, Hailey, speculated that he turned to substances to self-medicate his then-undiagnosed ‘crippling anxiety.’ 

On his YouTube Premium documentary, Justin explained doing drugs ‘was just an escape’ for him. 

The Yummy hitmaker made headlines as a teenager for getting into trouble with the law, and says he ‘valued the wrong things’ in life because they were being ‘dangled’ in front of him.

He added: ‘I started valuing the wrong things in this business because there were things dangling in front of me. The truth is, I never had the tools. My parents never gave me those tools to be a good team player.’

Eventually, Bieber said he asked God to help get him ‘through this season of stopping these pills and stuff’ and that he would ‘do the rest of the work.’ 

In 2021, he reflected on using drugs as a ‘numbing agent to just continue to get through’ as he grappled with still feeling pain and sadness, despite his success. 

Bieber said he got to a point where he was unhappy and his relationships were ‘f***** up.

‘You have all this success in the world, but you’re just like: Well, what is this worth if I’m still feeling empty inside?’

Bieber said religion helped pull him through his tough times, and that he faced his maker with existential questions.

The Baby singer recalled, ‘He is grace: I came to a place where I just was like, ”God, if you’re real, I need you to help me, because I can’t do this on my own. Like, I’m struggling so hard. Every decision I make is out of my own selfish ego.”

‘So I’m just like, ”What is it that you want from me? You put all these desires in my heart for me to sing and perform and to make music – where are these coming from? Why is this in my heart? What’s the point? What is the point of everything? What is the point of me being on this planet?”

Last week Justin supported Hailey at the launch of her pop-up Rhode store in West Hollywood.

Taking to Instagram after the star-studded event, he gushed, ‘Congrats baby on your beautiful @rhode pop up.’ 

And earlier this month the singer used the photo-sharing platform to mark Valentine’s Day with loved-up snaps of the pair.

He wrote in a caption to his nearly 300 million followers: ‘HAPPY VALENTINES DAY FROM THE BIEBERS.’

The following day he shared more cozy images with his wife, whom he wed in 2018, adding a red lips emoji as the caption.

The twosome have been protective of their baby boy, so far only sharing limited photos of the little one. They have yet to reveal his face.