Bieber's Getting Sued Again By Former Neighbor

Oh baby Bieber, what's going on with you? Justin Bieber is being sued again, and just when he started trying to clean up his image. On Friday, Bieber's former neighbor Jeffrey Schwartz — you know, the one whose house he egged a year ago — filed a new lawsuit against Bieber for "assault and battery, trespassing and infliction of emotional distress claims." Schwartz said that before the egging incident, one of Bieber's bodyguards allegedly hurled anti-Semitic remarks at him, calling him a "little Jew boy," and that Bieber himself once spit on him. Not sure how Bieber's camp will deny that... Egg-gate happened all the way back in January 2014, one year in real time and a thousand years in Internet time, so you may have forgotten.

In his defense — a phrase I rarely use in conjunction with J. Biebs — the singer, who was only 19 at the time of the incident, already paid $80,000 in restitution to Schwartz and his family.

The new lawsuit could definitely put a dent in Bieber's recent campaign to clean up his image and win back the hearts of America. Most notably he subjected himself to what was apparently a brutal Comedy Central roast which even Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg showed up for, not to mention Shaq himself. Even though it Bieber kept a pained smile on his face throughout the roast, host Kevin Hart said that he's pretty sure Bieber cried in the car on the way home. Regardless of whether he cried or not, Bieber tried to be genuine when he ended his roast (with a monkey on his shoulder) saying,

You have my word — I will not end up broken, pathetic, bitter or sitting on someone else’s roast. I’m at a moment of change. This is a new day.

OK... besides throwing shade at all the comedians and celebrities at his roast, it seemed like Bieber was being genuine. But the proof is in the pudding, so it will be interesting to see how he handles the new lawsuit filed by Schwartz.

The lawsuit "cites loud parties and frequent marijuana use while Bieber lived next door as causing the Schwartz family emotional distress," as well as distress caused by his fans harassing the Schwartz family with threatening messages. Bieber, now 21, is still on probation for the egging incident, after he payed restitution and completed community service.

So should we feel bad for Bieber? When he signed off at his roast, from the transcripts at least, he seemed like he really wanted to turn over a new leaf, saying that he was thrust into the industry when he was very young (12 years old, in fact) and that messed him all up. Which, OK, is valid. Fame is a hell of a drug, and a lot of child stars struggle with it. But come on Bieber, 19 years old is old enough to know you shouldn't egg a neighbor's house, ESPECIALLY when you're constantly in the public eye.

Look, who knows what kind of damage this new lawsuit will do to Bieber's attempts to get back in everyone's good graces. Can you put a price on emotional distress, especially for something so hateful as anti-Semitic comments? You can't really tell a victim of such attacks that they are over-reacting. As Bieber wants to repent for his bad behavior in the past, the best thing he could do here is accept responsibility. That doesn't exactly mean he will pay up, but we can only wait and see. Do the right thing, Bieber!

Images: Getty Images