Bieber apologises for telling racist joke as teenager

Justin Bieber is apologising after a years-old video surfaced showing the then-teenager telling a racist joke.

In a statement yesterday to The Associated Press, Bieber said when he was a kid he did not realize how certain words could hurt.

He says he learned from his mistakes and apologised for them, and now is apologising again because they have become public.

The British tabloid The Sun first published the video, which is five years' old.

In it, a then 15-year-old Bieber tells a joke about black people that includes the n-word as the punchline.

Before he says it, someone warns him not to - but he says it anyway amid laughter.

The 20-year-old Bieber says ignorance has “no place in our society” and he hopes that others will not make the same mistake that he has.