Cher Lloyd’s Bombshell Confession About Justin Bieber Sparks Fan Backlash

British pop star Cher Lloyd recently opened up about the darker side of the music industry, claiming that executives once encouraged her to pursue a relationship with Justin Bieber to boost her career, and fans have thoughts.

During an appearance on the "We Need to Talk" podcast Tuesday," the singer revealed a shocking conversation she had while promoting her album in the U.S.

Cher Lloyd, who did not specify which record label was responsible for the suggestion, emphasized that the conversation took place “years ago” when she was still a teenager.

Cher Lloyd appeared on a podcast earlier this week, where she talked about the shocking pressures she faced early in her career, revealing that her record label once advised her to pursue a relationship with Justin Bieber to help promote her album.

In the recent interview, Lloyd recalled asking her label for a promotional budget while promoting her album in the U.S., only to be flat-out denied financial support despite the company having spent millions to produce the record. Instead of funding traditional marketing efforts, the label allegedly told her she needed to take a different approach, one that involved a high-profile romance.

“I remember once, while I was living in the U.S. and I was promoting my album, I walked into the record label at the time, and they hadn’t given me a promotional budget,” the 31-year-old recalled. “We spent millions on this album, but there’s no budget to go get people to hear it? So, I walk in and I say, ‘Look, I really need some cash to try and push this record.’”

However, instead of financial support, Lloyd claimed she was met with a stunning suggestion from label executives.

“They basically told me ‘no’ and that what I ‘needed to do’ instead was hit some of the clubs and find out where Bieber is and try to get with him,” she alleged.

Cher Lloyd's shocking revelation that music executives pressured her to pursue Justin Bieber for career gain has sparked outrage among fans, who are calling out the industry's exploitative tactics.

"Welp that's disgusting. These poor young women," one Reddit user said. "I'm glad she had it in her to say no way, but imagine how many people wouldn't have that kind of spirit, since girls are socialized to do what other people want first and take care of themselves last."

"I remember how horribly the media treated Cher when she was first making waves," another chimed in. "This doesn't surprise me, especially hearing Halsey talk about how her label treats her. If the Halsey can get treated like that, there's no hope for the up-and-coming young talent. Record labels have gotten manipulation and abuse down to a fine-honed art."

Lloyd, who was a teenager at the time, was left stunned by the suggestion that she should manufacture a relationship with a more famous artist to increase her visibility.

“I was told to go hook up with someone mega-famous and basically leech off the back of someone else’s fame,” she said.

The "Swagger Jagger" singer expressed frustration, recalling how the incident left her feeling like she wasn’t “good enough to invest in” and that the label was more focused on manufactured publicity stunts than supporting her music.

"The entertainment industry is creative people being taken advantage of by power-hungry sociopaths," a third said after hearing the interview.

As another social media user wrote, "This is honestly disgusting, not just for Cher but for Justin too. I'd imagine that this sort of thing has happened before and considering his bad experience with the industry, it just makes it worse."

They added, "And they're kids. Cher was a teenager here. The exploitation of this industry is really sick."

It remains unclear whether Bieber was aware that his name was allegedly being used to orchestrate a PR romance.

Bieber has been married to Hailey Bieber since 2018, and the couple welcomed their first child, Jack Blues Bieber, in August 2024.

As for Lloyd, she has been happily married to Monk since 2013, and her latest claims shine a light on the questionable tactics used in the music industry to manufacture fame.