Justin Bieber doesn't care what you think about him because, even if you say something bad, all that does is make the Beliebers close ranks.
"When people see a negative thing about me on a magazine, they're gonna buy it," the 19-year-old pop star says in the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter, featuring the tabloid darling and his manager, Scooter Braun, on the cover.
"Every time some site writes something bad, all my followers go on there, and it brings them more traffic," Bieber continues. "Now they have all the Beliebers on their site, which gives them money from advertisers. They're just worried about money. They don't care about ruining someone's name."
At times, of course, it doesn't seem as if Bieber cares about ruining his name, either, such as when he ends up getting videotaped while sleeping, or when he visits a Brazilian gentleman's club, or when he ticks off his neighbors by allegedly driving too fast around their gated community.
But you know what?
"Not ‘I don't give a f--k' to just be reckless and do whatever, but ‘I don't give a f--k what [people] say," Bieber tells THR.
The Believe artist maintains, "I know who I am and what I'm doing in my life and what I've accomplished and continue to accomplish as a performer, as a writer, as an artist, as a person, as a human being. I'm happy with the man I'm becoming."
Which is important, considering all of the influences that can invade a young celebrity's space if he allows himself to be too impressionable.
"You shouldn't trust anybody," Bieber says, counting off the people he trusts—his mom, his dad and Braun.
"I trust Scooter with my career, he's always made sure I'm taken care of," he explains. "That's it."
The teen also discussed his style, which he acknowledges is "very influenced by black culture."
"But I don't think of it as black or white," he explains. "It's not me trying to act or pose in a certain way. It's a lifestyle— like a suaveness or a swag, per se. But I don't really like to say the word [swag] anymore. It's kind of played out."
After an eventful year, in which controversy seemed to follow him around the globe, Bieber will wrap up his Believe World Tour next month in Australia. And then maybe...a break?
"Michael Jackson didn't do Off the Wall until he was about 23," the kid says. "Bad, not until he was, like, 25 [Jackson was actually 29]. I have all the time in the world."