On Sunday, June 1, a controversial video showing a 15-year-old Justin Bieber telling a racist joke was leaked online, which caused the singer to issue an apology the next day. It seems the video leak was a result of an extortion attempt that Bieber and his management refused to be a part of.

According to TMZ, their sources say that two months ago, Bieber's reps were contacted by a lawyer representing the person who had possession of the video. The person in question had obtained the video through Bieber's personal hard drive.

The lawyer representing the man said that the video would be released to the media unless Bieber paid him $1 million. Bieber's reps didn't budge and the offer was dropped to $800,000.

Supposedly Bieber's reps still didn't budge and an offer was finally dropped to $500,000. They rejected the extortionist one last time and the video was released a week later.

TMZ states that Bieber's reps were prepared to face the consequences of the video being released.

Earlier today, a video of a young Justin Bieber singing a racist version of 'One Less Lonely Girl' has been released online as well. It's unknown whether this leak is related to the first one.

See Baby + Childhood Pics of Justin Bieber

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