Justin Bieber apologises for April Fools' pregnancy prank

Justin Bieber performs in New York in December, 2016. The singer abruptly pulled out of his `Purpose` world tour in 2017, citing the need for rest. Photo: Reuters
Justin Bieber performs in New York in December, 2016. The singer abruptly pulled out of his `Purpose` world tour in 2017, citing the need for rest. Photo: Reuters

Singer Justin Bieber has apologised to his fans for sharing a fake pregnancy post on April Fools Day.

Sharing a snapshot of a news article which read "Justin Bieber slammed on social media for fake pregnancy news", he took to Instagram and wrote: "There's always gonna be people offended, there's also people who don't take jokes very well, I am a prankster and it was April Fools. I didn't at all mean to be insensitive to people who can't have children."

The "Sorry" hitmaker took the responsibility for the post and apologised to people who got offended by it.

"I will apologise anyway and take responsibility and say sorry to people who were offended. I truly don't want anyone to be hurt by a prank.. it's like when I shoved cake in my little sister's face for her birthday expecting her to laugh but she cried.

"You sometimes just don't know what will hurt someone's feelings not to compare pregnancy with cake in the face but it's just to paint the picture of not knowing what will offend. Some might have laughed but some were offended. I think With pranks you sometimes have to roll that dice," he added.

On Monday, Bieber shared a caption-less photograph of an ultrasound on the photo sharing application, implying that he and his wife Hailey Baldwin were expecting their first child together.

He took the joke a step further by sharing several images of Baldwin touching her bare stomach while surrounded by two gloved medical professionals, in what appeared to be a doctor's office, reports usatoday.com.

Bieber later added an Instagram post of a puppy photoshopped into the ultrasound, captioning it as "April Fools".

But his joke did not go well with the netizens as they started slamming the singer on social media.