According to Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, they did not pay to have their new song, “Stuck With U,” debut at number one on the Billboard chart. That’s right, the two stars just took to Instagram to set the record straight and slam allegations that they purchased the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren’t the driving force in anything I do. I’m grateful to sing. Grateful to have people who want to listen. Grateful to even be here at all. I didn’t have a number one for the first five years of my career and it didn’t upset me at all because from the bottom of my heart, music is everything to me. My fans are everything to me. I promise I couldn’t ask for another f**king thing,” the “Dangerous Woman” songstress wrote. “I don’t give my energy to drama or strange accusations normally but this has gone a little too far… My fans bought the song. Justin’s fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE). They are ride or die motherf**kers and I thank God every day that I have them in my life. Not just when they fight for us to win (even when I ask them not to as i did this week) but because they’re some of the greatest people I know. Sales count for more than streams. You can not discredit this as hard as you try.”

For those who missed it, the two stars teamed up for the brand new song, which dropped on May 8, 2020, and get this — “all net proceeds from the sales and streams of it will fund grants and scholarships for children of first responders who have been impacted by COVID-19.”

“To anybody that is displeased with their placement on the chart this week or who is spending their time racking their brain thinking of as many ways as they can to discredit hardworking women (and only the women for some reason), I ask you to take a moment to humble yourself,” Ariana continued. “Be grateful you’re even here. That people want to listen to you at all. It’s a blessed position to be in. I’ve had a lot of ‘almost number ones’ in my career and I never said a d**n thing because I FEEL GRATEFUL TO EVEN BE HERE. TO WANT TO BE HEARD AT ALL …. and you should feel that way too. Congratulations to all my talented a** peers in the top ten this week. Even number three. And thank you to @billboard for this honor. And thank you to everybody who helped us raise a lot of money for a very important cause this week. Love you all a lot.”

The 26-year-old singer’s post came just days after a video came out of Tekashi 6ix9ine (whose new song, “Gooba,” debuted at number three on the chart this week), where he claimed that the numbers were faked.

Justin also responded in a post of his own, writing on his Instagram Stories, “He said 30 thousand [copies of the song] were bought with six credit cards but that is a lie. The rules are clear, one credit card can buy max four copies. Anything over that the entire amount gets thrown out. Nielsen company checks this and found all our sales were legit because our fans are amazing and bought them. Don’t discredit our fan base with false info. This is my song with Ariana Grande and I’m honored to work with her for a great cause.”

Justin Bieber Didn't Buy Number One Billboard Spot
Instagram

Tekashi then replied with one last Instagram video, which showed the house he grew up in.

“@arianagrande All I’m saying is I worked super hard to make it out of Brooklyn, NY. I speak for the millions of kids who aren’t as fortunate as you. The millions who weren’t fortunate to be on TV,” he captioned it. “LIFE is REAL when you’re on welfare LIFE is REAL when you grow up with out a father. You don’t know what that is like. You say for me to be humble… I don’t think you know what humble is… YOU ARE VERY TALENTED AND BEAUTIFUL GOD BLESS YOU. But you will NEVER UNDERSTAND MY PAIN.”

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