Who People Think Justin Bieber Ended A Friendship With Over Heated Text Messages
Drama and personal feuds are nothing new for the troubled singer.
DFree | Shutterstock Drama seems to follow certain celebrities, including Justin Bieber. Bieber has been known to get into scuffles with paparazzi and openly feud with people from his life. Recent events have proved no different, as Bieber shared a trio of screenshots on Instagram from a text message conversation with a former friend.
Fans were obviously intrigued by the texts and wondered who the other person in the conversation was. Now, after some clever amateur detective work, they think they may have determined who that person is.
People think that Bieber ended his friendship with singer Ernie Halter over their heated text messages.
On June 16, 2025, Bieber posted three screenshots to his Instagram account that showed an angry text message thread between him and an anonymous friend. Bieber did not share any caption with the post that could have offered a further explanation. Throughout the conversation, Bieber and his unknown friend seemed to be arguing over the way he expressed his anger.
“I will never suppress my emotions for someone,” he wrote. “Conflict is part of relationship. If you don’t like my anger, you don’t like me.” He continued, “My anger is a response to pain I have been through. Asking a traumatized person not to be traumatized is simply mean.”
As for the anonymous recipient of Bieber’s texts, they seemed to be utterly confused. “I’m not used to someone lashing out at me,” they replied. “It’s not that I don’t see and feel your anger.” This was, apparently, the wrong thing to say, as Bieber responded by saying, “This friendship is officially over. I will never accept a man calling my anger lashing out. I enjoyed our short-lived relationship.”
Fans took to Reddit to discuss the situation and try to determine who Bieber was talking with.
On the website’s r/popculturechat forum, one person shared the screenshots Bieber had posted on Instagram along with a very important clue. Musician Ernie Halter, a known friend of Bieber’s, shared a cryptic and intriguing message on his own Instagram story shortly after Bieber made his post.
“Literally the most hurtful exchange I can remember having,” he said. “I’m not going to stir the pot or post screenshots. I’m going to continue respecting this person’s privacy.”
Bieber ended his side of the text conversation by saying, “Blocking [you] now.” It seems like he made good on this threat. In another Reddit post, this one on r/HaileyBaldwinSnark, a user shared screenshots of their own that proved Bieber and Halter no longer followed each other on Instagram.
Redditors speculated what could have caused the blowup fight that led to the end of the friendship. One person built on the rumor that Bieber is an addict and said, “Ernie probably offered help or let Justin know he is concerned. What will an addict do when offered help? They do exactly what Justin did.”
“I think Ernie is just trying to help,” another person said. “I understand [where] Justin is coming from but he should have told him nicely in private.”
Who is Ernie Halter, and what is his relationship to Justin Bieber?
At 51 years old, Halter is 20 years Bieber’s senior, which could have made him a good potential role model, as some Reddit commenters pointed out. Halter is a singer-songwriter who, according to his website, began his career by playing small shows at coffeehouses. His music really took off with the advent of MySpace and YouTube.
But, Halter reached true success when Bieber covered one of his songs, “Come Home to Me,” in 2011, per Sportskeeda. Around that time, Bieber and his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez also attended one of Halter’s shows.
Halter is also married and a father of three. He said he was “blessed” by his family on his website.
While Bieber referred to their friendship as being “short-lived,” he clearly has a long history with Halter. It’s unfortunate that their friendship had to break down this way.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
