"This is pretty serious": Justin Bieber reveals facial paralysis after contracting Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome

The 'Peaches' singer has subsequently postponed a number of his concerts

Singer Justin Bieber has spoken out on Instagram amid a wave of concert postponements, revealing he has had to delay his shows due to a medical issue. In a video posted to his social media account, he explained he had been diagnosed with an illness which had paralysed the right side of his face.

The star was set to perform at a number of international shows over the course of his Justice world tour, with a number of American shows this month listed on his tour website. Other musicians including Jaden Smith and Harry Hudson were also scheduled to perform alongside him. 

The ‘Baby’ singer said in his video he had contracted Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome, a virus which “attacks the nerve in my ear, my facial nerves.”

As he spoke to the camera, he demonstrated the partial facial paralysis as he attempted to smile and blink - without any response from the muscles in the right side of his face. 

According to the NHS, Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome is a “more severe cause of facial paralysis” and added on its website: “Less than half of patients will recover completely.”

In a video posted yesterday, Bieber said, “I wanted to update you guys on what’s going on. Obviously as you can probably see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay-Hunt syndrome.”

“As you can see (my right) eye is not blinking, I can’t smile on this side of my face, this nostril will not move. So there’s full paralysis on this side of my face,” he continued.

He continued that he was currently doing “facial exercises” to help rehabilitate his paralysed features, and was taking time off to recuperate. However, he said he no idea how long it would take for him to recover. He also addressed fans who were “frustrated” by his cancellations, adding, “I’m just physically, obviously not capable of doing them. This is pretty serious, as you can see.”

“Obviously, my body is telling me I gotta slow down…I gotta go get my rest on, so that I can get my face back to where it’s supposed to be,” he said.

The singer, who is a devout Christian, also continued that he believed the illness had happened for a “reason.” He said, “I’m not sure what that is right now, but in the meantime I’m gonna rest.”

Scheduled venues over the course of Bieber’s Justice world tour have addressed the postponements over the past week, with Capital One Arena in Washington DC stating the concert had been postponed “due to a non-COVID-related illness.”