Justin Bieber's mother courts conflict with backing for abortion film
Justin Bieber may cause hysteria among millions of teenage girls around the globe, but the Canadian-born pop star is not known for getting mixed up in political controversy. That clean-cut image might be about to change as his mother, Pattie Mallette, 37, is one of the driving forces behind a prize-winning US film that aims to raise millions for the anti-abortion cause.
The short film, called Crescendo, will be shown at 100 events and screenings in the country at the end of next month, and organisers hope to show it at about 1,000 venues worldwide in the course of the year. They aim eventually to raise $10m that will be put towards running "crisis pregnancy centres".
Mallette, a Christian who has been outspoken about her anti-abortion beliefs, is preparing to take a strong role in promoting the film, on which she is also credited as an executive producer. She has recorded a short video statement to be shown at screenings and will appear at some events. Pictures of Mallette and her famous son have been posted on the film's website, and in a video there she refers obliquely to her megastar offspring. "I'm the mother of Justin Bieber. We both know firsthand the importance of the work being done at pregnancy centres across the country," she says.
Mallette, who does not often give press interviews, has described her struggles when she was pregnant at 17 with Justin. In her memoir Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom, published last year, she wrote of being pressured to have an abortion and deciding not to go through with it. "I knew that I had to do what it took," she wrote. "I just couldn't abort him."
full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/26/justin-bieber-mother-anti-abortion-film
I expect Crescendo to pass by quickly and end up in the bargain bin just like that other anti-abortion film from last year, October Baby.
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