Justin Bieber and Sofia Richie Were Photographed (Maybe) Having Sex. The Paps Have Gone Too Far.

“It has gotten to the point that people won’t even say hi to me or recognize me as a human. I feel like a zoo animal, and I wanna be able to keep my sanity.”

That was pop wunderkind Justin Bieber in May of this year, addressing his fraternity of possessed fans on Instagram. Since then, Bieber and the Beliebers—what his dedicated fandom, who claim to have stuck through their pop deity through thick and thin, eggings and arrests, calls themselves—have had some friction.

You see, earlier this month, the Beliebers, for whatever reason, did not take kindly to Bieber posting a flurry of pictures with new squeeze Sofia Richie (then 17-year-old daughter of Lionel, sister of Nicole). They weren’t as concerned with her tenuous legality—the age of consent is 18 in California, y’all—as they were with the Bieber arm candy whiplash they’d been on the receiving end of, since the Canadian CK model had allegedly been dating Hailey Baldwin, but then frolicked in the nude in Hawaii with an Instagram “model” by the name of Sahara Ray, and then coupled up with Richie. So, his fans began harassing Richie and posting nasty comments under their photos, prompting Bieber to issue a warning to his Beliebers: “I’m gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don’t stop the hate this is getting out of hand, if you guys are really fans you wouldn’t be so mean to people I like.”

That only made things worse. Beliebers cried foul, claiming that their chosen one had sided with a new boo over them. Even Bieber’s ex Selena Gomez chimed in on his Instagram, commenting, “If you can’t handle the hate then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol—it should be special between you two only. Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you.” Then Bieber replied, “It’s funny to see people that used me for attention and still try to point the finger this way. Sad. All love.” Anyway, Bieber deleted his Instagram—and its 77 million followers—and Gomez apologized for weighing in on a situation that had nothing to do with her. But now, Bieber has been photographed getting frisky with Richie in parts unknown. Behold:

This led to the hashtag #justinssextapeleakedparty to trend on Twitter in the early hours Sunday morning. The problem is that, aside from a little hanky-panky, there is no Bieber sex tape—it’s merely a few snaps of the singer getting intimate with Richie, who very recently turned 18.

So, you know what: Justin Bieber has a point. The paparazzi should stop following him to parts unknown, to the point where they somehow manage to photograph his penis at a private resort in Bora Bora, or capture him getting intimate with a new girlfriend. Even the biggest pop stars deserve some f*cking privacy.