While everyone seems to be speculating about what exactly is going on with Justin Bieber, there’s not nearly as much discussion about the bizarre drama surrounding his clothing brand, Drew House.
Justin, 31, has been met with raised eyebrows from fans over the last few months, with concerns ramping up during the annual Coachella music festival in Indio, California.
The singer smoked an unidentified roll-up next to his teenage brother at one event, with separate fan footage showing him hunched over and bobbing along loosely to his 2015 song What Do You Mean?, appearing unsteady on his feet and even somewhat disoriented.
Given the pop icon’s recent appearance of poor health, a string of erratic social media posts, and aggressive behavior toward paparazzi, many fans suspect that all may not be well with the Baby singer.
Perhaps the real source of the drama is an aspect of his life that the media has largely ignored: the disintegration of his clothing brand, Drew House, and his relationship with the brand’s creative director, Ryan Good.
Although Ryan was the best man at Justin’s wedding, the two reportedly haven’t spoken in over a year, with tensions arising from Justin’s relationship with his pastor, Judah Smith.
A source close to the situation told TMZ that Ryan felt the faith community he and Justin were a part of – called Churchome and led by Judah – ‘was a cult and he wanted out.’
As Ryan began to separate himself from the church in recent years, Justin only got closer to Judah, according to the source, even adding him to the board of Drew House a few years ago, a decision with which Ryan disagreed.
After TMZ posted the article with statements from this source, a follow up post went up hours later with sources close to Justin explaining the singer felt that the brand was ‘no longer his’ and wanted to distance himself from his ex-manager, Scooter Braun, who is heavily involved with the brand.
This source also claimed that Justin was always outvoted on board decisions, which Drew House subsequently denied via comments from…even more anonymous sources.
The Drew House sources stressed to the publication that Ryan is not angry with Justin, but is very concerned about the amount of influence Churchome and Judah have in his life. These sources again called Churchome ‘a cult.’
Now, it appears that Justin has distanced himself from the brand altogether. Here’s everything we know about the drama in Drew House and the church that appears to be connected to it.
Is Justin Bieber no longer a part of Drew House?
Earlier this month, Justin dropped an AI-generated video of him setting fire to a house filled with the brand’s merch, then leaving the fire to join his wife Hailey and their new baby, Jack.
The family then moves towards a structure shaped like the logo for his upcoming brand, Skylrk, which he’s been teasing for over a year.
Later that week, he made things even clearer, posting an Instagram story that read: ‘I Justin Bieber am no longer involved in this brand,’ the singer wrote over a screenshot of Drew House’s Instagram page.
‘Drew House doesn’t represent me or my family or life … If your [sic] rocking with me the human Justin Bieber don’t waste ur money on Drew House.’
Clearly angry about something to do with the brand, Ryan Good (or the sources speaking for him, anyway) seems convinced Judah Smith is at the heart of the conflict.
Who is Judah Smith?
Pattie Mallette, Justin Bieber’s mother, first saw Judah Smith speak in 2010 when he was the co-leader of the youth ministry at the City Church, which was then an average-sized place of worship.
She liked what he had to say and thought her 16-year-old son, who was dealing with the tumult of stardom, could benefit from his influence. So she invited him and his wife, Chelsea, to a concert.
It was the beginning of one of the most enduring influences in Justin’s life (he and Judah even have matching tattoos as of 2017). Nearly a decade later, the Smiths’ nondenominational church – now called Churchome but formerly known as City Church – draws more than 10,000 people a week across five West Coast locations.
The church’s L.A. services are nearly as star-studded as an awards show, with the Kardashians and other A-listers often spotted in the pews.
The Smiths also introduced Justin to Carl and Laura Lentz, who lead the New York location of Australian megachurch Hillsong, which serves as a sort of sister church to Churchome.
However, in 2020, Carl and Justin’s friendship ended after the now-disgraced pastor was ex-communicated from the church amid reports that he had been unfaithful to his wife, Laura. This, reportedly, only brought Jonah and Justin closer.
Churchome advertises itself as progressive and hip, with Judah often dressed in designer street style as he preaches, but its actual values are far more conservative. In 2005, Judah told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that he aimed to ‘get congregants while they were young’ and made it clear he thought abortion was an abominable sin, among other conservative views.
When asked about his views on homosexuality, he left litte room for confusion: ‘[It’s] a sin, the same as murder, rape, or living with your girlfriend.’
Is Churchome a cult?
Of course, none of this means that Churchome is a cult…necessarily.
It is widely agreed that a group can be considered a cult if it exhibits the following characteristics: a charismatic leader, intense group loyalty, isolation from outside influences, and a high degree of control over members’ lives.
Meeting these specifications doesn’t necessarily make something a cult, but it certainly increases the likelihood.
There’s no question that Judah Smith has more star power and influence over his congregants than the average pastor. In fact, he’s become a celebrity in his own right, even occasionally signing autographs out and about in LA. He also had nearly 800,000 followers on Instagram.
Charismatic leader? Check.
What are the common characteristics of a cult?
It is worth noting that a group with cult-like characteristics is not inherently bad or harmful. Many fitness programs have cult-like characteristics, as do other positive social groups like families.
However, the presence of cult-like characteristics in a group makes its members more vulnerable to abuse and manipulation.
While there is no single definitive definition of a cult, some aspects they share include:
- A charismatic leader
- Intense group loyalty
- Isolation from outside influences
- A high degree of control over members’ lives.
The DailyMail has also reported that: ‘One Churchome employee is also in the midst of suing the organisation after she claimed she and other staffers were forced to donate 10 per cent of their wages back to the church or they’d face termination.’
It’s notable that there seems to be a degree of financial buy-in expected of the church’s congregants as well. The church’s total revenue in 2017 was approximately $20 million, with $18.5 million coming from ‘tithes,’ traditionally a tenth of congregants’ incomes.
Intense group loyalty? Check.
There is also a lack of information available about the church, which creates a hush-hush attitude surrounding its values and practices — a common aspect of cult-like groups.
Judah will no longer answer questions about the church’s beliefs on contentious topics like homosexuality and abortion, telling The Daily Beast diplomatically: ‘Those are topics that I think are very important, but I wonder sometimes if we are approaching them with people in mind, or policies in mind. And I’d love to err on the people-minded side.’
Additionally, if Ryan Good’s claims are accurate – that Judah is isolating Justin from his inner circle and exerting control over even the most secular aspects of his life – then the whole situation carries an unmistakable cult-leader vibe.
And Judah hasn’t just gotten involved in Justin’s clothing brand, he’s also been involved in his music. The pastor was featured on Justin’s song Where You Go I Follow in 2021 and was also a part of the album release for Justin’s LP, Purpose.
Isolation from outside influences, and a high degree of control over members’ lives? Check and check.
So while there’s no concrete evidence that Churchome is any more toxic than any other church, it certainly ticks all the boxes for the kind of organisation that could be a cult, more so than the average church.
There will undoubtedly be more drama to come (and probably more ‘anonymous’ sources pleading their cases), but it’s clear that something is rotten in the House of Drew. And maybe that thing has to do with Judah Smith.
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