Who is Ernie Halter? Fans speculate that Justin Bieber's cryptic texts are directed at the singer after they blocked each other on Instagram
Justin Bieber recently courted controversy after uploading several screenshots of his text messages with an unnamed person. The messages showed that he ended their friendship due to them allegedly invalidating or downplaying his trauma.
While he did not disclose who the messages' recipient was, several fans on Reddit believe the texts were directed at Ernie Halter, after discovering that they seemingly blocked each other on Instagram.
For the uninitiated, Ernie Halter is a singer/songwriter born in Inglewood, California. His name hit mainstream media after Justin Bieber covered his song Come Home to Me in 2011.
On June 16, 2025, Reddit user u/Fair_Peach_9436 took to the social media platform to upload two screenshots that showed Bieber and Halter were not following each other on social media, despite having followed each other in the past.
Reddit user u/Honeysunset wondered if Halter allegedly reached out to check on Bieber, causing the singer to react negatively. The user wrote:
"Ernie probably offered help or let Justin know he is concerned. What will an addict do when offered help? They do exactly what Justin just did."
Meanwhile, u/boredinthishouse theorized whether Justin Bieber "lashed out" at Halter for a seemingly "small" reason, causing them to end their friendship and block each other on Instagram.
"Apparently this is Ernie Halter. There’s speculation because JB blocked him after recently following him. I bet he lashed out at this dude for something as small as Halter asking how he’s doing. He will never be okay if he keeps this attitude and has a bunch of yes men around him. Insane behaviour and no accountability at all. Who would want to be friends with a person like JB smh," the user remarked.
However, user u/TFD14 commented that they were willing to give Justin Bieber the "benefit of the doubt" if the messages were directed at Ernie Halter. The user also claimed that Halter was "close" with Bieber's former manager, Scooter Braun, who recently alleged that his relationship with the singer was "not the same that it was," during a June 9 interview with The Diary of a CEO.
"We don’t know the full context, there’s definitely more to it, esp considering this message. Ernie Halter and Scooter are close, so I’m giving Justin the benefit of the doubt. He doesn’t need to stay close with people from the past who took advantage of him. But yeah he needs a break, he's been super active lately, and that’s not the best for his mental health," the Reddit user wrote.
Ernie Halter's popularity grew through MySpace
According to his website, Ernie Halter was born in Inglewood, California, in 1974. He was raised in Orange County as the youngest of three children. Halter calls himself "Cuboslavian," as his mom is from Cuba and his dad is from Yugoslavia. He began playing the piano at the age of eight and later switched to the guitar at 15.
Halter began playing gigs in small coffee shops in 1992. He released his solo album, Lo Fidelity, in 2005. In a 2015 interview with the Phoenix New Times, Halter described that his debut album was "very me," continuing:
"I'd say that's very me. I'd say soulful is the big thing. I love Stevie [Wonder] and Ray Charles and Aretha [Franklin]. That's my wheelhouse. But, I also love the Beatles, James Taylor, and the songwriter tradition. I think it really connects with who I am."
Following the advent of the internet, Ernie Halter started a MySpace profile and quickly amassed a growing audience by 2007. In 2011, Bieber performed a cover of his song Come Home To Me, which furthered his popularity. Speaking about the cover in the interview with the Phoenix New Times, Halter said:
"I don't think it really affected my street cred because I sustain a career by getting to know my fans, and they getting to know me. The fans who know me know it would be cool that someone that big would find a small artist like me and cover one of my songs."
According to OK! News, Justin Bieber and his then-girlfriend, Selena Gomez, also attended one of Halter's shows in California in 2011.
Ernie Halter has seven albums to his credit and has toured around the US. On a personal front, he is married to his wife, Kristin, and they share three children, including a son, Jackson, and twin daughters, Lucy and Layla.
Exploring Justin Bieber's recently shared screenshots
On June 15, 2025, Justin Bieber took to his Instagram to upload a series of screenshots of his text messages with another person, who remains unnamed as of this article. In one of the messages, Justin Bieber wrote that he would "never suppress my emotions for someone," continuing:
“Conflict is part of relationship. If you don’t like my anger you don’t like me. My anger is a response to pain I have been thru. Asking a traumatized person not to be traumatized is simply mean.”
When the person's reply implied that Justin Bieber had "lashed out" at them, the singer responded that their "friendship is officially over." He continued that while he enjoyed their "short-lived relationship," he had other "good friends" who respected his boundaries.
Justin Bieber also called the person a "p***y," writing that he was initially willing to give them the "benefit of the doubt." According to Page Six, Bieber also reshared the post on his Instagram Story, writing above the screenshots:
"Quit asking me if I’m okay. Quit asking me how I’m doing. I don’t do that to you because I know how hard life is for all of us. It’s hard. Letss encourage our people not project our insecurities onto one another. Your concern doesn’t come off as care. It’s just oppressive weirdo.”
In other news, Justin Bieber was involved in a tense encounter with paparazzi as he was leaving Soho House Malibu on June 12. During the 11-minute interaction, Bieber can be seen yelling at the photographers to "get out of my f**king face."
