Something unexpected popped up on many people’s twitter newsfeeds this weekend that had many ‘Beliebers’ fearing their worst nightmare. On May 4, E! Online’s verified twitter account released a tweet meant to give out an apparent exclusive, saying that Singer and Teen Sensation Justin Bieber told E! he was in fact gay. However, the attached link for the supposed article did not work, but still had many fans worried. The tweet was re-tweeted by more than 1000 people in less than ten minutes, and favorited by more than 300.
As word began to spread quickly, within minutes E! Online again released another tweet— this time it was another apparent exclusive saying how Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber’s now Ex and girlfriend of two years, will fully support in Justin’s ‘coming out.’
But not to fear ladies, we were all duped. According to Business Insider, A pro-Assad hacking group called as the ‘The Syrian Electronic Army’ is to blame. They last tweeted from E! Online’s account and told fans of Justin Bieber they had in fact been trolled. Below they put a popular cartoon picture of a troll’s face, which was meant to be humorous. They also attached a link to their twitter account; however, all the tweets appear to be in a different language from English. The hack follows similar attacks on twitter affecting the account of the Associated Press and the Guardian. As of May 4th, it is unknown weather Justin Bieber or E! Online will take legal action to prevent the hacking from happening again. It is also unknown why these ‘Syrian hackers’ are hacking many entertainment news sites and who they are, exactly. As of 2:30 p.m ET, E! Online’s account remains suspended.
Image Credit: Screenshot by Meral Kathwari