Pop superstar Justin Bieber snubbed Andy Fantuz’s jersey offer before 100th Grey Cup halftime show

Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP

Andy Fantuz may have been one of the best Canadian pass-catchers of the modern era but he still wasn’t cool enough for pop superstar Justin Bieber.

The former Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ and Saskatchewan Roughriders’ receiver was recently a guest on the second episode of former teammate Simoni Lawrence’s new video podcast Pay Me to Stop and shared a story about the time Bieber turned down a chance to wear his jersey during the halftime performance at the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto.

“So 2012, my first year in Hamilton, we’re knocked out but the Grey Cup was in Toronto and the Biebs is doing the halftime show,” Fantuz told Lawrence.

“So I’m thinking ‘I wonder if he’s going to wear a CFL jersey’ and he can’t wear Toronto or Calgary because they’re the teams in the game. He’s got to wear a Canadian player, why not Andy Fantuz?”

As one of the league’s premier Canadian players at that time, Fantuz was front and centre in the lead-up to that year’s Grey Cup. Being one of the league’s most visible stars at the time allowed the Chatham, Ontario native to devise a plan to get one of the biggest musical acts in the world to don his jersey.

“I was involved in a lot of the media events throughout the week in Toronto so I took a medium Andy Fantuz jersey and I wore it everywhere I went underneath my clothes just in case I ran into Justin Bieber,” Fantuz said.

Unfortunately, the future Canadian Football Hall of Famer was unable to find Bieber during the week’s festivities, leaving him dejected that his plan would not come to fruition.

That is until the night before the game.

“Fast forward, the day before the game, Saturday night, I’m like ‘it’s over.’ I haven’t found him so I put the jersey away and we’re going to go to this club. Who shows up? Biebs and his crew,” Fantuz recalled.

Despite being jersey-less, the 2005 Hec Crighton Trophy winner remained undeterred and made one final attempt to get the eight-time Juno award winner to wear his No. 83 jersey on stage during his halftime concert the next night.

“I got to still try. I’m trying to get through his posse of security. I finally talk my way through and I’m talking to his buddy and he looks over at Bieber, and Bieber looks at me and does this,” Fantuz said, mimicking a dismissive wave and disgusted nod as if Bieber was a monarch shooing away the help.

“He snubbed me just a little bit but that’s OK. The funny part of the story is that I wore that jersey around all week long trying to see him for like four days straight.”

Fantuz claims there are no hard feelings.

“No hate. I get it,” he said with a laugh — but the show’s host had a different reaction and put a nice button on a story that feels straight out of some Canadian version of Mad Libs.

“Andy’s a good guy but me on the other hand, I don’t like that Justin,” Lawrence said.

“That’s why we listen to Drake anyway.”