Pop star Justin Bieber came out clean from one of his legal messes when he settled his 2012 paparazzi lawsuit out of court on March 16, Wednesday.
Jose Osmin Hernandez Duran had sued the Canadian sensation for assault and emotional distress when he was pursuing the singer while he was out on a date with his then-girlfriend Selena Gomez. It was alleged by the photographer that he was clicking the singer when he kicked him and delivered a punch before driving off at The Commons in Calabasas, Los Angeles.
The lawsuit claimed that Bieber delivered a martial arts style kick in the lower rib cage on the left side of Duran's abdomen before using his left fist to punch him on the right side of his face. The alleged victim also claimed at the time that a few minutes after the incident, Gomez returned to the scene to look for her phone and even apologized to him on behalf of his boyfriend.
The case was scheduled to start trial in a Los Angeles court when it was revealed by Duran's attorney, Steven Madison, that the case had been resolved with confidential terms, Reuters reported.
Although the terms of the settlement were not made official, Bieber has reportedly paid quite a minimal amount to settle the case. The amount was said to be much lesser than what the singer would have spent on the attorney fee.
The 22-year-old singer had a string of run-ins with paparazzi in past couple of years. However, after the end of his much-publicized relationship with Gomez, he was said to have matured from the baby-faced spoiled brat he used to be.
It was rumored that Bieber has moved on from his troubled relationship with Gomez to find love with his model friend Hailey Baldwin. The pair's seemingly PDA-filled pics also further fuelled the speculation that the two are romantically involved.
However, it is now confirmed that Baldwin is totally single and is certainly not seeing Bieber. A source told E! News that the two "are still close friends, but he is on tour and extremely busy now, so they have not seen each other that much."
Currently, Bieber is in the middle of his "Purpose" tour which kicked off on March 9. Watch the music video of his hit "Sorry" below: