Pop star Justin Bieber on Friday told fans in a video posted to Instagram that he has been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, which has caused him to experience partial facial paralysis.
The 28-year-old singer said this week he was pausing his Justice World Tour due to illness, hours before his first scheduled concert in Toronto, Canada.
Ramsay Hunt Syndrome is a complication of shingles that occurs when an outbreak affects the facial nerve near one ear. It can cause hearing loss in addition to facial paralysis.
“As you can see, this eye is not blinking. I can't smile on this side of my face, this nostril will not move,” Bieber explained in a video.
“So, there's full paralysis on this side of my face. So, for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I'm just physically, obviously, not capable of doing them. This is pretty serious, as you can see.”
The Peaches singer said he was doing facial exercises and taking time to “rest and relax and get back to 100 per cent so I can do what I was born to do”.
He did not give an estimated timeline for his recovery.
This is the third time Bieber's tour has been postponed, the first two times due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
