Justin Bieber is officially apologizing for his startlingly racist parody video that was released this week.

Speaking to British tabloid The Sun, the singer stated:

"Facing my mistakes from years ago has been one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with," he said about the video, which was filmed when he was 14. (Quotes via the Toronto Sun.) "But I feel now that I need to take responsibility for those mistakes and not let them linger... At the end of the day I just need to step up and own what I did."

"Once again I am sorry for all those I have let down and offended," he concluded, adding: "I just hope that the next 14-year-old kid who doesn't understand the power of these words does not make the same mistakes I made."

Bieber, 20, also reportedly confirmed that mentors Usher and Will Smith knew about the video and reacted accordingly. Usher also allegedly showed him historical videos with that same kind of hatred to teach the then-14-year-old Bieber a lesson.

In the parody video, a 14-year-old Justin Bieber sings his hit 'One Less Lonely Girl,' replacing "girl" with the N-word, as he also sings about killing black people and joining the Ku Klux Klan. The shocking video follows another controversial clip released earlier this week that shows a 15-year-old Bieber telling a racist joke and using the N-word. After that video, Bieber released a lengthy and heartfelt apology.

There have also been reports that Bieber has been been blackmailed over the first video for years, with TMZ claiming that the video was used in an attempt to extort $1 million from the singer, while Gawker claims that TMZ have been the ones holding the video over his head in order to get news.

Bieber's second apology comes in accordance with his recent Instagram post that speaks on God and forgiveness.

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