So much for fake news! April Fools’ Day is the one day of the year where celebrities will willingly make up stories about themselves — and it seems there’s never a shortage of fake pregnancy announcements. Over the years, celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Emma Roberts and The Bachelor star Catherine Lowe (née Giudici) have all tried out the gag, but it doesn’t always go well.
On the 2019 holiday, Justin Bieber attempted to convince fans that wife Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) had a bun in the oven. He started by sharing a photo of a sonogram, which fans didn’t find very convincing. It didn’t help that the model herself commented on the post, writing, “Very funny.” When his prank didn’t go over as well as expected, he upped the ante by sharing a second picture that seemingly showed doctors examining his wife’s belly.
“If [you] thought it was April Fools,” Justin, 26, captioned the post — and that certainly did the trick. Before long, comments were pouring in as the musician’s followers expressed their shock, disbelief and congratulations. “Get THE F–K outtt,” one wrote. “This BETTER be a f–king joke,” a second snapped. A third added, “It definitely still is … There is no way.” However, they didn’t seem so sure — and the shocked emoji they shared only proved that point.
By the evening, the “Sorry” singer dropped the act, and his final post in the prank featured a picture of a puppy photoshopped over the ultrasound image. “Wait, OMG, is that a … APRIL FOOLS,” he wrote. Unfortunately, some fans weren’t laughing. In fact, many even found the gag to be insensitive — and one called the whole thing “bloody disgusting.” One Twitter user wrote, “[It] isn’t funny at all. It’s just immature and offensive to people who can’t even have children.”
When April 2 rolled around, Justin took to Instagram again, but this time it was to issue an apology. “I am a prankster, and it was APRIL FOOLS’ [DAY]. I didn’t at all mean to be insensitive to people who can’t have children,” he wrote. “But I will apologize anyway and take responsibility and say sorry to people who were offended. I truly don’t want anyone to be hurt by a prank. … You sometimes just don’t know what will hurt someone’s feelings.” Though the star (hopefully) learned his lesson, it’s a mistake many have made.
Scroll through the gallery below to see all the stars who tried to pull one over on their fans on April 1 — and if any of them pulled off the pregnancy prank better than Biebs.