Justin Bieber issued heartbreaking plea after being diagnosed with disease common among celebrities

Back in 2020, after months of speculation regarding his absence from the spotlight, Justin Bieber broke the news that he'd been dealt a brutal blow to his health.

In the weeks that followed, however, the Canadian hitmaker was forced to release several gut-wrenching follow-up statements, pleading with the tabloid press to cut him some slack.

Bieber was 25 when he received his diagnosis (Instagram/@justinbieber)

Following a turbulent couple of years in the spotlight - amid accusations of crime and drug-taking - in January 2020, aged just 25, Justin Bieber announced that he'd been diagnosed with Lyme disease.

The condition - which is caused by an infection prompted by a tick bite - is actually surprisingly common, especially in the celebrity realm, with countless other stars having previously opened up about their own health battles.

That said, however, the news was particularly hard for the 'Baby' singer to break, being that he'd arguably had his reputation attacked by the US tabloid press in the months prior after taking a break from fame.

Sharing the news online at the time, Bieber wrote: "I've been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my skin, brain function, energy, and overall health.

"It's been a rough couple years but getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever."

Justin Bieber was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2020 (Kevork Djansezian / Contributor

As we say, however, just weeks after he opened up about his diagnosis, Bieber was forced to plead with the press not to use sickly images of him in their stories, accusing magazines and newspapers of trying to 'legitimately sabotage' him.

Taking to his Instagram Story at the time, Bieber - who has since welcomed a three-year-old son named Jack with wife Hailey Bieber - penned an emotional message.

"I don’t know what the algorithm is for why certain photos come up," Bieber - who is now 30 - began.

"But this is so frustrating considering that I took a lot of time to get healthy and I feel as though people try to legitimately sabotage me."

He went on to explain: "This was a time where I was really unhealthy. I was battling Lyme disease, right? All of the top photos are me looking disheveled, right?

"I was obviously going through a tough time, but it’s like, these are the photos that the media tries to run with."

Months later, nothing had changed for the 'One Time' singer, and he once again took to social media with another plea.

Bieber pleaded with the press to use healthier photos (Instagram/@justinbieber)

"I’m still in shock we are still using those photos of me, I’m telling [you], media wants to pick bad photos of me to make it look like I’m not okay," he penned again.

Hoping to prove his point, the chart-topper went on to share four different photos of himself - some showing the star thriving, and some where he looks deeply unwell.

"There have been countless photo and [opportunities] for media to pick up other photos," he captioned the snaps.

"But they still run with this one to make me look sick and unwell, it’s not right.

"I’ve done a lot of photo shoots since then and yeah, they don’t have to put these photos, but they do. I don’t know why."

Bieber added: "I mean, look at my skin now. There are so many photos they can choose."