Justin Bieber appears to respond to backlash over smoking near his son Jack Blues

Justin Bieber has been met with major backlash after being seen smoking near his and his wife Hailey Bieber's one-year-old son, Jack Blues.

Bieber, who welcomed his first child in late August 2024, was spotted in a viral clip which appeared to show him smoking while spending time with Hailey and Jack on a luxury yacht.

The video, which is said to have been filmed during the family's Mediterranean holiday, shows the singer sitting outside with Hailey and their young son while holding what looks like a cigar.

The footage is only a few seconds long, but it sparked a wave of criticism online, with many people arguing that smoking so close to a child is irresponsible, even in an open-air setting.

A lot of the conversation centred on the health risks of second-hand smoke, which include short-term effects such as eye, nose, and throat irritation, coughing and sore throat, headaches and dizziness and nausea.

Justin Bieber has been called out after a clip of him appearing to smoke near his son, Jack Blues, went viral online (Instagram/@lilbieber)

After catching light of the footage, one social media user seethed: "Ok, maybe for the first time I'm really disappointed."

"Zero tolerance for those who smoke near their kid," stated a second.

A third hit out: "How are you going to smoke in front of your two-year-old son?"

"The two-year-old child already being a passive smoker," echoed a fourth as a fifth declared: "I think it's disgusting when people smoke anything near a kid."

Fans reckon that Bieber has since 'resonded' to the backlash by sharing several more snaps of him smoking (Instagram/@lilbieber)

A sixth added: "Justin, not you smoking near your baby."

And a final critic penned: "But what is he doing smoking a huge cigar in front of the kid?"

Other fans, however, didn't think it was a big deal.

"I think people need to mind their own business!!!" defended one, as another chimed in: "Maybe people should worry about their own lives."

The 32-year-old 'Hallelujah' singer has since taken to Instagram to share several more photos and videos of himself smoking, which some fans have interpreted as a 'response' to the outrage online.

Bieber shared a video saying 'Man, oh man' while he smoked a cigar to his Instagram Stories (Instagram/@lilbieber)

In a photo dump shared yesterday (2 August), Bieber posted a selfie smoking a lit cigar along with an Instagram Stories snap of himself playing table tennis while appearing to smoke.

He also shared a video to his Stories smoking a cigar in another outfit as he shook his head, saying: "Man, oh man."

Last week, Bieber also included two cigar snaps in one of his recent Instagram photo dumps.

Tyla has reached out to Justin Bieber's representatives for comment.