Justin Bieber: 'I'm not who I was pretending to be'

Canadian pop starJustin Bieberhas apologizedto fans for coming off as "arrogant" and "conceited" following an appearance onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The 20-year-old made the surprising admission in an emotionalvideo posted late Wednesday to his Facebook page.

Warning: clip contains explicit language.

• On mobile? Watch Bieber's video post here.

"Its been a minute since Ive been in a public appearance, and I didnt want to come off arrogant or conceited or basically how Ive been acting the past year and a half," Bieber said in the dark and grainy recording titled "Here we go."

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Biebermade the missive Wednesday night after he taped the episode of the popular daytime talk show. A clip of the show, which aired Thursday,can be seen here.

The appearance marksBieber's first ina lengthyabsence from the talk-show circuit, and he admitshe was nervous.He also expressed a desireto change his public persona.

"Im not who I was pretending to be," admitted the young star."Often we pretend to be something were not as a cover-up of what we are truly feeling inside, and there were a lot of feelings going on in there."

'I'm not that kid'

The singer rocketed to fame at age 13, when record label executive Scooter Braundiscovered the Stratford, Ont.-raised Bieber on YouTube. In Wednesday'sFacebook confessional,Bieber admitted that growing up in the music business has been "hard."

He also expressed a desire to brush off his bad boy image.

Bieber, who turns 21 on March 1, has made headlines for:

• Warring with photographers.
• Urinating into a restaurant mop bucket.
• Allegedly vandalizing hotels.
• Complaints heeggedneighbours of his posh suburban L.A. home.

Over the summer, he pleaded guilty to careless driving and resisting arrest after being taken into custody while allegedly inebriated. He was also accused of street-racing through Miami Beach in a yellow Lamborghini.

"I'm not that kid," Bieber said in his Facebook video. "I'm a person who genuinely cares and, although what's happened in the past has happened, I just want to make the best impression on people,and be kind and lovingand gentle and soft."

Ready torehabilitate

Recently,Bieber has been showingsigns that he's readyto rehabilitate his sullied image, by:

• Posingfor a Calvin Klein underwear campaign.
• Performingan impromptu acoustic show in L.A.
• Reactingwith good humour to a recent SNLspoof.
• Agreeingto subject himself to further mockery on an upcoming Comedy Central Roast.

In hisElleninterview,Bieberexplained he wanted to be roasted as a way of owning up to his past mistakes.

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"I think its just cool to be able to laugh at yourself,"BiebertoldDeGeneres. "Ive done some things that might not have been the greatest."