British pop star Cher Lloyd claimed in a new interview that music executives encouraged her to date Justin Bieber in order to further her career.
“I remember once, while I was living in the US and I was promoting my album in the US, I walked into the record label at the time, and they hadn’t given me a promotional budget,” the “Want U Back” singer, 31, began on the “We Need to Talk” podcast Tuesday.
“We spent millions on this album, but there’s no budget to go get people to hear it? So, I walk in and I say, ‘Look, I really need some cash to try and push this record.’”
Lloyd claimed label execs “basically” told her “no” and that what she “needed to do” instead was “hit some of the clubs and find out where Bieber is” and “try to get with him.”
The “Swagger Jagger” singer did not specify with which label the alleged conversation took place, but said it happened “years ago” when she was a teen. Page Six has reached out to her reps for comment.
Lloyd’s music career kicked off in 2010 when she appeared on “The X Factor” and came in fourth place.
After the show, she signed with its creator Simon Cowell’s Syco Music in the UK and music executive L.A. Reid’s Epic Records in the US. Bieber, meanwhile, was signed to Reid’s Island Def Jam Music Group.
Reps for both record labels did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Lloyd’s claims.
The “Really Don’t Care” singer also shared on “We Need to Talk” that she was “very much with” her husband, Craig Monk, at the time of the alleged Bieber conversation.
“He was even stood in that office while I was told they weren’t going to spend any money on the album — pushing the album,” she claimed of Monk, whom she wed in 2013, before reiterating, “I was to go hook up with someone mega-famous and basically leech off the back of someone else’s fame.”
She then asked, “Was I not good enough? Was I not good enough to invest in that you would rather use me in that way?”
Lloyd claimed the execs “didn’t care” that Monk was present and that she was also encouraged to keep their marriage a secret from her label because they would “do anything” to stop the marriage.
“I hate that,” the “None of My Business” singer added on the podcast. “I’m not a singer because I want to sleep around and I want to be in different celebrity relationships.”
Reps for Bieber did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment as to whether the “Sorry” singer was ever made aware that he was allegedly being used a pawn for a PR relationship.
Bieber, 30, has been married to Hailey Bieber since 2018. The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Jack Blues, in August 2024.
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