This is dark. Justin Bieber‘s longtime manager and friend, Scooter Braun, took to Van Lathan‘s The Red Pill podcast on Sept. 12 to reveal that the “Sorry” singer once had a serious substance issue. So much so, that Scooter feared for the pop star’s life. 

“There was a time when I would go to sleep almost every night — when he had the money to fly away from me — and I was worried every night that I was going to lose him,” the 37-year-old confessed. “I thought he was going to die. I thought he was going to sleep one night and that he would have so much crap in his system that he would not wake up the next morning.”

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Despite Scooter’s numerous attempts to pull Justin away from his demons, he failed. Thankfully, the now-24-year-old was able to finally see the light all on his own. “I think he made a conscious choice for himself to change,” Scooter said. “I think for a year-and-a-half I failed miserably trying to help him because for a year-and-a-half he didn’t change… it wasn’t until one day he woke up and said, ‘Hey, I need to talk to you, I don’t want to be that person anymore.”

Scooter, now a father-of-two, went on to detail that even when things got hard, Justin prevailed. “[Justin] is an extraordinary young man who’s been given an extraordinary life and he used to complain, and he used to fight it, and that’s when he got into a dark place,” he explained. “But when he accepted his responsibility and took a hard look at himself and not what everyone was doing, that’s when he owned it and he got healthy.”

It’s clear that Justin is thankful for the man he has become and he’s not afraid to say it. In April 2017, Biebs took to Instagram to show a side-by-side shot of himself in 2014 vs. 2017. For the “before” photo, he used his infamous mugshot. 

“Love this because it reminds me I’m not exactly where I want to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be!! The best is yet to come. Do you believe it?” Justin captioned the post. Now we can’t be certain, but we’d venture to say that as of 2018, Justin is exactly where he wants to be. 

Between his ever-burgeoning music career and beautiful fiancée, Hailey Baldwin, we’re so happy to see that Justin was able to overcome his battle! 

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).