Justin Bieber Blackmailed Over Racist Joke Video

Before Justin Bieber's racist joke video emerged online, the pop star was allegedly blackmailed by a man who threatened to sell the incriminating clip to the media if he did not pay $1million.

According to TMZ, before the video was published by the Sun newspaper it was in the hands of a man who worked on one of the singer's video projects.

Earlier this year, the Baby hitmaker became the victim of a major shakedown when the peddler vowed to sell the video to the highest bidder if he didn't receive any cash.

Following weeks of negotiations, Bieber's lawyers decided not to pay up after coming to the conclusion that the old video, which shows him using the N-word while telling racist jokes, was not enough to ruin his career.

In the clip, which was originally filmed as part of his Never Say Never documentary in 2011, Bieber asks: "Why are black people afraid of chainsaws?"

He then starts making the noise of a chainsaw and delivers the 'punchline': "Run n*****, n*****, n*****, n*****, n*****."

Bieber apologised just hours after the controversial clip was made public. In a heartfelt message the 20-year-old expressed his remorse and insisted his actions were those of a child.

"I apologise for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake," he said in a statement.

"As a kid, I didn't understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was ok to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn't realise at the time that it wasn't funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance."

He continued: "Ignorance has no place in our society and I hope the sharing of my faults can prevent others from making the same mistake in the future.

"I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again."

Meanwhile new footage has surfaced of a young Bieber changing the lyrics of his 2009 track One Less Lonely Girl to talk about killing black people.

In the 24-second clip, he allegedly sings: "one less lonely n*****" and also jokes about joining white supremacy group the Ku Klux Klan.

Bieber is yet to comment on the latest footage.