December 25, 2013 - 4:15 PM
TORONTO - Fans of Canadian pop star Justin Bieber are trying to figure out what to make of a message on Twitter in which the Ontario native said he was retiring.
Bieber followed up his tweet "My fellow beliebers, I'm officially retiring" with a message to his fans that included a promise he would "never leave" them.
The tweets came on the eve of the Christmas Day release of Bieber's movie "Believe."
There was no mention of retirement on Bieber's official website and his publicist had no comment on the tweets, which have sparked a frenzy of reaction on social media.
One fan tweeted if the 19-year-old sensation from Stratford, Ont. retires she would "retire from living" while another tweeted "life would not be the same."
However some of the singer's less enthusiastic followers had a more sarcastic tone with one tweeting: "How can Justin Bieber retire? He's not even old enough to drink."
Another tweeted: "Justin Bieber is going to retire ,there is a Santa!"
Bieber also talked about retirement earlier this month during an interview on a Los Angeles radio station.
But his manager Scooter Braun was quoted by the British television network ITN as saying Bieber was kidding and is only going to take a break next year.
Bieber has had a run of negative media in the past year, including apologizing for a video in which he is seen urinating into a bucket, cursing Bill Clinton and spraying a photo of the former American president with cleaning fluid in a New York City restaurant kitchen.
Canadian singer Jaan Arden earlier this year advised Bieber to take a break.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013