Justin Bieber forced Showtime executive out of Mayweather-Pacquiao photo op
Standing just to the left of Justin Bieber in the widely disseminated photo of him crashing the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao press conference — but just out of the frame — is Showtime executive vice president Stephen Espinoza, who has worked tirelessly for years to produce the elusive bout.
On March 11, according to a Los Angeles Times report, Bieber arrived at the last minute for the fighters' joint news conference to announce their May 2 fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. But the controversial Canadian singer got there soon enough to steal some of the flash from Espinoza, who isn't upset, by the way, and finds the incident pretty laughable.
Here's Espinoza with the blow-by-blow:
"I couldn't care less," Espinosa about getting knocked to the side, "but I thought it was funny that there were several pictures where he literally nudged me out of the picture. On some, [Bieber] literally cut me out. In [The Times'], it ends at Justin."
Espinosa had waited for the fight to materialize for a long time. In 2009, he was the lead lawyer for Golden Boy Promotions when Mayweather and Pacquiao nearly executed a deal that ultimately broke down over a drug-testing dispute.
Although Bieber did bump Espinoza to the side, the exec didn't get shoved out of view completely.
Wait for it. Here's Espinoza:
"He adds to the spectacle," Espinoza said of Bieber. "Having him there, having him support the event socially in his social media and by his presence only adds to the fun of the event."
Stephen Espinoza, Justin Bieber and Floyd Mayweather attend the press conference.
