Justin Bieber postpones tour after syndrome leaves his face partially paralyzed

Justin Bieber is postponing his tour due to a virus that has caused partial facial paralysis.

"I wanted to update you guys on what's been going on," Bieber said in an Instagram video posted Friday. "Obviously, as you can see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome, and it is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis."

As the nearly 3-minute video progressed, Bieber demonstrated how his nerves have been affected on the right side of his face.

"As you can see, this eye is not blinking. I can't smile in this side of my face. This nostril will not move," Bieber continued. "So there's full paralysis on this side of my face."

According to the Mayo Clinic, Ramsay Hunt syndrome occurs in people who have had chickenpox and is a shingles outbreak that affects the nerve near one ear and causes one-sided paralysis and hearing loss. It's most common in people over the age of 60.

The announcement comes after the "Love Yourself" singer postponed a set of shows in Washington, D.C., and Toronto earlier in the week due to a previously undisclosed sickness.

"So for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I'm just physically, obviously not capable of doing them," Bieber noted in the video. "This is pretty serious, as you can see. I wish this wasn't the case, but obviously my body is telling me I gotta slow down."

During his hiatus, the 28-year-old artist plans to spend time resting and relaxing, assuring his fans, "I'm gonna get better, and I'm doing all these facial exercises to get my face back to normal."

"I love you guys. Thanks for being patient with me," he told his 240 million Instagram followers. "It's gonna be OK, and I have hope. I trust God and I trust that this is all for a reason and I'm not sure what that is right now, but in the meantime, I'm gonna rest and I love you guys."

This is far from the first time Bieber's current tour has been delayed. Originally slated to begin in March 2020, the tour was pushed back two years due to the initial COVID-19 outbreak and was once again put on hold in February when he tested positive for COVID.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.