David Letterman Apologizes To Justin Bieber

Sometimes what seems like a little bit of harmless banter can hurt someone's feelings, as late night talk show host David Letterman learned on Thursday's show when he was interviewing guest Justin Bieber, 18.

It all started when Letterman made fun of Bieber's new "Believe" tattoo, which the pop star recently got to clebrate the release of his new Believe album. Letterman, playing the curmudgeonly old man, grabbed Bieber's arm, pretending to wipe off the tattoo. "I mean, honestly," Letterman pleaded. "How does that help how you look?" he asked, reports USA Today.

"Hey, this is brand new!" Bieber said as Letterman was wiping at the fresh wound. Letterman stopped pawing at his guest, but instisted that the young star not go overboard or turn his body to the Sistine Chapel, the ceiling of which was famously painted by Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. A confused Bieber replied, "I'm not going for the Sixteenth Chapel look."

"Canadian high school!" chuckled Letterman, poking fun at Bieber's blunder. Later, according to an ABC affiliate, Letterman approached Bieber to apologize. "Are you all right?," he reportedly asked. "Is your tattoo okay? Everybody said, 'It's a brand new tattoo and I hurt your tattoo. I'm sorry."

Bieber graciously accepted the apology, assuring, "You were fine."