Justin Bieber, were you punking us all along?

The purported theft of the pop icon’s laptop and camera at the Tacoma Dome this week is looking a whole lot like a hoax after a very fishy series of Twitter exchanges between The Biebs and the alleged thief, and the release of “stolen” videos suspiciously timed to coincide with the debut of Bieber’s new music video.

Bieber’s publicist denies that the incident was staged. “Be very clear, the laptop was indeed stolen in Tacoma. That was NOT a hoax,” she wrote in an email to the Associated Press.

We’re not convinced. Linda Thomas of KIRO-FM has a good rundown of the details, offering Bieber some motherly advice: “Don’t use Twitter to mess with your fans and Tacoma Police.”

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