Justin Bieber has made his first notable public appearance since headlining Coachella in April, rising to fame for a cause close to his heart, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 32-year-old singer attended the 2026 NHL Draft at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, on June 26, and joined his beloved hockey team to help announce their number one pick, Gavin McKenna.
Bieber was visibly delighted with the occasion, smiling and speaking warmly about what the moment meant to him.
“What an incredible night,” he said. “The kid in me is ecstatic right now. I’ve been a Leafs fan since I was a little kid. These nights are so special. I’m so grateful to be here.”
He followed up on social media the next day, sharing a post on Instagram describing the experience as “an incredible opportunity” and expressing how honored he was to be part of the selection of McKenna, a forward who had been playing for Penn State.
For the occasion, Bieber wore a red zip-up Maple Leafs jacket with green pants and beige boots, and posed for photos alongside the newly drafted player after his introduction.
The appearance marks only his second major public appearance in recent months, as Bieber has kept an unusually low profile even by his own increasingly private standards.
He skipped the Met Gala last month while his wife Hailey attended alone and generally stayed away from the spotlight during this chapter of his life, which also includes fatherhood, with the couple’s son, Jack Blues, now 22 months old.
Hockey, it seems, remains the exception to his calmer approach.
He made an equally significant appearance at the NHL All-Star Draft at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena in 2024, marking his first return to acting in two years following the cancellation of his Justice world tour.
That occasion led directly to his musical comeback with the releases of SWAG and LOOT IIwhich culminated with her headlining performance at Coachella earlier this year.
