Justin Bieber leaves Buenos Aires concert early blaming food poisoning

The pop star tweeted a picture of himself lying in hospital with an IV drip

Justin Bieber, here performing live in September 2013, left the stage early in Buenos Aires on Sunday

Justin Bieber disappointed fans by leaving the stage early in Buenos Aires for the second time in a week on the South American leg of his world tour.

He told the crowd: “I’m not feeling too good, I think I’m out of energy,” but was met with a mass of boos after fans paid up to $320 to attend the Believe tour concert.

Unlike the first incident in Brazil, when he stormed off after a thrown bottle knocked the microphone out of his hand, the 19-year old star blamed food poisoning for his premature exit.

Offering an olive branch of evidence, Bieber posted a selfie on Twitter showing him lying in a hospital bed hooked up to an intravenous drip. The photo has since appeared to have been removed.

The singer’s manager Scooter Braun revealed in a statement that Bieber had spent eight hours on the drip before Sunday’s concert, which he had been advised to cancel.

Not wanting to disappoint fans, the pop star decided to perform, despite appearing on stage an hour and half later than planned. He sung for around an hour, before leaving prematurely.

Braun tweeted a message in support of the Canadian star, who “had a rough night but handled it like a man who cares and put his beliebers before himself”.

Stage manager ‘Scrappy’ said Bieber had “tried his hardest”. “You guys don’t see him in between songs when he comes off-stage. I do, I don’t know how he made it as far as he did,” he tweeted.

Bieber's team may have been “very proud” of his behaviour, but Braun's statement made no mention of the various scandals attributed to his charge while in South America.

Last week, after photos circulated of the singer allegedly visiting a brothel, police tried unsuccessfully to question him for defacing walls in Rio de Janeiro with graffiti of painted faces.

A formal assault complaint is currently being investigated by federal police in Buenos Aires after Bieber’s bodyguards damaged the camera of a nightclub’s photographer.