paparazzi fight
Justin Bieber in a paparazzi fight in 2013 Reuters

Reports of Justin Bieber getting 'smacked' by NBA player Blake Griffin turned out to be a hoax after all and netizens seem upset about that.

Several popular sports blogs reported on Monday that Griffin "smacked the sh*t" out of Bieber after the singer refused to put on a shirt inside a West Hollywood Starbucks outlet, according to Gossip Cop.

The website subsequently reported, after checking with a source close to Bieber, that the story was false. As per the 'source', the rumour was "made up", as Justin had "not returned to Los Angeles for weeks".

The real kicker came when LA Laker's player Chris Kaman posted a tweet which pointed towards the report being true after all, at least to an extent:

However, the Lakers star followed it up with a second tweet that put an end to all speculations on the matter, once and for all:

But even though this story turned out to be false, it didn't stop people from voicing their approval of Griffin roughing up the infamous Bieber, on Twitter: