The NHL had teased that a “major celebrity” would be announcing the No. 1 overall pick at the draft, and as everyone guessed, it was Justin Bieber. The whole thing was extremely weird. Not only did Bieber get an incredibly tepid reception from the crowd in Buffalo, but Biebs was unbelievably cringe.
From the walkout, to his own personal announcement style, and beyond — this somehow managed to get worse, and worse. McKenna’s first interview after being drafted included Bieber on the couch, and more time was spent gushing over Justin Bieber than actually learning anything about McKenna. I’m not sure why the NHL felt it was appropriate to have Bieber invade the interview at all, which led to a SECOND interview after McKenna left the stage, conducted by Matthew Schaefter.
Easily the second funniest moment came immediately after the pick, when Bieber told McKenna that another special guest couldn’t be there but wanted to say hello. Everyone expected it to be Drake, but it was Auston Matthews, met with another chorus of boos.
This is the kind of move you pull off when you’re in Toronto, and even at that point you need to think about it.
