This “Justin Bieber” is a total fake.
A Bieber doppelganger took the stage and fooled a packed house at XS Nightclub at the Wynn on Saturday night. The individual verified on social media is Dylan Desclos, who has appeared as Bieber at various events over the past eight years.
He fooled the night’s headliner, DJ Gryffin, and also the club’s staff.
“After an elaborate and multi-step ruse by him and his advance team, a Justin Bieber impersonator was granted access to the XS stage,” Wynn spokesman Michael Weaver said in a statement. “As soon as the error was recognized, he was removed from the resort and denied future entry.”
“Future” in this instance means “forever.”
Desclos’ effort to gain access was apparently a more polished performance than anything he produced onstage. It was reportedly a daylong effort by his team, which invoked Bieber’s recent change in management, with Desclos’ reps saying, “We’re new to the team,” to explain any confusion.
The ruse hit its zenith when Gryffin energetically, if inaccurately, called out,“We’ve got Justin Bieber in the house!” Requisite pandemonium ensued.
Gryffin, the DJ, with whom we shared a great chat in April, prior to his appearance at The Block Party on Fremont East, took full ownership of his misfire. In a social-media clip, the headliner posted “how bustin jieber duped me in my own set.”
He and went on to say, “You’re prolly wondering how I ended up in this situation.” The accompanying audio clip is The Who classic “Baba O’Riley,” with its familiar refrain, “It’s only teenage wasteland!”
Gryffin explained that it all started when “bustin jieber” showed up at the club, and his “team” wanted him to get up and perform. XS is a dark venue, with loud music, so Gryffin said he fell for the act.
“Little did I know I was about to be sorry,” the DJ said.
“After 4 minutes and 27 second of what sounded like Justin Bieber, I found out the worst news imaginable.” Gryffin is shown walking from the stage buzzing from the performance and saying,”That was totally insane!” Then he was told the sad news that the performer was “a complete fake.”
Gryffin’s mouth fell open. “No way!” Fifteen minutes later, in his hotel suite, Gryffin said, “I literally thought, he put on a lot of weight since the album dropped.”
That’s reference to Bieber’s “Swag,” released last month. Bieber posted video while skateboarding on Saturday, as some other person was preparing to appear as him on the Strip.
In video of the performance, the 29-year-old Desclos is shown in black zipper hoodie (which he soon sheds) and performing to “Sorry,” Bieber’s 2015 hit. Steams of gold ribbons are fired over the crowd.
Desclos is committed to this persona, this much is clear. He wears many of the same tattoos as does Bieber, and also a buzz cut, which is Bieb’s most recent look. Fans who are not used to his current appearance can be readily duped. Those in Las Vegas certainly were.
In separate clips, the impersonator is shown walking out through Wynn Encore Esplanade and out of Balenciaga fashion boutique, accompanied by hotel security officers and posing for selfies.
On his own TikTok feed, Desclos is also shown at what appears to be the parking lot of Las Vegas Premium Outlets at Las Vegas Boulevard South (judging from the Tommy Hilfiger brand logo in the background). Several comments blasted Desclos for his act. One who replied, @EdenElena, professed to have inside info about Desclos’ visit to Vegas.
“To get the EXACT same tattoos as Justin Bieber and come to a nightclub and try to scam $10,000 worth of bottles off a casino is psychotic …”
Desclos’ official account responded, “For your information, it wasn’t me who pretended to be the real Justin, it was my team who was behind it. Well, clearly I was the one who passed but I always say I’m the lookalike …”
That exchange has since been taken down from the @dylan.desclos.off TikTok page. Desclos’ manager (he has one) is holding off comment or an interview, for now. Manager of the @EdenElena page has not returned direct messages for comment.
According to a story in the Independent from August 2023, Desclos is from Normandy, France. He says fans have mobbed his hotel room late at night, “Beliebing” he is the oft-troubled recording star.
“A look or signature style I would say I have of Justin’s is the same tattoos as him,” Dylan told NeedToKnow.co.uk at the time. “A lot of people told me that I look like Justin Bieber in the past, however, I do make sure to dress like him. I think our similarities look-wise are some points of our faces, and definitely our attitudes.”
As an epilogue, Desclos’ team did run up a tab close to $10K during the XS visit. The man who isn’t Bieber paid it, before being shown the door.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
