Singer Cody Simpson has spoken out in defense of superstar and good friend Justin Bieber, who recently suffered a wave of bad press in the UK after a series of unfortunate events.

Bieber's bad luck began after he took the stage two hours late during a concert in London and then things took a turn for the worst when he was taken to hospital following another show, and then lashed out at the paparazzi later that week.

Simpson told E! that the pressure of fame can be overwhelming, especially as a teenager: "Stuff that's really not that bad is made a big deal. People like to do that about everyone. You just gotta deal with it. [You have to] be as sensible as you can. At the end of the day, we're teenagers!"

He added that he recently spent time with Bieber in Europe (pictured above left), where they behaved like tourists in the early hours of the morning in order to avoid being swarmed by fans: "We went to the Eiffel Tower and stuff at 1am so we didn't have anyone bother us. He's a great guy to tour with."

Watch Simpson talk about his tour with Bieber in Europe here: