Scooter Braun Gets Candid About Justin Bieber's Past Struggles: I Thought He Might Die

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For a time, Scooter Braun was really worried about Justin Bieber.

The 34-year-old talent manager gets very candid about the struggles he faced with his most successful artist in a new interview with the New York Times, admitting that, at one point, he was so concerned about Justin's well-being, he would not allow him to tour.

"I was not going to let him work," Scooter says, referencing a time in 2013, shortly after the 21-year-old singer had released the album, Journals. "He wanted to tour, and I honestly at that time felt, if he toured, he could die."

WATCH: Justin Bieber Reveals How He Feels About Selena Gomez's New Album

Scooter goes on to share that the public, who witnessed Justin's downfall, does not know the full extent of what he was going through.

"The outsiders don’t really know what was happening. It was far worse than people realize," he explains. "And when he is ready, he will tell what he was going through.

"But it’s a hard thing to watch someone you care and genuinely love go through that," he adds. "I’m really, really happy that’s over."

WATCH: Justin Bieber Opens Up About This 'Emotional Time' in His Life

However, after being credited by some with organizing a very successful career revival for Justin -- whose newest album, Purpose, has moved over 1 million copies, and enjoyed more critical acclaim that the artist's previous records -- Scooter defends his artist, saying that the singer getting his life together was his own doing.

"I know people have seen the marketing and the A&R and everything we put together, and they’re like, 'Wow, great job!' But I want to be really clear: I was trying to do that job for a year and a half, and I failed every single day," he admits. "It wasn’t until something happened that it clicked for him. He made the conscious decision as a young man: 'I need to make a change in my own life.'"

MORE: 18 Biggest Moments From Comedy Central's Incredibly Brutal Justin Bieber Roast

As for the Comedy Central Roast that kicked off Justin's "apology tour," Scooter reveals that the whole idea came from a 21-year-old intern.

"I had a meeting in the office, and I said: 'O.K., guys, these are some of my ideas. What person do you think Justin should do the intense sit-down interview with? Is it Katie Couric? Do we call Oprah and see if we can do a special?' And Ava [Coleman] — 21 years old, at the time an intern — she said: 'I just think my generation doesn’t care about that. I think if you want people to see that he’s for real, he should do a Comedy Central roast.' And I went: 'That is genius. Get it done.' Twenty-four hours later, I was on the phone with Comedy Central," he says.

Meanwhile, Justin recently showcased some of his adulthood in responding to that nude photo leak from earlier this year. Watch the video below.