Notorious pop sensation Justin Bieber appeared as the Comedy Central roastee in a March 30 roast hosted by comedian Kevin Hart.

The special segment was reportedly one of Bieber’s long-standing dreams, as stated in a Jan. 20 Rolling Stone report.

“Justin has been asking us for years to roast him, so we kept telling him to create some more material and we’re thrilled he listened,” an unidentified Comedy Central representative told Ryan Seacrest’s people, according to a Jan. 19 post on Seacrest’s website.

It’s unclear why Bieber was so obsessed with being the victim of a roast, but he took it well when he was previously made the butt of a joke in a Jan. 17 episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

The episode included a scene in which actress Kate McKinnon spoofed Bieber’s Calvin Klein photo shoot, portraying him as a dramatically childish man-boy rather than the sexy adult he clearly wanted to be seen as.

Bieber’s decision to volunteer as a roastee was described as brave by some of his confused fans, but the move was clearly constructed as a publicity stunt in an attempt to salvage his public image.

The pop star was insulted by the likes of Hart, SNL star Pete Davidson, comedian Hannibal Burress, actress Natasha Leggero, comedian Chris D’Elia—who is apparently Bieber’s all-time favorite comedian—roast master Jeff Ross, Shaquille O’Neal, rapper Ludacris, who was involved in Bieber’s career back in the “Baby” era, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart.

Bieber was overall a good sport. Some of the “jokes”—all of which seemed to have a bit of truth behind them—and insults slung at him were pretty intense, such as Davidson’s joke about Bieber’s “deadbeat father.”

“I lost my dad on 9/11, and I always regretted growing up without a dad, until I met your dad, Justin,” Davidson said. “Now I’m glad mine’s dead.”

Bieber took insult after insult with a smile on his face and reacted to those digs that may have shocked him with a straight face.

The real kicker came at the end of the roast, though. Many viewers expected Bieber to retaliate after being slain for two hours by some of his favorite faces in the industry.

Although he did deliver a few good jokes when his turn to roast the others finally came, it was actually his surprise heartfelt message to fans at the end that brought a whole new meaning to the roast.

After joking about how a bunch of “has-beens” stood there mock- ing his “lesbian haircut” for two hours, Bieber told the crowd, “Let’s get serious for a second.”

He went on to acknowledge the poor example he set for his young fan base as well as his failure to behave like a respectable adult, something no one expected from the usually obnoxious singer, although it was out of place for a roast.

Bieber’s sudden self-awareness is long-overdue, and as promising as it might be, he would have garnered more respect from the real adults watching if he had just taken the digs like a big kid without insisting he’s “a kind-hearted person who loves people.”