UPDATE: Bieber camp insists theft wasn’t hoax

Editors Update: Despite speculation his claims of getting his laptop and a camera stolen at the Tacoma Dome were all a publicity stunt, Justin Bieber’s publicist Melissa Victor says the theft report is true.

“Be very clear, the laptop was indeed stolen in Tacoma. That was NOT a hoax,” Victor wrote in an email to the Associated Press.

She did not immediately reply to questions about the release of the music video or whether the Twitter account claiming to have footage of the pop start was connected to publicity. The Twitter user, (at)gexwy, did not respond to a message from The Associated Press.

Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said a report was filed online Wednesday, but he doesn’t foresee police officers spending much time investigating.

“A lot of people got played,” Fulghum said. “It became a big media frenzy, so I guess that was the idea.”

But Fulghum did acknowledge the pop star’s laptop could have been stolen.

From The News Chick: Scroll to the end to see my update. I called it, he was punking us. #Funny #Not

Videos found on Justin Bieber’s allegedly stolen computer are supposed to hit the Internet Friday.

Someone with a Twitter name @gexwy posted Thursday that he or she has Bieber’s computer that the young superstar says was stolen when he was on stage at the Tacoma Dome Tuesday night.

The user just joined Twitter, with one of the first posts:

“Good job with the password protected @justinbieber. weak,” gexwy tweeted, around the time that Bieber was tweeting about a laptop that was stolen from his tour manager’s office at the Tacoma Dome, where he performed earlier in the week.

Bieber has been going back and forth with @gexwy, who has picked up about 52,000 followers.

“@gexwy no matter what you have and what you post tomorrow i know my fans wont leave me. screw it. #toostrong,” Bieber fired back.

Apparently looking to prove that gexwy wasn’t just making this up, that user then tweeted two YouTube links, both videos featuring Bieber that were presumably taken off his computer.

Here’s one of the videos, according to the anonymous tweeter:

One shows a much younger-looking Bieber holding back a window shade to reveal a throng of screaming fans outside, while the other shows a more recent incarnation of the Canadian popstar and some friends messing around backstage at an arena, where the 19-year-old, known to be fond of pranks, pours some sort of supplement powder on a sleeping member of his crew.

“u’ve been warned. should of listened @justinbieber,” @gexwy tweeted.

Meanwhile Tacoma police say surveillance video from the Tacoma Dome didn’t show anyone wandering around near Bieber’s dressing room backstage. Without a report, there isn’t a case for local police to investigate. And why didn’t he report the theft to Tacoma Police? This whole thing has to be a publicity stunt for his next video, which drops at noon today (9 Pacific).

As expected, the new tweets with the revealing video:

It’s a link to his latest video he’s done with Nicki Minaj. I’m not posting the video, because I simply #don’tcareanymore.

By LINDA THOMAS, Offering Mom-ish advice to young Justin: Don’t use Twitter to mess with your fans and Tacoma Police. #CheepTrickPublicity

Photo, Justin Bieber’s Twitter profile pic

The Associated Press contributed to this report