Justin Bieber files defamation lawsuit after assault claims

Justin Bieber is suing two women for defamation after they accused him of sexual assault.

Last week, two Twitter accounts tweeted claims about incidents alleged to have happened in 2014 and 2015.

Bieber denied the claims and vowed to speak to Twitter to urge the social media giant to take legal action.

The singer, 26, filed a $20 million (£16.2m) lawsuit in Los Angeles on Thursday which describes the allegations as "fabricated lies".

An account from a woman known only as Danielle claimed she was assaulted by Bieber at a hotel in Austin, Texas on 9 March 2014.

She claims that after a surprise performance in front of a crowd at a bar, Bieber invited her and two friends to a Four Seasons hotel.

Danielle then claims she was taken to a private room in the hotel and assaulted.

Her tweets have been deleted however screenshots have been shared on social media.

Responding to the claims, Bieber shared screenshots from articles from the day the alleged assault took place, which show him with his then-girlfriend Selena Gomez.

He says they did not stay at the Four Seasons Hotel. Bieber shared a screenshot of a tweet which claimed he was spotted at restaurant inside a Four Seasons Hotel on 10 March, the day after the alleged assault.

"Even though Bieber went to the restaurant, he did NOT stay at the Four Seasons Hotel," the lawsuit said.

Another woman who identified herself as Kadi alleged on Twitter that she was sexually assaulted by Bieber in a New York hotel in May 2015.

The lawsuit says her accusation is false and that she had fabricated her allegation "out of her desire for fame and attention".

It claimed that the women were "trying to capitalize on the climate of fear permeating the entertainment industry, Hollywood and corporate America, whereby it is open season for anyone to make any claim (no matter how vile, unsupported, and provably false) about anyone without consequence".