If you were a teenager in 2009, you knew the name Ryan Butler. He wasn't the guy selling out Madison Square Garden, but he was always right there. Standing in the background of grainy YouTube vlogs, playing video games in the "One Time" music video, or laughing in the passenger seat of a car that cost more than most people's houses. He was the ultimate "best friend" archetype in the early Bieber lore.
But then, the spotlights got brighter. The world got weirder. And suddenly, Ryan Butler wasn't in every Instagram post anymore.
People love a good "fallout" story. They want to believe that fame destroyed a childhood bond or that some massive betrayal happened behind closed doors. Honestly, the reality is a lot less like a soap opera and a lot more like, well, just growing up.
The Kid From Stratford: Who Is Ryan Butler?
Ryan Butler isn't a celebrity in the traditional sense. He’s a guy from Stratford, Ontario, who happened to grow up across the street from a kid named Justin. Long before the "Bieber Fever" pandemic swept the globe, these two were just kids. They played hockey. They hung out at the local skate park. They were normal.
When Justin blew up on YouTube and signed with Scooter Braun, Ryan was part of the original "crew." For a while, it seemed like Justin was trying to bring his whole hometown with him to Los Angeles. You’ve probably seen the clip where Justin surprises Ryan with a white Ford Mustang for Christmas in 2011. It was the peak of "Bieber-mania," and Ryan was living the dream by proxy.
But being a "professional friend" is a weird gig. It’s exhausting.
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The "One Time" Music Video and the Early Years
If you go back and watch the "One Time" video today, it’s a total time capsule. Ryan is right there, portraying himself alongside Justin and Usher. They're playing video games at Usher’s house while the singer is away. It sold the image of Justin as a relatable kid who just wanted to hang with his buds.
For a few years, Ryan was a fixture. He traveled on the My World tour. He appeared in the Never Say Never documentary. Fans (the "Beliebers") treated him like a sub-celebrity, creating fan accounts and writing fan fiction about him.
But as Justin entered his "Bizzle" era—the period of legal troubles, Ferrari chases, and late-night partying—the circle started to change. Justin began hanging out with a different crowd: Lil Twist, Lil Za, and a rotating door of influencers and models. Ryan, meanwhile, seemed to pull back toward a more private life in Canada.
Did They Actually Have a Falling Out?
Social media is a toxic place for friendships. If two famous people don't "like" each other's photos for three months, people assume they're enemies.
There have been rumors for years. Some fans on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) claim they drifted because Ryan didn't fit into the high-glamour, high-chaos lifestyle Justin was living in the mid-2010s. Others speculate that as Justin leaned deeper into his faith and his marriage to Hailey Bieber, he intentionally distanced himself from his "wilder" past—though Ryan was never really the wild one.
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Here is what we actually know:
- Ryan was present at Justin’s wedding to Hailey in South Carolina in 2019.
- They still follow each other on social media (usually the modern-day litmus test for "we're cool").
- Ryan has consistently defended Justin in the press when things got rocky.
Basically, they didn't "break up." They just stopped being attached at the hip. Most of us don't hang out with our best friend from when we were twelve every single day once we hit our thirties. Now add world tours and $300 million to that equation. It's a miracle they talk at all.
Where Is Ryan Butler Now?
Ryan didn't try to parlay his "Bieber-adjacent" fame into a reality TV career or a failed music project. That’s actually pretty rare. Instead, he’s lived a relatively quiet life.
He’s spent time working on film projects and digital media. If you look at his life today, it's remarkably low-key compared to the "Swag" era of 2011. He’s a father now. He’s focused on his own family and his own interests in Ontario.
While Justin is dealing with the pressures of being a new father himself (to Jack Blues Bieber) and managing his health, Ryan is living the life of a regular Canadian guy. There’s a certain dignity in that. He saw the circus, he enjoyed the front-row seat, and then he walked out the exit when the show got too loud.
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Why the Friendship Matters for Justin
Growing up in the industry is a recipe for a God complex. When everyone around you is on the payroll, you lose your grip on what's real. Ryan Butler represented "Real."
He was one of the few people who knew Justin before the hair flips, before the Grammys, and before the paparazzi started jumping over his fences. Having someone who remembers you as the kid who lost at NHL '08 is vital for someone like Bieber.
The Evolution of the "Inner Circle"
Justin's circle has shrunk significantly over the last few years. He’s notoriously private now. He’s distanced himself from former mentors like Scooter Braun and focused almost entirely on his wife, his child, and a very small group of "safe" people.
Ryan might not be in the daily inner circle anymore, but he’s part of the foundation. He's the guy who knows where the bodies are buried—or more accurately, where the best poutine in Stratford is.
What you should do next:
If you’re feeling nostalgic, go back and watch the original YouTube vlogs on the "kidrauhl" channel. It’s a fascinating look at a friendship before it was commodified. Also, keep an eye on Ryan's rare social media updates; he occasionally drops throwback photos that give a glimpse into their shared history.
Don't buy into the "feud" headlines. Sometimes, the most successful thing a childhood friendship can do is survive the transition into adulthood—even if that means staying out of the frame.