Justin Bieber may be the god in his Beliebers’ eyes, but when it comes to the Billboard audience, he’s basically a joke. The Canadian tween heartthrob was booed while accepting the first ever Milestone Award at the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night.

The “Boyfriend” singer, who beat Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars for the accolade, took the stage to accept his award, but instead of loud cheers, he was greeted by boos.

Fans also screamed and cheered for Justin, but the collective boos from the audience was so loud that it can be heard even on the televised clip of the show.

Justin appeared to be stumped at the hostile reception. He stuttered when he defended why he deserves the award in his speech.

“I’m 19 years old. I think I’m doing a pretty good job. And basically from my heart I really just want to say, it’s really should be about the music. It should be about the craft that I’m making,” he said.

“This is not a gimmick. I’m an artist. And I should be taken seriously. And all this other bull should not be spoken of.”

The Milestone Award was voted by fans, which is perhaps why Justin won. His fans are some of the most aggressive in the industry. Justin, of course, thanked his fans afterwards for the gift.

“2 performances and 2 awards. Grateful to my #Beliebers. Our awards. Love u,” he tweeted, referring to his other trophy of the night, Social Artist of the Year.

Meanwhile, on-off girlfriend Selena Gomez refused to sit next to him at the awards show. She was originally arranged to be seated with him, but she opted to sit next to Taylor Swift, according to TMZ.

Watch Justin Bieber getting booed at the Billboard Music Awards here: