Justin Bieber was recently baptized in a New York City bathtub amid the controversy surrounding two leaked videos that show the pop star using the N-word as a teenager.

In May, Bieber spent a week attending church services and doing intense Bible study with pastor Carl Lentz after a man possessing the racist-laced videos threatened to release them if the pop star didn’t pay him $1 million, TMZ reports.

Apparently, the baptism was performed in a bathtub of Bieber’s friend, who was not named. The singer had scoped out different churches, but his cover was blown during visits, according to TMZ.

On Saturday, Usher, who first introduced his protégé Bieber in 2009, defended the 20-year-old pop star, saying on Instagram that Bieber is “unequivocally not a racist.” Bieber issued a public apology for the tasteless jokes shortly after the first video leaked on June 1.