Good luck trying to erase the trail of a tweet when you have more than 26 million followers and your name is Justin Bieber.

It’s not clear why the Biebs would chime in yesterday about having just recorded a VO role for The Simpsons, then scrub that tweet. Did a ghost tweeter jump the gun? Did Bieber get a quick text message from FOX? It’s all moot, thanks to a report by EW’s Dan Snierson that has been widely picked up:

Executive producer Al Jean confirms to EW that Bieber will indeed play himself in an upcoming episode. How exactly does he fit into the story? “He tries to get into a talent show that Bart is playing piano in and they won’t admit him,” says Jean, quipping: “Draw your own conclusions.”

The episode in question, “The Fabulous Faker Boy,” will air in 2013. EW reader comments about whether Bieber’s participation signals the shark-jumping end of The Simpsons were evenly split at press time.

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