Photo of Justin Bieber performing at 2016 Billboard Music Awards, by Kevin Winter

Justin Bieber was apparently offered a massive sum of money—$5 million, to be exact—in hopes he would play in Cleveland during last week's Republican National Convention.

He ultimately turned it down, but according to TMZ, organizers offered the singer the desperately high fee to perform for a quick 45 minutes near the Quicken Loans Arena, where the GOP Convention crowned reality television star Donald Trump its standard bearer and presidential nominee.

The steep offer would have been unusually generous, as even A-listers such as Bieber tend to earn only smaller six-figure fees for live performances. 

Sources with knowledge of the discussions say Bieber genuinely considered performing due to the high-dollar pay, but LeBron James and even his manager Scooter Braun urged him to decline, with the latter suggesting he might not continue representing the singer if he accepted.

It's worth noting the proposed Bieber show would not have been a part of the official RNC lineup, and as we previously reported, there were numerous third-party shows last week in Cleveland, with Martina McBride, Kid Rock and the Band Perry among them.

Meanwhile, this week's Democratic National Convention attracted performances from Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz, Snoop Dogg, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, Andra Day, Demi Lovato and more.

The high figure for Bieber is particularly interesting because Trump promised for weeks leading up to the convention it would be a much more celebrity-filled, show business affair.