What does the highlighted word mean here ?

"sordid and disreputable"

It means the place looks suspicious in such a way that it's probably linked to criminal behavior. In this context, they are implying that Justin Bieber paid for sexual favors.

Seedy = disreputable or a questionable establishment. The implication here is that it may be the type of place where you get more than a massage and manicure.

Seedy is like sketchy, sleazy, disreputable. In this context it seems to imply that it is a spa for sex / sexual activities.

Seedy means disreputable. It's best not to learn English from the Daily Mail. It's a hateful paper that is always looking to do people down

Definition 2b: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seedy I continue to be amazed at these sorts of low effort posts.

Seedy is usually associated with things like prostitution/sex work. However it can also refer to drugs and other crime. I would assume this spa is a brothel.

suspicious

Suspicious

Seedy means disreputable, and unclean. The implication here is that Bieber went to a spa that offers sexual services under the table. meaning they say they're a massage parlor or spa, but they will also offer sexual gratification if you slip them enough cash.

Unrelated, but that looks like an uncle of Bieber, wow... time flew

FYI it's underlined and not highlighted :)

Honestly interested if this word really isn't in your native language to English dictionary? I mean if I find a word I don't know in another language I just run it through google translate https://www.google.com/search?q=google+translate&oq=google+transl&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDAgBECMYJxiABBiKBTIGCAAQRRg5MgwIARAjGCcYgAQYigUyDAgCEAAYQxiABBiKBTIPCAMQABgUGIcCGLEDGIAEMg0IBBAAGIMBGLEDGIAEMhIIBRAAGBQYgwEYhwIYsQMYgAQyCggGEAAYsQMYgAQyDQgHEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyCggIEAAYsQMYgAQyCggJEAAYsQMYgAQyEggKEAAYQxiDARixAxiABBiKBTINCAsQABiDARixAxiABDIHCAwQABiABDIQCA0QABiDARixAxiABBiKBTIHCA4QABiABNIBCDQ0NDBqMGo0qAIOsAIB8QUXOOoKCnpCmg&client=ms-android-oneplus-rvo3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

I’m a native speaker and would have had no clue lol

Seedy: of bad reputation.

A brief history lesson. In Latin, a culture that still dominates Europe and beyond, the word for the fluid that contains the gametes is literally their word for "seed." And the term "seed" had been used, in English, before it was English, as a euphemism for the fluid mentioned above. And in Latin and later Medieval European societies actors and prostitutes were the lowest rung in the social hierarchy, for free peoples (slaves and serfs were lower still, but they were property not the "public"). I'll let you draw the rest of the connections yourself

Seedy is a phrase to basically call a place untrustworthy or maybe a bit dirty? Like a massage parlor where they massage your special parts could be described as seedy

a seedy spa is a place known to give handjobs or other less than legal physical interactions with staff

It's a dodgy establishment. Probably a brothel.

"Not respectable". Here, they are using it to imply sex work.

Everyone is saying disreputable which is the dictionary definition. I will go a bit further to specify that it means something of bad reputation or of questionable reputation, and it may just be perceived, not an actual bad reputation. Someone who frequents upper class establishments might find a local pub "seedy." As someone else pointed out the word seems to be implying that the spa offers sexual services, which would be illegal in NYC where this happened. Like many headlines, this one is trying to imply something scandalous without saying it, as there is no evidence at all in the article (I looked at it myself) that something untoward was going on at the spa, which is only barely mentioned in the article. They do this to get people to read the article, in fact many headlines have little to do with the actual article or what actually happened anymore.

Disreputable

It means "shady or sketchy" in this context

"Of questionable moral character"

And what is the ethimology behind You guys think? Not native English speaker, but I asume it comes from seed, like something that plants the doubt about the moral of the place/thing/person. Whats ur take guys?

That's a very tabloid-like word, *seedy*. It means "disreputable (usually because of associations with sex)"

Seedy: low class, mushrooms growing and glowing in the shower, shower plug hole has beard bed bug and his friend cockroach ready to welcome you, rusty taps and beds with the springs from the pyramids, mice, rats and their little presents in the minibar, shower curtain with extra blood stains . Cigarette burns on furniture or carpet or both, corridor tiles stick to shoes, smell of corpse and sex

It comes from a beautiful plant whose flowers or fruits have run to seed. So once beautiful, now past it's best. But somewhere the meaning got transformed into a dubious or doubtful place, or a low class joint

Everyone’s had their say on the denotation of seedy, but the connotation is sperm. Ejaculation. Blown wad. Spilled seed.