It's the Internet vs Hailey Bieber
This article was published on February 27, 2023, and updated on March 14.
Hailey Bieber's really done it now: her pseudo-beef with Selena Gomez has basically the entire internet up in arms. The Rhode founder, née Hailey Baldwin, and pal Kylie Jenner have been the subject of much (deserved?) scrutiny since Gomez again departed social media on February 23.
So what all actually happened? Let's go through it all moment by moment.
The supposed beef actually began a few days prior, when Bieber uploaded and deleted a TikTok in mid-February wherein she lip-synced to a trending song with the lyrics, "and I'm not saying she deserved it / but I'm saying god's timing is always right."
Gomez stans' drama detector went off: they immediately suspected that Bieber was shading Selena Gomez, who famously dated Justin Bieber before he married Hailey.
There's a precedent here, they assert. The stans have long suspected Hailey of holding a grudge against Gomez and coveting Justin's attention.
Anyways, later that week, Jenner uploaded a video wherein she appeared to diss Gomez' eyebrows, a claim that she denied but fans took as gospel.
In the following days, despite Hailey Bieber's attempts to deflect and Gomez' attempts to peaceably defuse, stans kept the heat up.
They tracked the two womens' Instagram following, for instance, as Bieber and Gomez traded the top spots as Instagram's most-followed celebrity.
Eventually, Gomez took the top spot while both Bieber and Kylie Jenner, who was in the lip-syncing TikTok with Bieber, lost followers.
The internet almost entirely sided with Gomez throughout the entire affair, deeming Bieber a "mean girl" with overly poised Instagram photos while praising Gomez' seemingly effortless social media presence.
But, as mentioned earlier, Gomez was tired of the drama and excused herself from social media without directly mentioning anyone or anything as the root cause.
This opened the floodgates to a ton of celebrities unfollowing Hailey Bieber, according to stan accounts in particular (it's worth noting that these famous people may not have actually followed Bieber in the first place as some of these tweets are in-jokes).
Bieber is still getting dragged on Twitter, as users dredge up her questionable past interviews and tweets.
And, to top it all off, this all follows longstanding rumors that Bieber still holds feelings for Gomez.
Suffice to say, it's the internet vs. Hailey Bieber right now (and Kylie Jenner, to some extent). Outside of a full apology, there's not much anything that Bieber or Jenner can do to turn the tides in their favor.
Even if they directly addressed the controversy, it'd be unlikely to help their situation though it'd certainly not hurt if done correctly.
Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner don't seem to think they have anything to apologize for, however, as they apparently are taking the tried-and-true tact of "ignore 'til it's over."
On Instagram, Bieber recently posted a photo of her latest magazine cover (comments include "Bye Hailey" and "She's always throwing shade and hate towards other women") while Jenner uploaded pictures from an editorial photoshoot ("Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend," one commenter replied while another asked "You’re a mom. How would you like it if someone bullied your daughter?").
Bieber was also spotted at a water park with her sister, entirely unbothered by her recent PR gaffe, it seems.
Kylie's former pal Jordyn Woods joined #TeamSelena in the interim, uploading an Instagram Story of herself putting on a lipstick from Gomez' Rare Beauty line.
Meanwhile, the Jenners have had their own shares of controversy recently, what with Kendall's dating controversy and Kylie's Schiaparelli dress but this Selena Gomez situation takes the cake.
During her social media break, Gomez uploaded a few images of herself as a child — including one dedicated to International Women's Day on March 8 — before finally uploading a selfie late on March 13, to ravenous support from followers.
Hailey Bieber, meanwhile, continues to inspire rage. Comments on her most recent Instagram posts are nothing but insults and
