The Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez drama has experienced a surge in recent days. The two celebrities have been rumored to be at odds with one another since Hailey and Justin Bieber rekindled their romance in 2018 and married months later. To summarize, Justin and Selena had an on-again-off-again relationship spanning 10 years from 2008 - 2018. During one of their breaks in 2016, Justin briefly dated Hailey. However, the pair broke up and Justin and Selena got back together.
By 2018, Justin and Selena parted ways for good, though reports are conflicting on whether they broke up in March 2018 or May 2018. At some point, Justin rekindled his relationship with Hailey and they were engaged by July 2018.
Hailey has adamantly denied that she was ever involved with Justin when he was with Selena, although the timeline certainly looks strange to those on the outside. This hasn't stopped fans from spreading rumors that the two are feuding with one another. On the one hand, it's pretty natural for dislike to occur when it comes to one's ex or the new partner of one's ex. However, fans took it to a whole new level, trying to find hidden messages and shade in every single one of Hailey's and Selena's social media posts, actions, and statements. The two have frequently denied any animosity between them, and even put up a united front in October 2022 at the Academy Museum Gala, when they ran to each other, hugged, and posed with arms wrapped around each others' shoulders for photos. For a moment, it looked like the Selena/Hailey feud was laid to rest, but, of course, it came back with a vengeance.
The Hailey and Selena drama explained
The drama exploded on February 21, when Selena posted a simple and funny video to her Instagram Story sharing that she had accidentally over-laminated her eyebrows. The simple seconds-long video likely gave viewers a chuckle at the beauty hack fail. However, just three hours later, Kylie Jenner, the long-term best friend of Hailey, posted to her Instagram Story. The Story was a shot of, you guessed it, her eyebrows and a caption over her eyebrows that read, "this was an accident?????" It didn't take long for Hailey to join in, sharing an Instagram Story of a screenshot of her and Kylie both zoomed in on their eyebrows.
In a video calling out the alleged "bullying," Kylie denied shading Selena and claimed she hadn't even seen Selena's video. Selena also commented, backing up Kylie's claims and saying she was a "fan" of Kylie. However, Selena seemed to backtrack on that statement when she commented on a TikTok calling out Kylie and Hailey for being "mean girls," and wrote, "I love you." She also found a TikTok that re-uploaded a clip filmed 6 years ago, in which Hailey seemingly gags at the mention of Taylor Swift. Selena commented, "So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game."
Later, Selena posted a video explaining that she was taking a break from social media because she was "30" and things had gotten "silly." She has since returned to social media, but viewers haven't dropped the eyebrow feud. Even from a non-fan perspective, it can't be denied that Kylie and Hailey definitely seemed to be shading/mocking Selena with their Instagram Stories. Meanwhile, they really don't seem to have any reason to do so. Selena has consistently defended Hailey and put up a united front with her. The two have constantly denied having any animosity over their respective relationships with Justin. Plus, Hailey is the one happily married to Justin for over 5 years now. To have to bully and mock Selena for every single social media post she makes comes across as extremely petty, jealous, and childish. What's interesting is that Selena seems to be done trying to protect and defend Hailey, and may be ready to call her out on her "mean girl" behaviors.
Meanwhile, fans have also brought up another instance in which Hailey and Kylie allegedly shaded Selena in a much more brutal way. Selena has been open about her struggles with Lupus and how weight gain is one of its side effects. However, that hasn't stopped her from being callously body-shamed by internet trolls. Back in January, after a particularly brutal round of cyberbullying over a picture of Selena at the Golden Globes, Hailey posted a TikTok lip-syncing, "And I'm not saying she deserved it, but God's timing is always right." Hailey later denied it was directed at Selena and deleted the video. However, the eyebrow video has made viewers revisit that instance and also made it look less like a coincidence.
Is Hailey obsessed with Selena?
This feud has led to fans digging a little deeper into the Hailey and Selena controversy. What some have uncovered seems to hint at Hailey being obsessed with Selena. While these are just allegations and likely are "reaching," some of them do seem to be more than coincidences. First, fans did a bit of digging and uncovered a lot of Hailey's cringy 2011-2012 social media activity where she "fangirled" over Justin and Selena. It's important to remember that she was already 16-17 years old when making these posts.
Hailey has since deleted the Tweets, but they have been snapshotted and reshared on social media. In one Tweet she called Selena "flawless" and claimed she and Justin were in "the perfect relationship." She also stated that Justin and Selena's relationship was the "teenage dream," and that she was "100% for Jelena." Hailey also mused over what color coordination Selena and Justin would wear for a red carpet appearance.
While many found these Tweets pretty cringy and marveled over how Selena somehow never used them against Hailey, others found them a bit unsettling. Some users questioned Justin's choice to marry a "fan" and whether Hailey's obsession had crossed over into her marriage. Dozens of photos and videos have surfaced showing Hailey seemingly copying Selena. These videos allege she has copied Selena's videos, statements, and outfits.
Even weirder is the allegation that she and Selena have almost identical "g" tattoos under their ears. While Selena's is a tribute to her sister and Hailey's was in support of the daughter of a pastor who was facing health struggles, it's unclear why/how they both ended up getting the exact same style "g" in the exact same spot. It also gets stranger still, in that Hailey got a "J" tattooed on her finger to mark her first anniversary with Justin, and the font/style was nearly identical to a "J" ring that Justin had gifted Selena.
The alleged examples of Hailey copying Selena have been enough for some to worry for Selena's safety. While it can be argued that Hailey was just following a script or designer's instructions in instances where she seemed to copy Selena's statements or fashion, other things, like the "J" tattoo can't be so easily explained. Ultimately, it's difficult to say what Hailey's attitude towards Selena is over the internet. It may be a stretch to say she's "obsessed" with Selena, but the coincidences and numerous "shading" instances are hard to ignore. It's difficult to know what to make of all this evidence, but the moral of the story should be to leave your ex's partner or your partner's ex alone, especially if they've never done anything to hurt you or your relationship. For those who may suspect that a partner's ex or ex's new partner is obsessed/fixated on you, please take it seriously and stay safe—these situations do exist outside of celebrity gossip and media fodder.