“I wish people just knew my heart,” exclaimed Hailey Bieber on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. What everyone else wants to know is if Bieber thought of that line by herself, or only after studying Selena Gomez’s video diaries.
The drama between Gomez and Bieber has reached a peak as Selenators (Gomez’s fan base) have called out Bieber and Kylie Jenner for allegedly bullying Gomez.
To better understand this drama, let’s dive into Gomez and Bieber’s rocky history. Gomez and Justin Bieber started dating in 2010, and had an on again, off again relationship until their final split in May 2018. Only four months later, Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin tied the knot.
Since then, Hailey Bieber has taken a lot of heat from Selenators for being the culprit who brought Gomez and Justin Bieber’s long relationship to a permanent close. Consequently, there were rumors that Gomez and Hailey Bieber took a mutual dislike to one another.
According to Page Six Style, tensions between Gomez and Hailey Bieber subsided when the pair was seen hugging and laughing at the 2022 Academy Museum Gala. However, the idea of friendship was quickly squashed four months later.
In February 2023, Gomez posted a TikTok video showing off her freshly laminated eyebrows; the actress admitted she may have taken the lamination a bit too far. Shortly after, Kylie Jenner posted a picture of her eyebrows on her Instagram story. This was followed by a screenshot of Jenner and Hailey Bieber on facetime, again, both showcasing their eyebrows.
From this point, Selenators took off in the stars’ comments calling them “bullies” and “mean girls.” In response, Jenner released a Tweet stating, “this is reaching. no shade towards selena ever and i didn’t see her eyebrow posts! u guys are making something out of nothing. this is silly.”
Gomez commented on the Tweet as well, “Agreed @kyliejenner. It’s all unnecessary. I’m a fan of Kylie!”
Though Gomez seemed to have defended the two friends, the damage was already done. Selenators took to Instagram and TikTok, flooding the sites’ feeds with accusations towards Hailey Bieber.
Hailey was mostly accused of copying Selena Gomez in every aspect—from what she wears to how she speaks. Some of the conspiracy theories about Hailey Bieber obsessively copying Gomez are, as Kylie Jenner would put it, a reach. For example, Gomez fans accused Hailey of stealing Selena’s signature saying, “okie dokie.”
Kirsten Cluett, a sophomore health studies student, shared her position on the drama, “I think society links things together and creates ideas that Hailey ‘copied’ Selena out of circumstances that could just be coincidences. Society makes a big deal out of nothing… Just let both of them live their lives.”
One of the oddest connections between the celebrities is that they share matching tattoos of the letter “g.” Selena debuted the tattoo in 2015, where she revealed in an interview with Refinery29 that the ink was dedicated to her half-sister Gracie.
Selenators were quick to jump on Hailey for having a duplicate tattoo which, on the surface, has no connection to her life. However, this theory can be quickly debunked in a 2017 People Magazine article entitled, “Meet Hollywood’s Go-to Pastor Whose Young Daughter’s Heartbreaking Disease Inspired an A-List Tattoo Movement,” which explains that Hailey received the tattoo for Chad Veach’s daughter, Georgia, who suffers from lissencephaly, a brain disorder.
Caroline Gruseke, a sophomore communication student, weighed in on the feud, “As adults, Selena and Hailey should take their personal issues out of the media because it’s creating greater issues.”
Personally, I am neither team Hailey Bieber nor team Gomez; I find that a lot of celebrity drama is fabricated. My only question is, why do we always attack women? I find the common denominator in all of these issues to be one person – Justin Bieber.
Lexi Dubey, a senior communication student, said, “I am definitely team Selena 100 percent. I just find it interesting Justin has been pretty silent on the topic, especially considering how long he was with Selena compared to his short relationship with Hailey. It makes some people question Justin’s motives behind his marriage.”
To Dubey’s point, Justin Bieber has gone out of his way to disassociate himself from drama. He has not publicly defended his wife nor has he criticized Gomez or her fans. Some argue this is because Bieber hates gossip. However, I find it troubling how, despite witnessing the harsh backlash against his wife, Bieber has made no public statement asking the public to stop.
If Justin just made a statement about the entire situation, this feud could finally come to an end.
