7 Reasons People Think Hailey Bieber Is A Mean Girl— Especially To Selena Gomez
Fans have been calling her out for years.
DFree, Tinseltown / Shutterstock The drama between Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez is nothing new. The two have been circling around each other for over a decade, due to their respective romantic involvement with Justin Bieber.
However, the flames of the fire have been escalating now that both Hailey and Selena are being accused of using their social media platforms to antagonize each other.
Amidst the ongoing conflict, Selena's fans have rallied behind her. They believe that Hailey is bullying Selena, and are calling her out online.
8 reasons people hate Hailey Bieber and think she's a mean girl, especially to Selena Gomez:
1. Fans think Hailey Bieber body-shamed Selena Gomez on TikTok.
The most recent iteration of the drama between Hailey and Selena began when the Rare Beauty founder posted photos of herself in a bikini while on vacation.
Selena was criticized for having gained weight, despite looking natural and beautiful in the images.
RELATED: Hailey Bieber Reveals Conversation With Selena Gomez After Marrying Justin Bieber
Meanwhile, Hailey posted a TikTok of herself with Kendall Jenner and Justine Skye, lip-synching to the audio, “I’m not saying she deserved it, but God’s timing is always right.”
Fans took this as a thinly-veiled insult towards Selena, and a contribution to the public vitriol the 30-year-old experienced as a result of her vacation photos.
Hailey quickly deleted the TikTok, stating, “I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls’ night and did a random TikTok sound for fun. It’s not directed at anyone.”
Selena commented on a fan-made video about the incident, saying ”It’s ok! I don’t let these things get me down. Be nice to everyone.”
She also went live on TikTok to respond to the fat-shaming.
“We all have days where we feel like s–t. But I would much rather be healthy and take care of myself and my medications are important and I believe they are what helps me.”
2. Hailey Bieber was accused of making fun of Selena Gomez’s eyebrows with Kylie Jenner.
The conflict kept unfolding after Selena posted a TikTok of herself, joking that she’d laminated her eyebrows too much by accident.
Following the TikTok, Kylie Jenner posted a selfie to her Instagram stories with the caption, “This was an accident?” typed across her own eyebrows.
Kylie then posted a screenshot of herself FaceTiming with Hailey, with the camera focused on a close-up of both their eyebrows.
Selena's fans were quick to assume Jenner was poking fun at Selena and jumped to her defense.
Kylie commented on the videos, stating “This is reaching. No shade towards Selena ever and I didn’t see her eyebrow posts!”
Kylie claimed fans were “making something out of nothing. This is silly.”
Selena replied directly to Jenner’s comment, saying, “Agreed. It’s all unnecessary. I’m a fan of Kylie!”
3. Hailey Bieber threw shade at Selena Gomez’s best friend Taylor Swift.
During these exchanges, an old clip of Hailey resurfaced in which she appears to be insulting Taylor Swift, who is Selena's best friend.
The clip was featured in a 2018 episode of "Drop The Mic" and shows Hailey making a gagging motion in response to the mention of Taylor Swift’s album.
As the clip made the rounds, Selena took it upon herself to stand up to Hailey.
She posted on TikTok, “So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game.”
4. Hailey Bieber was called out as racist because of past tweets.
One TikToker reposted a collection of Hailey's old tweets, highlighting her xenophobic and racist statements.
“Shut up before I smack you back to your own country!” read one tweet.
“Leaving Florida white, but coming back to NY a different Race,” read another.
“To those foreigners who don’t celebrate thanksgiving, so sorry your country didn’t have Pilgrims and Indians to start such a sick holiday,” a tweet that made light of the US’s genocidal founding.
She even went so far as to tweet racist slurs, which the TikToker blurred out on her screen. Most of the tweets appear to be from 2012 and 2013.
5. Hailey Bieber was accused of being a middle-school bully by a former classmate.
TikTok user Kimona Elizabeth posted a video of herself with the caption, “Think you can hurt me? Hailey (Baldwin) Bieber was my middle school bully.”
Kimona posted a follow-up video, addressing her claim that Baldwin was her middle school bully.
“I was in 5th grade. Hailey was in 6th. She bullied me. Middle school is full of kids who are either the bullies or the bullied. Unfortunately, I was the bullied. And for that year, Hailey was my bully. It happens.”
Kimona said that she’s “not looking for an apology from her; I’m not doing this for clout.”
6. Fans think Hailey Bieber stalked Justin Bieber and 'took him' from Selena Gomez.
During the course of Justin Bieber’s on-again, off-again relationship with Selena, which lasted from 2011 until 2015, then again from 2017 to 2018, fans accused Hailey Bieber, then Baldwin, of stalking Justin.
The model is well-documented to have been a fan of the Canadian singer before they began dating but fans of Selena believe she wasn't just your average Bieber-fever-infected teen.
A resurfaced photo from before they began dating shows Hailey posing with a magazine that shows her now-husband on the cover with his then-girlfriend, Selena.
“Why Selena Knows She Won’t Marry Justin,” the headline reads while a teenage Hailey grins for the camera.
Another video has resurfaced that show Hailey in 2012, lurking in the background while Justin poses with fans.
None of this proves she deliberately sought to "steal" Justin from Selena — in fact the 26-year-old has always been open about being a fan of Justin as a kid. However, fans still question her motives.
Justin dated both women on and off throughout the 2010s, reuniting with Selena for a final fling just two months before he and Hailey married in 2018.
While Hailey maintains there was no overlap, fans insist there was and seem to put blame on Hailey, not Justin.
7. Fans think Hailey Bieber ‘copied’ Selena Gomez.
Fans have been accusing the model of copying Selena's tattoos and business ventures.
In 2015, Selena confirmed to Refinery29 that she had gotten a tattoo of the letter 'G' behind her ear as a tribute to her little sister Gracie. It's unclear when she got the ink.
Also in 2015, Hailey shared an image of her own 'G' tattoo — also behind her ear. In her case, the ink is a tribute to Georgia Veach, the daughter of her pastor Chad Veach.
Several celebrities, including Justin Bieber and Ashley Benson, have the same tattoo as part of a show of support for the young girl who has a rare brain condition.
Hailey also has a tattoo of a 'J' on her ring finger to honor her husband but fans have noted that it is similar to a ring Selena wore while dating the "Baby" singer.
These same critics note that Hailey launched a cooking show online and a skincare line within years of Selena hosting her own cooking show and launching "Rare Beauty," a makeup line.
Though, in the world of celebrity endorsements and business ventures, very few things are original.
Hailey Bieber has defended herself against the 'mean girl' accusations.
During a September 2022 interview on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, Hailey spoke on the hate she has received over the years.
“People really wanted to paint this picture of me like I was this mean girl, who’s a bully, who like, hates every other woman, and like I don’t support other women, which is funny, because I think anyone who knows me personally knows that’s so not me at all.”
Hailey continued on, blaming social media for the representation of her as a mean girl.
“I think that goes to show where social media can totally paint a different picture and be completely twisted… I just think there’s so much evil in social media. There’s so much hate. There's so much bullying.”
“It’s something that I’m super passionate about making a difference in… I just think if we pour truth into it, it can change the conversation.”
While fans across the internet have been quick to rally behind Selena by turning on Hailey, their pattern of action only echoes the mean girl behavior that they are accusing Hailey of performing.
Selena's fans slamming Hailey is just as bad as Hailey insulting Selena. The public narrative has unfolded in a way that posits Hailey as the villain against Selena, the victim.
Whether this is true or not, one thing is clear — bullying is cyclical behavior, and bullying a bully is also not okay.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.