If you were to trust the internet, you’d think Hailey and Justin Bieber have been on the verge of divorce since 2018 when they first tied the knot.
But baseless rumours about celebrity couples are nothing out of the ordinary. What is strange is the sheer number of people who seem to be rooting for the couple to go up in flames.
This was made clearer than ever in recent days, with countless people commenting on Hailey’s most recent Instagram post: ‘You’ll always be a fan.’
The comment refers to a viral seven-part TikTok docuseries that has been viewed millions of times on the short-form video app. The series alleges Hailey stalked Justin before they were married and set out to manipulate her way into his life, despite his relationship with Selena Gomez.
The subsequent online conversation revived a song by artist Eva Grace – called You’ll Always Be a Fan – that features lyrics that reference many of the accusations the docuseries makes about Hailey and asserts that no matter how close she gets to Bieber, she’ll ‘always be a fan.’
Eva has even said the song was inspired by the drama.
But the docuseries is only the latest feature of a campaign by countless people to split the couple up – and tear Hailey down in the process.
So why are so many people obsessed with Justin and Hailey Bieber getting a divorce? Here’s a look at what might contribute to the pop culture phenomenon.
A timeline of the ‘drama’ between Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez
Hailey and Justin, who recently welcomed their first child, tied the knot in 2018 just a few months after Justin and pop star Selena Gomez ended things for good after eight tumultuous years of on-and-off romance.
Neutrality didn’t seem like an option then, with even casual pop culture fans insisting on siding with Selena or Hailey in what the press depicted as an acrimonious love triangle.
People took every tiny social media interaction, paparazzi photo, or comment from any of the three stars as evidence to support their position, with Hailey and Selena receiving most of the negative attention.
Evidence of bad blood between Hailey and Selena is questionable at best, but many fans are insistent that the A-listers are embroiled in a years-long feud.
The rumours began in October 2019 when Selena Gomez released Lose You to Love Me, a song about coping with her breakup with Bieber.
That same day, Hailey Bieber posted an Instagram story to the song I’ll Kill You by Summer Walker, leading many fans to believe it was a direct dig at Selena. Hailey quickly debunked the rumours as ‘nonsense.’
A few more instances of perceived digs on social media followed. Still, nothing of consequence happened until 2023, when a video of Hailey Bieber dissing Selena Gomez’s bestie Taylor Swift went viral.
In the clip, Hailey appears to gag when Swift and her music are mentioned. Selena directly commented, setting off a firestorm of speculation. She wrote: ‘So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game.’
Shortly after, fans speculated that Kylie Jenner and Hailey were making fun of Selena with a post seemingly about her eyebrows.
But Kylie responded to the speculation, writing, ‘This is reaching. No shade towards Selena ever, and I didn’t see her eyebrow posts! You guys are making something out of nothing. This is silly.’
Selena soon wrote: ‘Agreed @kyliejenner. It’s all unnecessary. I’m a fan of Kylie!’
The most recent drama occurred more recently, with Hailey allegedly liking a TikTok throwing shade at Gomez’s fiancé Benny Blanco’s looks and his relationship with Selena.
According to Page Six, Bieber’s representative dismissed the controversy as entirely false, saying: ‘This entire story has been fabricated by a content creator looking to capitalize off of an old, tired narrative.’
All of this is to say that fans were attached to the idea of Selena and Justin lasting forever, with many seeing Hailey as an unworthy successor who ‘stole’ Justin from his true love.
As unbelievable as it is that fans are still not over a relationship that ended so many years ago, it’s important to remember that Justin Bieber is not just any pop star.
Justin Bieber was everybody’s boyfriend
If you weren’t around for the ‘Bieber Fever’ that seemed to have infected every young girl around 2010, you probably can’t comprehend just how intense it was.
The Canadian popstar became the most famous person in the world seemingly overnight, with his sugary sweet voice featured in his first hit – Baby – pouring out of every speaker in every tween’s bedroom.
The singer came onto the scene at a very specific time, when fandoms were moving more and more online, and young people were just beginning to spend hours on their family computers.
As a result, the intense feelings of devotion that Bieber evoked – reminiscient of Beatle-mania, teen girl’s reactions to Elvis, and countless other instances of teen heartthrobs – took on a brand-new, hyper-online facet.
Fans of Justin’s weren’t just uniting at his concerts or in line to buy his music as in years past, they were spending countless hours watching YouTube videos of him, talking to eachother about him in chatrooms, bidding on Ebay for merch and Justin related items, and generally forming a sense of identity that was tied to him.
Many young fans found an online community through the fandom, further cementing their devotion and creating a sense of collective power that would lead many to think they ought to have a real say in Justin’s life. Afterall, they were no longer just individuals who liked an artist; they were a unified army of Beliebers.
The mania was only fed by Justin and (more likely) the adults who marketed him to the world. The singer flirted with his fans onstage, starred in music videos with them, and sang songs (like One Less Lonely Girl) explicitly aimed at playing into the fantasies his fans had about him.
Fast forward to when Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber began dating in 2009. Both were young, beautiful, and excellent at dropping coy hints about their flirtation that made teen girls’ hearts flutter.
Instead of inspiring jealousy in Justin’s fans, Selena’s girl-next-door image allowed Beliebers to identify with her. As a result, for the decade they were on-and-off, most Beliebers rooted for the couple who had grown up together.
To make things even more intense, both stars continued to drop hints that they weren’t over eachother even when they did breakup, with Justin telling Complex in 2015: ‘When stuff would happen, I would lose my freakin’ mind, and she would lose her mind, and we would fight so hard because we were so invested in each other. Love is a choice. Love is not a feeling.’
This quote sparked furious calls for ‘Jelena’ to reunite, which they eventually did in 2016 before splitting for good in late 2017.
No one really believed they wouldn’t get back together until Justin was suddenly engaged to Hailey, whom he married in 2018.
Longtime fans felt betrayed and outraged, as if Justin had broken their hearts, not Selenas. After all, in their minds, Selena was their parasocial stand-in.
If they couldn’t have the boy they’d been obsessing over since they were twelve, the girl who they watched him fall in love with during a formative time in their lives should be the one to end up with him. For many, Selena and Justin were their first experience of romance – even if it was secondhand – and they saw Hailey as an evil force getting in the way of their happily ever after.
To make matters worse, though she has a famous father, Hailey was once just another Justin Bieber fan adoring him from afar, even posting a photo of herself at a meet-and-greet with the singer years earlier.
This only fed into the outrage, with fans suddenly suspicious that if Hailey hadn’t swooped in first, maybe they could have had a chance with Justin afterall.
Things only got worse when Selena opened up in her Apple TV+ documentary My Mind & Me, saying, ‘I felt haunted by a past relationship that no one wanted to let go of. But then I just moved past it. I wasn’t afraid anymore.’
She added, ‘I feel like I had to go through the worst possible heartbreak ever. I just think that needed to happen, and ultimately, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.’
Fans were quick to sympathise with the popstar and – instead of blaming their beloved Justin – their ire was directed at the next obvious target: Hailey.
Now, even though they’ve reached adulthood, Justin’s fans are as devoted as ever – afterall, they formed their identities around him when they were still young, impressionable, and searching for a sense of community.
Consequently, their dislike for Hailey has calcified over the years into an almost senseless prejudice.
Will Justin’s fans ever accept the mother of his child and get over Selena? Only time will tell.
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