As the drama dies down from TikTok’s dissection of Hailey Bieber’s history with Selena Gomez, Hailey gave another public, low-key show of support for Selena. Hailey liked Selena’s throwback Instagram of herself with platinum hair and a print bikini. Both women follow each other on Instagram now following their statements Friday where they asked fans to stop harassing Hailey. Hailey has liked Instagrams of Selena a couple times before, but this is the first time Hailey has liked one on Selena’s page directly.
On Friday, both women revealed they had been talking privately about the viral Selena-Hailey discourse on social media. Fans had been poring through Hailey’s treatment of Selena throughout the years, with some accusing Hailey of being a mean girl. Hailey, of course, is married to Justin Bieber, Selena’s ex-boyfriend whom she dated on and off for eight years.
Selena shared her statement first, asking fans to stop and revealing Hailey had gotten death threats. “Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity,” Selena shared. “This isn’t what I stand for. No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I’ve always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop. ♥️”
Hailey followed up with her own remarks expressing her gratitude for Selena speaking out. She went on to explain that everyone, including herself, could stand to be more careful with what they say and post online.
She said:
I want to thank Selena for speaking out, as her and I have been discussing the last few weeks how to move past this ongoing narrative between her and I.
The last few weeks have been very hard for everyone involved and millions of people are seeing so much hate around this, which is extremely harmful. While social media is an incredible way to connect and build community, moments like this only create extreme division instead of bringing people together.
Things can always be taken out of context or construed differently than they were intended. We all need to be more thoughtful about what we post and what we say, including myself.
In the end, I believe love will always be bigger than hate and negativity, and there is always an opportunity to meet each other with more empathy and compassion.
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.