Throughout the years, there have been debates and people picking sides that reached top trending news, ranging from choosing if the dress was blue and black or gold and white, if everyone was a Jake Paul fan or a Logan Paul fan, or even if the recording was repeating ‘yanny’ or ‘laurel.’ Of course, there will always be a heated discussion on one social platform or another. However, recently the choices have shifted to a dispute that has never been settled. 

The topic of Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez once again surfaces, causing both involved to come forward and speak about their original intentions or how they feel about everything currently happening. This side will be explaining Hailey’s side of the story, and whether she deserves the backlash she is receiving.

BACKGROUND:

There is information that dates back to the early 2010s that shows the start and ends of Justin and Selena’s relationship. After their second break-up in 2014, there were immediate assumptions a month after speculating that Justin and Hailey were starting their own relationship. A constant on-and-off triangle exists between the three from 2016 to 2018. By July 2018, Justin and Hailey had committed to one another. They got engaged, sparking rumors that one of Selena’s songs, released shortly after the Beibers’ marriage, was her reaction to how serious Hailey and Justin had gotten with one another. 

Stevie Sandoval-Lunn states, “I was a Justin and Selena fan from the second they started dating. All the best music came out in their era, but now that Hailey and Justin are married, I have mostly shifted my focus onto their life together.”

Following the release of Gomez’s song “Lose You to Love Me,” Hailey Bieber posted a song written by Summer Walker titled “I’ll Kill You,” which immediately received backlash for what fans assumed was an attack on Selena. However, Gomez came forward to stop fans from shaming Hailey, kindling a small “friendship” between the two celebrities. Jumping to 2022, fans started to share ideas and thoughts after putting two and two together with Selena and Justin’s relationship compared to Hailey and Justin’s relationship, sparking a new trend of Hailey stealing Selena’s life, stealing Justin from Selena. The stories run on and on into current affairs, but the baseline is that fans believe Hailey stole not only Justin from Selena but her entire lifestyle. 

THE WHY: 

The stories run on and on into current affairs, but the baseline is that fans believe Hailey stole not only Justin from Selena but her entire lifestyle. Hailey is receiving shade from fans who accuse her of stealing Selena’s life from catchphrases to their shared love interest. In February 2023, Selena defended her friend Taylor Swift after Hailey decided to shade Swift in a TikTok. The video was of Hailey pretending to gag at the same time Swift’s album was mentioned, leading to more hate for Hailey and support for Selena and Taylor. Shortly after this situation, Selena took to Instagram to post her eyebrows which were “over-laminated,” a few hours after prompted Hailey and Kylie Jenner to post a picture of their eyebrows captioned, “This is an Accident???” Not only did this incident drag in Jenner, but it also set hope for fans on Selena’s side to continue supporting her despite Hailey’s actions. 

“After so much time, you think there would be improvements to the relationship between the two celebrities. I assume this shows that some people cannot change and get over themselves,” states Lani Jaquez. 

THE WHY NOT:

Though all of that information may seem like a sure reason for Hailey to be thrown under the bus, others see these incidents as careful coincidences and things out of each person’s control. Take, for example, the same day that Selena supposedly released a song in supposed response to Haily and Justin’s engagement, Hailey posted the same day song titled “I’ll Kill You.” Hailey instantly said that people were acting weird and making a big deal out of nothing. Both celebrities find the debate pointless and “silly” to the public, but there is no telling how each of them feels away from the attention of fans. 

“Hailey might not deserve the harsh treatment she is receiving, but she deserves to be put on blast for all the weird and out-of-pocket things that have happened and been said between her and Selena,” expresses Sandoval-Lunn.

Though the supposed dispute has continued for over a decade, both celebrities find the debate pointless and “silly” to the public. However, there is no telling how each of them feels away from the attention of fans. The only thing it comes down to now is, who is side is everyone taking, Hailey’s or Selena’s?

Social media has been through its trials and tribulations. The very first social media platform, Six Degrees, was made in 1997. Ever since then, social media has exploded with thousands of different platforms, including MySpace (which shut down in 2008), Facebook, and Instagram.

Almost every person who has a phone has social media. With so many people being on it, there’s always going to be some sort of dispute, ranging from arguing over the colors of something, to what something sounds like, and even celebrity disputes.

Sophomore Harry Evenson says “Literally everyone has some sort of social media. It’s a part of everyday life. There is always a problem with celebrities though, it’s like nobody can mind their own business!”

One of the most recent arguments online is between Hailey Baldwin and Selena Gomez. Fans have taken a deep look into the two and realized some similarities. Selena’s ex boyfriend, Justin Bieber, is now married to her old friend, Hailey Baldwin. Selena and Justin confirmed their relationship in 2011, but broke up later in 2012. They reconnected later in 2013, but were on and off until their final break-up in 2018. Both Selena and Hailey were friends in 2009 and were later introduced to Justin. Hailey and Justin got married an alleged 2 months after Selena and Justin broke up.

In any good argument, both sides of the discussion must be explained and broken down, explaining why this will be one part of the debate, explaining Selena’s side of the story, and whether she deserves the backlash she is receiving. The other part of the story will be told from Hailey’s side of the story, written by Savanna McDow.

Originally, Hailey was a huge fan of the couple, and even tweeted about how they were “couple goals,” and how they were a “teenage dream.” She goes on to say that she is “100% team #Jelena,” which is the ship name that fans made for Selena and Justin.

“I don’t know why she switched up, if you were really a friend you wouldn’t have married her ex boyfriend 2 months after they broke up,” Evenson says. “They didn’t even wait!”

Recently Hailey posted a TikTok that was supposedly body shaming Selena. Fans didn’t take this very well and started bashing Hailey. Since then Hailey has deleted the TikTok, but it didn’t end there. Hailey has supposedly “copied” Selena with other things, ranging from sayings to even tattoos.

Since then there has been a constant back and forth between the two.

Selena recently said on her Instagram story that “Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity,” she then says that “this isn’t what I stand for. No one should have to experience hate or bullying.”

Sophomore, Lucas Halvorson, says “I’m happy that Selena spoke about it. She has always been such a positive person and this really just shows how much respect she really deserves. I think that Hailey’s fame got to her head and she just wanted to replicate what Selena and Justin had, but you just can’t.”

Even though there are a lot of people who are very interested in this feud, there are few who don’t care as much. Junior Kenny Kendrick feels indifferent about the situation, and hasn’t really caught up with it.

“I could honestly care less,” Kendrick says. “Celebrity drama has never really been my forte. I have a lot of my own things that are much more important. I don’t even know these people!”

The question now is, who’s side is right and who’s side is wrong?