Students Decide: Are they Team Selena or Team Hailey?

Famous celebrities Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, and Hailey Bieber have been notorious for what the public perceive to be their drama-filled history with one another, starting as far back as 2018. Although the matter of Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez’s supposed rivalry has since died down for many years, a recent internet feud has renewed public interest in the two.

Just last month, Selena Gomez posted a TikTok of herself in which she voiced mild concern that her eyebrows were too laminated. Around three hours after Selena’s TikTok, Kylie Jenner shared a screenshot of her and Hailey Bieber’s eyebrows that was taken during a FaceTime call with the caption: “This was an accident???”

 If it had been any other two women on the planet, it is likely nobody would’ve cared that much, but because it was The Hailey Bieber, a lot of people found it too coincidental.

Fans have speculated for a long time that Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez don’t have the best relationship with one other, mainly on Hailey’s side. Both of the girls have been pitted against each other for as long as they can remember, because Selena dated Justin Bieber before making Hailey his wife. There was also a lot of focus on them specifically because Justin got with Hailey really quickly after he broke up with Selena. Justin and Selena broke up in the March of 2018 and he got married to Hailey Bieber in September 2018.

Some fans have also speculated Justin might have a part in the feud, because there are alleged sources that claim the day he was going to marry Hailey Justin texted Selena and said he wanted her back. Selena made a song called “Ring” that people think is about the situation, particularly the lyrics “Yeah, I received your message, all twenty-three (Twenty-three).” When asked to explain the lyrics Selena admitted she couldn’t say the real meaning behind it.

“They’re [Justin and Hailey] really fake… every celebrity I find them [really] fake,” said junior Aisha Am.

“I know Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ and that’s it,” said junior Angie Hoang. “I don’t know anything about Hailey. I think she’s just famous because she’s married to Justin.”

While both students had either neutral or negative opinions toward the Bieber couple, they both had positive opinions about Selena Gomez.

“I think she’s really sweet,” Am said. “I don’t know her but that’s what I think.”

“I love her, I love her songs, I used to listen to her all the time when I was a kid. She’s also Taylor Swift’s best friend,” Hoang said. 

News of Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber “bullying” Selena Gomez has stirred up the internet, causing numerous theories, videos and Tiktoks of the two’s rivalry being brought to attention. The tags, #TeamSelena or #Team Hailey have made the rounds on Twitter, prompting companies such as SunnyD to jump in on the trend, perhaps to get clout.

“I think it’s just a plan to get attention,” Am said.

Hoang said, “ I think Hailey is being super shady, Kylie Jenner too. It’s just so unnecessary and rude to be honest. Calling her out for her eyebrows is just really weird in my opinion.”

The drama has caused fans to notice a lot of instances in the past where it seemed that Hailey really had it in for Selena. Around the time Selena started weight gaining noticeable weight (reportedly a side effect of her her lupus medication) became a flashpoint on the internet, and ruthlessly bullied at the Golden Globes. There was a post of Hailey Bieber with friends lip-syncing the song lyrics, “I’m not saying she deserved it, but I’m saying God’s timing is always right.”

Although later Hailey went on to say she wasn’t talking about Selena, and Selena claimed that she was on good terms with Kylie Jenner, the same day, mere hours after the eyebrow fiasco Selena resurfaced a 6- year-old video of Hailey allegedly being mean to Taylor Swift, her best friend. The video had her pretending to gag when Taylor swift was mentioned.

Selena commented, “So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game.”

There have also been instances of people saying that Hailey has been obsessed with Selena Gomez for years, from wearing the same clothes as her to events, to copying phrases she said, to getting a similar if not identical tattoo as her in the same place right her body. There was also a time where Hailey went on the same podcast Selena was on right after she appeared on it. Fans have found proof that Hailey was aware of Selena and Justin’s relationship back as early as 2011 and made various posts talking about them before her and Justin ever dated. Hailey also got a “J” tattooed on her finger, presumably J for Justin, with an nearly identical font style to the J ring that Justin had gifted Selena. This has made people joke that Hailey is “obsessed” with Selena.

Although at the end of the day, their so called rivalry can only be chalked to speculation and have never been publicly confirmed, fans are still apprehensive because since the eyebrow drama, Selena has liked and commented under videos of people shading Hailey and Kylie, calling them mean girls with, “I love you,” or saying stuff like “You make me unbelievably happy.” Although she immediately followed up with saying fans should take account of people’s mental health and to be kind to everyone. 

“I think it’s a little overblown but I understand why people are talking about it considering the history they have with each other,” Hoang said.

Both students have claimed they are Team Selena on the drama.

There’s also the fact that Justin Bieber has not acknowledged the situation at all. He recently posted a birthday post on Instagram and didn’t mention anything about the amount of hate and scrutiny his wife and ex girlfriend were getting. He didn’t try to defend Hailey at all even though a lot of his comments were people asking him what he thought of the situation.

“It’s good drama,” Am said when asked why she thought Justin made no official response.

“I think Justin is a coward,” Hoang said. “I also think their marriage is just toxic in general to be honest. Him and Hailey Bieber seem really co dependent.”

After the drama had blown up for quite some time, some people have started saying that fans had over exaggerated the situation and made it bigger than it actually was. There were also others saying people should be considerate to the mental health of Hailey and Selena, pointing out how the situation could have an effect on them.

“People should mind their business, but since it’s out on the internet I think it’s easy to get absorbed into this type of stuff,” Hoang said.

“I think people should mind their business,”  Am said.

At the end of the day, regardless of how true the drama or the rivalry is, the thing to keep in mind is that celebrities are human just like normal people, and they should still be treated with respect, which includes privacy on their own affairs.