Hailey Bieber’s Ups and Downs: From Modeling and Marriage to Justin to Social Media Shade Over Selena Gomez

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Hailey Bieber’s Ups and Downs: From Modeling and Marriage to Justin to Social Media Shade Over Selena Gomez

Life in the public eye hasn’t always been a dream come true for Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) as she navigates a high-profile marriage and social media backlash. After stepping onto the scene as the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, Hailey began modeling and going out with other members of young Hollywood. In 2015, the former ballet dancer’s star was rising when she was linked to Justin Bieber amid a break from his on-again, off-again relationship with Selena Gomez. The twosome dated for several months before pulling the plug in March 2016. Justin would go on to be linked to Sofia Richie and reunite with Gomez again before settling down with Hailey in 2018. The twosome wed that September after just months of dating for the second time. “I was married when I was 21, two months before I turned 22, which is insanely young. And sounds almost ridiculous when you say it out loud. Although I do think for somebody like me and somebody like Justin, [it’s different. We’ve seen a lot for our age. We have both lived enough life to know that’s what we wanted,” she told Elle in 2021, admitting their first year of marriage was “very difficult.” Hailey explained: “In the beginning of our marriage, I just wanted to hide. I was like, ‘I don’t want people so in my business. I feel like everybody’s up my ass.’ I was like, ‘Can there be no anonymity? Can I have any of it back?’” [jwplayer 62Jj16sg-zhNYySv2] In addition to pressures of making their relationship work, the Rhode Beauty founder often found herself fighting back at social media users who couldn’t let go of Justin’s past with Gomez. When the Disney Channel alum dropped her breakup track “Lose You To Love Me” in 2019, Hailey was accused of throwing a dig at Gomez by sharing a screenshot of Summer Walker and Jhené Aiko’s song “I’ll Kill You” via Instagram Stories. After she called the speculation “complete BS,” Gomez stepped in. “I am so grateful for the response of the song. However, I will never stand for women tearing other women down,” the singer said via Instagram Live at the time. “So please be kind to everyone.” Still, the social media drama continued as fans flooded many of Hailey’s posts with comments about Gomez. “Leave me alone at this point,” Hailey declared via TikTok in April 2022. “I’m minding my business. I don’t do anything, I don’t say anything. Leave me alone, please. Enough time has gone by where it’s valid to leave me alone. I beg of you. Truly. That’s my only request. Be miserable somewhere else, please.” Two months later, the YouTuber expanded on her online struggles. “Something I found to be really hard and really taxing for my mental health is social media, and my relationship with social media. I am somebody who struggles with people-pleasing – really wanting everybody to like me and caring a lot about what people have to say and think,” she said in a video shared to her channel in June 2022. “I appreciate social media and I think it’s a really wonderful and beautiful tool to be able to connect with people. I am in a space where I am trying to have the healthiest relationship with social media that I possibly can.” Scroll through for a timeline of Hailey’s ups and downs in the public eye:

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2014

Hailey landed her first commercial campaign, working with French Connection.  That same year, she apologized amid backlash for a tweet that read: "Leaving to Florida white and coming back to NY another color.”

“I apologize if I offended anyone. Was meant to be a joke," she said at the time. “Clearly I wasn't meaning to be racist with my tweet. I was making a joke about getting a tan. Everybody chill."

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2015

Hailey and Justin were first linked in late 2015 and their initial romance fizzled by March 2016.

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2016

Following her split from the “Sorry” singer, Hailey addressed reports of tension between her and Gomez. “I think it sucks that people try to start things like that. There’s never any truth to that, first of all,” she told Us Weekly in May 2016. “She’s a lovely girl. She’s very kind. Her and I have a lot of mutual friends and it’s all cool between everybody. We run in the same circles.”

Less than two months later, she was wrapped up in another alleged feud after she filmed herself asking a driver to “change the station” with a Halsey track playing in the background. Halsey responded by mocking the video.

Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

2017

Drop the Mic debuted as Hailey cohosted with Method Man. The series, which ran for two seasons, became a point of contention in February 2023 when Gomez defended best friend Taylor Swift after a clip resurfaced of Hailey pretending to gag at the mention of the Grammy winner.

Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

2018

Hailey attended the Met Gala with Shawn Mendes in May 2018.

“I don’t even want to put a title on it. I think it was more of a zone of limbo,” Mendes told Rolling Stone about their relationship later that year.  “She’s still one of the f–king coolest people ever — she’s not just a beautiful person visually, but she’s one of the most beautiful hearts I’ve ever met. … You can’t control your heart.”

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2018

A few months after Gomez and Justin ended for good, Hailey and the “Peaches” crooner got back together in the spring and were engaged by July 2018. The pair were often photographed looking distressed that summer, with the musician breaking down in tears in August 2018.

“I’m just being a normal person and crying,” he explained in his documentary series, Justin Bieber: Seasons. “There’s so many people, every day, who are in conversation with their girl or their wife or their mom and they break down. But they don’t have cameras capturing it. … So people are like, ‘Is he OK, is he having a mental breakdown?’ And I’m just emotional … and that’s OK.”

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2018

The couple wed at a courthouse in New York City on September 13, 2018.

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2019

Justin defended Hailey after a social media troll called her “racist” based on alleged past tweets and claimed he only married the model to win back Gomez.

“Why would I dedicate my whole life to someone in marriage to get back to my ex? Anyone who believes this is mean spirited or 10 years old or younger because a logical person doesn’t talk or think this way. You should be ashamed of yourself,” Justin wrote via Instagram in May 2019. “I absolutely love and loved Selena, she will always hold a place in my heart, but I am head over [heels] in love with my wife and she is absolutely the best thing that has ever happened to me, period.”

He continued: “The fact that you want to spend your day dedicating yourself to hate says a lot about you. … This is a reply to all [the] immature, sick people who send Hailey hurtful messages like, ‘He always goes back to Selena,’ or, ‘Selena is better for him.’ You have no idea [about] my life and what’s good for me! Hailey is my bride, period. If you don’t like that or support that that means you don’t support me.”

The pair exchanged vows for the second time in South Carolina on September 30, 2019.

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2020

Hailey and Justin both spoke out after a Gomez fan asked her followers to “f—king bombard that s—t with Jelena and how Selena is better.”

“I usually stay quiet and don’t acknowledge these things because I need to protect myself and my mental [health]  It has truly gotten to a level of anger and hate that is shockingly unhealthy and sad,” she wrote via Instagram Stories. “I would never in a million years wish for someone to be treated this way and I will never condone this kind of hateful behavior. … Wishing the young woman in that video all the best, I hope she finds love and happiness in this life!”

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2022

Hailey was hospitalized after suffering “stroke-like symptoms” in March 2022.

“They found I had suffered a very small blood clot in my brain, which caused a small lack of oxygen, but my body had passed on its own and I recovered completely within a few hours,” she explained at the time. “Although this was definitely one of the scariest moments I’ve ever been through, I’m home now and doing well, and I’m so grateful and thankful to all the amazing doctors and nurses who took care of me! Thank you to everyone who has reached out with well wishes and concern, and for all the support and love.”

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2022

After Hailey’s health scare, Justin was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome. She reflected on their ups and downs during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar.

“He’s still the person that I wanna be rushing back to. I might fly somewhere and go do a job, but I can’t wait to come back and hang out. And I feel like that’s because of the effort that’s been put in on both sides. At the end of the day, like, he’s my best friend, but it still does take a lot of work to make it work,” she said in August 2022.

One month later, she clarified what she meant about marriage being “work.”

“What I meant when I said ‘hard work’ is that there’s compromise, there’s sacrifice,” she said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “I feel that way in most relationships in my life. In friendships, in work relationships. They can be tough sometimes. I didn’t mean, ‘Overall it’s hard and it sucks.'”

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2022

During the same “Call Her Daddy” appearance, Hailey, who launched her Rhode skincare this year, spoke candidly about speculation about the overlap between her relationship with Justin and his romance with Gomez for the first time.

“As a woman, I would never want to get into a relationship with someone and be engaged to them and be getting married to them and think in the back of my mind, ‘I wonder if that was really closed for you.’ I know for a fact that the reason we were able to get back together was because it was very much completely closed,” she told Alex Cooper. “A lot of the hate and perpetuation comes from [people thinking], like, ‘Oh, you stole him.’ It’s about people knowing the truth. Because there’s a truth.”

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2023

Hailey was accused of shading Gomez twice in early 2023, first after she, Kendall Jenner and Justine Skye recorded a video lip-synching to an audio trend that said, “And I’m not saying she deserved it, but I’m saying God’s timing is always right” in January 2023.

“I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls night and did a random TikTok sound for fun,” Hailey said after she deleted the post. “It’s not directed at anyone.”

Less than one month later, Kylie Jenner denied that her and Hailey’s posts about eyebrows were anything more than a coincidence after social media users believed the two were mocking Gomez’s video about her brows shared hours earlier.

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2023

After her alleged social media drama with Gomez, Hailey began receiving “death threats.”

“Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity,” Gomez wrote via Instagram Story statement that March. “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 .”

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2023

"I like to make jokes about how I feel because sometimes it's easier than admitting I'm having a hard time," Hailey wrote via Instagram Stories in April 2023. "But truthfully since 2023 started I have had some of the saddest, hardest moments I've ever had in my adult life and my mind and emotions have been fragile to say the least. And I know so many other people feel the same way I feel, so just know you're not alone 🫶."

In a second post, the model issued a message to those who are going through personal struggles as well. "That being said, let's keep being there for one another. Let's be there for loved ones and friends and family and strangers," she added. "Let's just be there for people.. let's keep showing up for each other even when it's hard. We're better together 🤍."