A complete breakdown of the drama with Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber

Celebrity-enthusiasts on TikTok can attest to their For You Pages being filled with the drama between pop-star Selena Gomez and her ex-boyfriend’s wife Hailey Bieber. Fans have been dissecting this topic for the past two weeks, but many people are still out of the know. For more on this Hollywood drama, here is an entire breakdown of the issue from start to finish.

This all began when pop singer and actress Selena Gomez walked the Golden Globes red carpet in January of this year. Many people took to social media to fat-shame and body-shame the artist’s look. Later that same evening, Hailey Bieber posted a TikTok to her page with the sound “I’m not saying she deserves it, but God’s timing is always right.” Fans immediately connected the two events, and speculated that Bieber was fat-shaming Gomez.

Bieber took down the post and commented on a fan’s video of the events, which has since been taken down, saying, “I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls night and did a random tik tok sounds for fun. It’s not directed at anyone.”

Gomez also took to a fan’s TikTok to respond to the allegations of her being fat-shamed by Bieber by saying, “It’s ok! I don’t let these things get me down! Be nice to everyone! x.” Gomez went to Instagram Live to discuss this and said that it was more important to her that she is healthy and on her medications than to fit the skinny beauty standard.

It is public knowledge that Gomez has been suffering with lupus, an autoimmune disease that attacks the organs, tissues and joints. In 2017, Gomez underwent a life-saving kidney transplant because her organs had been compromised by her advanced lupus. Following her recovery, she has been very public about her health issues, and the medications she is required to take to stay healthy. She has said the various medications she is on cause weight fluctuation in the body, resulting in many insulting Gomez’s weight gain on social media throughout the years.

Back to February 22, soon after this drama died down, Gomez posted a video on her TikTok stories showing how she had messed up her eyebrows whilst doing her makeup. That same evening, Kylie Jenner, who is a good friend of Bieber’s, posted a selfie to her Instagram stories with the text “This was an accident??” placed directly over her eyebrow. Following that post, she posted a screenshot of a FaceTime call with Bieber of both of their eyebrows in the picture, and tagged Bieber in the story.

When TikTok’s drama-lovers began connecting Gomez’s posts with Jenner’s, Jenner was quick to comment on a video explaining the drama saying, “this is reaching. no shade towards selena ever and i didn’t see her eyebrow posts! u guys are making something out of nothing. this is silly.” Gomez responded with, “Agreed @kyliejenner It’s all unnecessary. I’m a fan of Kylie!”

Fans of Gomez took to the internet claiming that there was no way the two events were disconnected, and that Selena is far too nice to the “mean girls” of the industry. This was until shots were fired back.

In response to the drama, a video resurfaced that shows Bieber shading Taylor Swift by making a face when her name and music had been mentioned. The supposedly “drama-withdrawn” Selena commented on the video saying “So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game.” This was a surprising twist in the story, as Gomez had never publicly called out Bieber before.

Gomez also commented “I love you” on a post where one fan claimed that the “mean girls” and “nepo babies” were treating Gomez terribly and that we were all on her side. Shortly after these comments were posted, Gomez went live on social media, saying that she was going to be taking a break from social media because she’s “30 and too old for this.”

In the aftermath of these events, it seemed like the entire world sided with pop-star Gomez by joining #teamselena. Fans have begun to dissect the history between the two celebrities, finding an apparent correlation between them, claiming that Bieber has been “copying” Gomez for years.

The most convincing piece of evidence proposed by fans would be the tattoo that Gomez got below her ear of the lowercase, cursive letter ‘g’ in honor of her younger sister, Gracie. Not too long after, Bieber got the exact same tattoo with the exact same placement (with no justification as to why). Her mannerisms and slang have seemingly copied Gomez on multiple occasions throughout the years.

I personally believed these to be coincidences, until the number of coincidences began to add up and make me think otherwise.

Bieber was a fan of Gomez first, as she was spotted holding a magazine with a spread about Jelena, Gomez and Justin’s infamous couple name, from many years ago. Some fans even theorize that she orchestrated a breakup between Justin Bieber and Gomez so she could slide in and spend time with him prior to their quick engagement and marriage.

The treatment of Gomez from the Bieber and Jenner clan rubs me the wrong way. Although there is no direct evidence of mistreatment, the impression I get from the situation is reminiscent of high school mean girls. In terms of the accusation that Bieber has been copying Gomez throughout her career, I’m left with one realization: If Hailey can steal Selena’s man, can she steal her persona too?

Before concluding that Hailey is the villain of this story, however, should we instead remember that the media has an affinity for pitting women against each other? Making one seem like the villain the other the hero accepts the misogynistic ways that the industry functions, and the reality that fans of Hollywood feed off of.

Is there the possibility of also accepting the story where Justin Bieber took two women he loved and allowed public opinion to pit them as sworn enemies in the media, humiliating both figures?

While this holds true, fat-shaming and bullying is simply not tolerated. I’m not sure about you, but I will be swapping out any Rhode products for Rare Beauty now.