Nearly two weeks ago, Selena Gomez announced she would be taking a break from social media following a brief and indirect back-and-forth with Hailey Bieber.
THE ONGOING SAGA of internet-fueled drama between Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez is now entering its second full week of lingering in the news cycle. At the end of last month, Gomez announced she would be taking a break from social media after a brief and indirect back-and-forth between herself and Justin Bieber’s wife, saying: “I’m 30 and am too old for this.” Now, the singer has returned to TikTok – where all of this drama really took flight – with a beauty tutorial and a message to her fans.
“Thank you and love you all so much,” Gomez wrote in the comment section of the video. “I’m deeply grateful for each and every one of you humans. You make me unbelievably happy.”
The caveat to that is that at least a portion of her fans, as well as general social media users who couldn’t avoid getting swept into the Team Bieber vs. Team Gomez battle, have spent the better part of the last two weeks trying to make Hailey’s life a living hell – or, at least, as much as they could from behind a screen. Gomez, as it turns out, seems to be well aware.
Please, please be kinder and consider others mental health,” she wrote. “My heart has been heavy and I only want good for everyone. All my love.”
Last week, mediator and conflict resolution expert Damali Peterman told Rolling Stone that people who run to the defense of others, as we’ve seen in this ongoing conversation, often fail to take into consideration the potential damages their actions could cause to someone’s mental health.
“Everyone has a different way that they respond to conflict, whether they’re the initiator or the recipient,” she explained. “Sometimes people [will think], ‘I wouldn’t be depressed if people wrote negative things about me. That doesn’t matter. That wouldn’t affect me.’ But it might affect someone else.”
Hailey has yet to respond directly to the drama. However, her best friend Kylie Jenner – whose post about over-laminated eyebrows was a catalyst to it all – commented on a TikTok to insist, “u guys are making something out nothing.” Still, both Hailey and Justin’s comment sections are filled with nasty messages written in defense of Gomez.
This isn’t the first time both women’s fan armies have come to their defense without explicitly being asked to, nor is it the first time they’ve had to squash rumors of apparent beef between them.
Last September, Hailey insisted that “no drama” existed between herself and Gomez. “It’s all love,” she said on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “Neither of us owe anybody anything except respect.” I respect her a lot, and I think there are no expectations [between us]. I respect her.”
