The media has been overflowing with tweets, clues, and posts regarding the ongoing feud between two very famous celebrities, Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber. Their feud has even caused fans to choose whether they are a loyal member of Team Selena or a member of the new and rising, Team Hailey. However, with the media flooding with new speculations, people may be wondering how the feud even came to be, what it’s all about, and what’s going on currently.
The feud began back in 2018 when the relationship between Selena Gomez and Canadian pop star, Justin Bieber, came to an end. The two celebrities, who had been dating on and off for quite some time, finally made their breakup official. However, what stunned fans was what happened only 6 months after the end of their relationship, when Justin Bieber proposed to his own fan, and supermodel, Hailey Baldwin. Since then, the media has seemingly pitted Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber against each other as enemies, creating a long-lasting feud that, in recent times, has fans believing has reached a peak.
What makes fans think the feud has reached a boiling point all of a sudden? Long story short, eyebrows. On February 22, 2023, Selena Gomez posted a TikTok video of herself commenting on her eyebrows being over-laminated (a process of straightening and shining eyebrows to avoid an unruly appearance). What had fans surprised, however, was what happened only hours later. Hailey Bieber along with her close friend and fellow influencer, Kylie Jenner, posted a screenshot to Instagram featuring close-ups of the two celebrities’ perfectly laminated eyebrows. This reaction was what fans perceived as a dig against Selena Gomez and the resurfacing of their “feud.”
Apart from this eyebrow debacle, fans and followers have picked up on other small clues that have seemingly convinced them the feud is real. They have frisked through every small detail online to come up with reasonable evidence that the feud is real. Sometime in January, Hailey posted a Tiktok, using the audio saying “I´m not saying she deserved it, but God’s timing is always right.” Fans speculated that this was around the time Selena’s weight gain (a side effect of her lupus medication) was a flashpoint in her bathing suit picture, which she received a lot of hate for. Aside from this, a resurfaced clip of Hailey Beiber being rude to Taylor Swift (Selena’s best friend) caused yet another scene. A video of Hailey Bieber using the song “Calm Down,” but the version without Selena Gomez, also pushed fans to assume the feud really does exist.
This feud, although quite entertaining, is not unlike the media. Pitting two women against each other to create “girl drama” of sorts is not uncommon on the public platform, but it is not necessarily okay. It is likely that this argument is simply about the opposing fans and not about the two women at all. On March 24, 2023, Selena said in an Instagram story that Hailey had been receiving death threats. Selena urged her fans to stop, stating that the death threats, “isn’t what I stand for” and that “no one should have to experience hate or bullying.” In response, Hailey stated, “I want to thank Selena for speaking out, as she and I have been discussing for the last few weeks how to move past this ongoing narrative between her and I.”
The responsible and contained response to the feud between these two celebrities just goes to show that this drama may just be another way for fans to receive the drama they so desperately need. The important thing to understand is that celebrities are still real people with real emotions, needs, and feelings, and it’s not okay to put female figures against each other. Another important factor is realizing that the real problem may be the man involved, Justin Bieber. With all this being said, would you say you’re Team Hailey, Team Selena, or a proud member of Neither?