The Selena Gomez Hailey Bieber drama explained—from how it began to all the latest developments
A blow-by-blow of the Selena Gomez Hailey Bieber drama...
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If you've been on TikTok lately, you'll have no doubt seen all the Selena Gomez Hailey Bieber drama unfolding, resulting in Selena taking a break from social media altogether and Hailey's follower count on Instagram taking a massive hit. So, what on earth happened between them?
Perhaps a good place to start is with Selena and Hailey Bieber's history and that rumored (or not so rumored) 'feud' narrative. As most fans will know, their respective relationships with Justin Bieber have long since fuelled speculation of dislike between them. However, after the glazed donut nail muse and Rare Beauty mogul posed for that internet-shattering, cozy picture together in October 2022—it really seemed peace had finally come for the 'Jelena' and 'Jailey' stans of the world.
Or so we thought. Now the internet is once again ablaze with speculation that an all-out social media war is going down between the two. So, what exactly has gone down? Here's a blow-by-blow of the whole messy sitch...
A timeline of all the Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber drama
So, for anyone looking for a quick overview of exactly what happened between Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber and when, here's a timeline from the past few weeks...
- January 2023—The 'God's Timing' TikTok: Selena gets subjected to body shaming trolls, before Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner and Justine Skye post a video to the TikTok sound, saying: "I'm not saying she deserves it, but I'm saying God's timing is always right." This now-deleted video goes viral, with fans speculating it was aimed at Selena, which Hailey denied.
- February 21, 2023—The Selena Gomez Eyebrow TikTok: Selena posts TikTok stories using the Bella Hadid Filter and sound, saying she wishes she was as pretty as the model, before revealing that she tried (and supposedly failed) in laminating her eyebrows to look like Bella's. Hence, the Selena Gomez eyebrow drama begins...
- A few hours later: Kylie Jenner posts a close-up picture of her eyebrow to her Instagram story with the caption: "This was an accident?????" before sharing a screenshot of her and Hailey showing their eyebrows to each other on FaceTime.
- The eyebrow drama goes viral: Fans begin to speculate that the pair were shading Selena's eyebrow video.
- Kylie responds: Kylie responds to a video discussing the eyebrow drama by commenting: "This is reaching. no shade towards Selene ever and I didn't see her eyebrow posts! u guys are making something out of nothing. this is silly." To which, Selena then replied: "Agreed @kyliejenner, it's all unnecessary. I'm a fan of Kylie!".
- February 23, 2023: A video then resurfaces of Hailey 'gagging' at the mention of Taylor Swift—Selena comments on one of the TikToks saying: "So sorry my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game."
- Selena's social media break: Soon after, Selena announces in a TikTok live that she's taking a break from social media.
- March 1, 2023: Kylie's former best friend, Jordyn Woods, then appears to support Selena in a Snapchat video, showing herself using a Rare Beauty lipliner.
- Justin Bieber Twitter drama begins: Fans begin to speculate that Justin Bieber has started following his ex, Selena, on Twitter.
- March 4, 2023: Justin celebrates his birthday and posts a series of carousels to Instagram, few of which feature Hailey—sparking speculation about their relationship.
- Justin's Party Favors: Then Justin's lighter party favors start going viral, as fans spot the inscription, which reads: “I'm so thankful I didn't end up with what I thought I wanted"—which many believe is a dig at Selena.
A full breakdown of the Selena Gomez Hailey Bieber drama
So, what went down and what did Hailey Bieber say to Selena Gomez, exactly? For anyone in need of a full debrief, bear with us, the timeline of events gets a bit wild...
Let's first begin with the latest developments, namely Justin Bieber's Twitter antics and party favors—which many think shrew shade at Selena.
Justin Bieber's Party Favors
On March 4, after weeks of drama, Justin Bieber's birthday party celebration did little to quell the media storm. Users on TikTok and Twitter began speculating over Justin's choice of snaps shared to his Instagram from the party, with some noting that Hailey didn't really feature. They are also the first pictures he's posted of her since all the drama began.
Some onlookers took this as a sign that their relationship was on the rocks. A baseless claim, but fans really rolled with it.
A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) (opens in new tab)
A photo posted by on
Then came the party favors—an image began circulating on Twitter of Justin's supposed party favors which were cowboy boot lighters with the inscription: "I'm so thankful I didn't end up with what I thought I wanted," which many took as a dig at his ex Selena.
wait was this also given out at justin’s party?😭 pic.twitter.com/eoqHcnWhfYMarch 4, 2023
Justin Bieber allegedly follows Selena Gomez on Twitter
Ahead of Justin's birthday, the internet went wild yet again, after fans claimed that Justin and Selena had refollowed each other on Twitter amid the drama...
@urvirgomom1 (opens in new tab) ♬ Love You Like A Love Song - Selena Gomez & The Scene (opens in new tab)
And, after a bit of Twitter sleuthing ourselves (by sleuthing we mean clicking on Selena and Justin's follower count) we can confirm, they do indeed now follow each other.
Kylie's ex best friend, Jordyn Woods enters the chat...
Ahead of Justin's birthday, Kylie Jenner's former best friend, Jordyn Woods also seemingly weighing in on the rumored 'feud.'
Fans (and all those invested in this sticky sitch) are reacting to Jordyn sharing her go-to lip liner on Snapchat—which just so happens to be one of Rare Beauty's offerings. Jordyn posted a video of her using the lippie, with the caption: "Love this lip liner."
Before sharing a second video of the pencil itself, saying: "If you're wondering the shade color."
This also comes after another former pal of Kylie, Pia Mia posted a makeup 'Get Ready With Me' video of her using a lot of Rare Beauty products and set to the sound of Selena Gomez's remix of 'Calm Down.'
@piamia (opens in new tab) 💗🎀
♬ Calm Down - Rema & Selena Gomez (opens in new tab)
Now, of course, the pair might just be fans of the brand, but the timing does seem to hint at something deeper, with onlookers dubbing it as a subtle show of support.
@iamrockytee (opens in new tab) ♬ original sound - Rocky ♥️ (opens in new tab)
February 2023: Selena Gomez's TikTok live announcing her social media break
Prior to this, Selena took to TikTok live and announced that she was taking a break from social media.
As per Pop Base (opens in new tab), Selena said: "I'm very happy, I'm so blessed, I have the best friends, the best fans in the whole world and I just couldn't be happier.
"I'm good. I love the way I am I don't care, I'm big, I'm not, I don't care. I love who I am. And yeah, I'm gonna be taking a second from social media, because this is a little silly. And I'm 30, I'm too old for this, so...but I love you guys so much! And I will see you guys sooner than later, I just... I'm just gonna just take a break from everything."
Selena Gomez announces she’s taking a break from social media:“I’m gonna be taking a second from social media cause this is a little silly and I’m 30, I’m too old for this.” pic.twitter.com/LxWbSpxThjFebruary 23, 2023
February 23, 2023: The Hailey Bieber Taylor Swift drama starts!
Following the whole Selena Gomez eyebrow drama, an old video of Hailey then resurfaced and began making the rounds of TikTok, showing the model gagging at the mention of Taylor Swift...
The clip goes viral and Selena Gomez defends Taylor
Selena then defended Taylor Swift, aka her best friend, and took to the comments of the trending TikTok—originally posted by user @duckcopycat0—and wrote (in a now-deleted reply): "So sorry my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game."
February 21, 2023: The Selena Gomez and Kylie Jenner eyebrow drama officially begins...
The ensuing drama over the past month all seems to have spun out from that Selena and Bella Hadid situation—where Selena dubbed Bella (who also famously dated The Weeknd), her girl crush on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, before sharing a TikTok story saying she wished that she was as pretty as the model—especially with her thin 90s brows. She then followed up with another story revealing her own brow lamination faux pas after trying to achieve a similar brow look (though, we still think they looked great!).
All pretty harmless, right? Well, fans then spotted two posts on Kylie Jenner's Instagram story a few hours later. The first was a selfie of Kylie with the words "This was an accident?????" placed over her brows. The second, featured a screenshot of her and Hailey on FaceTime, showing close-ups of their eyebrows—which Hailey also shared to her own story.
These pictures then went viral, with TikTok users, especially, speculating that they were throwing shade at Selena.
Kylie Jenner's eyebrows response
Kylie, however, responded to one of the videos (posted by @devotedly.yours (opens in new tab)), writing in the comments: "This is reaching. no shade towards Selene ever and I didn't see her eyebrow posts! u guys are making something out of nothing. this is silly."
To which, Selena also replied: "Agreed @kyliejenner, it's all unnecessary. I'm a fan of Kylie!"
A post shared by Comments By Celebs (@commentsbycelebs) (opens in new tab)
A photo posted by on
January 2023: The 'God's timing' TikTok
Before this Selena Gomez eyebrow drama sparked, it's also important to mention another viral video that had already alerted fans to some potential bad blood. In January 2023, Selena was subjected to some cruel, body-shaming comments from trolls after sharing a bikini picture on her Instagram.
Shortly afterward, Hailey then posted a TikTok video, alongside Justine Skye and Kendall Jenner with the trio lip-syncing to the sound: "I'm not saying she deserves it, but I'm saying God's timing is always right."
@popcultmedia23 (opens in new tab) ♬ original sound - PopCultMedia (opens in new tab)
Many users felt this was in reference to Selena, with the clip then being reshared and going viral despite Hailey since deleting it. Users then also began sharing a screenshot of Selena allegedly commenting on one of the videos, saying: "It's okay! I don't let these things get me down! Be nice to everyone!"
Along with one from Hailey, which said: "I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls night and did a random TikTok sound for fun. It's not directed at anyone."
Is Hailey Bieber losing followers and why?
Yes, following the whole eyebrow and Taylor Swift drama, both Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner's Instagram follow counts have taken a massive hit.
According to The Tab (opens in new tab), both Kylie and Hailey have collectively lost 800 thousand Instagram followers, with Selena Gomez then going on to dethrone Kylie as the most followed woman on Instagram. So, it's safe to say it's been an eventful few weeks...
Is there a Hailey Bieber apology video?
As of yet, Hailey has not addressed any of the TikTok speculation, in regards to the eyebrow drama, nor that Taylor Swift video, following Selena's Live video announcing a break from social media.
Naomi is a Lifestyle News Writer with the Women's Lifestyle team and has recently earned her Gold Standard diploma in Journalism with the NCTJ. She has a background in design, having studied Illustration at Plymouth University but has taken a leap into the world of journalism after always having a passion for writing. She currently writes pieces on beauty, trends, fashion, and entertainment for GoodTo and My Imperfect Life. She also tests and reviews beauty and skincare products and tries out the latest TikTok hacks for My Imperfect Life.
Before working for Future Publishing’s Lifestyle News team, she worked in the Ad production team. Here she wrote and designed adverts on all sorts of things, which then went into print magazines across all genres. Now, when she isn’t writing articles on celebs, fashion trends, or the newest shows on Netflix, you can find her drinking copious cups of coffee, drawing and probably online shopping.
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