Team Hailey vs. Team Selena: What Actually Happened?

Team Hailey or Team Selena? That was the question everyone was dying to know the answer to last month. Rumors of the feud between Justin Bieber’s wife and his ex-girlfriend began on February 22nd, when Selena Gomez surpassed Kylie Jenner as the most followed woman on Instagram after posting a TikTok about over-laminating her eyebrows. Some time later, Jenner posted an Instagram story of her eyebrows with the caption “this was an accident?????”. Jenner also posted a screenshot of her on FaceTime with Hailey Baldwin, who married Justin Bieber 6 months after he was romantically linked to Gomez, just hours later, with a close-up of the two doing their eyebrows. Many people jumped to the conclusion that this was shade towards the “Hands To Myself” singer. Speculation about the drama grew enormously on TikTok, but Jenner commented that there was no feud between the two on a fan’s TikTok.

“Agreed @kyliejenner. It’s all unnecessary. I’m a fan of Kylie,” Gomez replied on the same TikTok. 

It seemed as if the tension was starting to dissipate, however, when Gomez commented on more TikToks referencing the drama, it was clear there was still unresolved tension between Gomez and Baldwin. She thanked and sent love to fans for defending her against “mean girls and nepo babies.” On the same day, Gomez also defended her best friend, Taylor Swift, against Bieber.

“So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game,” Gomez commented on a TikTok where Hailey was gagging at the mention of Swift’s name. 

As fans continued to speculate, Gomez went live on TikTok to explain she would be taking a break from social media due to the overwhelming situation.

“I’m 30, I’m too old for this,” Gomez said during the live. 

She also clarified her comments before leaving Instagram and TikTok. 

“I’m getting off my social media. I have every right to defend my friends. Say whatever you want about me but MY people, I’d die for. Thanks so much,” Gomez commented on a TikTok before temporarily deactivating her account.

However, Gomez’s break from her socials did not stop the drama. On February 28th, Hailey Bieber posted the song “Calm Down” by Rema to her Instagram stories instead of using the more popular remix of the song, which features Selena Gomez. Fans perceived this as shade towards Gomez and were not happy. People began flooding the Instagram comment sections of Justin Bieber, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, and Hailey Bieber, leaving comments like “#TeamSelena,” “#selenagomez,” “#rarebeauty,” and snake emojis. 

Fans also came to Hailey’s defense, pointing out that the internet was ironically bullying her for being mean. 

“Everyone hates Hailey now for being a mean girl, yet look at you all now… Being mean girls… Wild, ain’t it?” an Instagram user commented under Hailey’s post.

Despite all of this, Gomez is now receiving some of her best streaming numbers from her music discography and sales from Rare Beauty, her makeup brand. Gomez’s streams in the U.S. increased by 52%, Billboard reported. The “Lose You To Love Me” singer has also gained more than 24 million followers on Instagram since the drama, while Baldwin has lost more than one million.

A month later, Gomez took to Instagram to say that Bieber reached out to her about the mean comments and that she was not advocating for anyone to receive hate. Bieber thanked Gomez for her message on her Instagram story, and the two followed each other.

Besides the fact that public figures are human too and should never be treated as harshly as Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner were treated for this, it is pretty clear that the world is Team Selena.

by MRIGANK DHINGRA