If you need reminding, Selena and Hailey have been at the center of feud rumors for years, with the two women being pitted against one another since 2018. This is when Hailey first started dating her now-husband, Justin Bieber, who’d been embroiled in a seven-year on-again, off-again romance with Selena up until that point.
Since then, each star has been accused of shading the other by their respective fandoms, and both Selena and Hailey have issued statements urging their fans to stop. The most recent instance of this was last week, after Hailey discussed her thriving beauty business in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
It’s worth noting that the journalist did specifically ask Hailey about the feud rumors surrounding her and Selena in this interview, and her publicist reportedly advised her to skip the question.
Instead, Hailey is said to have told the reporter: “It’s always annoying being pitted against other people. I didn’t ask for that. When people want to see you a certain way and they’ve made up a story about you in their minds, it’s not up to you to change that.”
Much later on in the interview, Hailey was asked if she feels “competitive” about her products being up against other beauty brands in big beauty stores like Sephora, and Hailey replied: “I think there is space for everybody… I don’t feel competitive with people that I’m not inspired by.”
Needless to say, Selena fans interpreted this to be shade towards the star’s own brand, Rare Beauty, although sources close to Hailey later told TMZ that she was not referring to Selena in any capacity.
Still, Selena took the opportunity to respond to the discourse that this line from Hailey had sparked among her fandom, writing on her Instagram story: “Just leave the girl alone. She can say whatever she wants. Doesn’t affect my life whatsoever. It’s just about relevance not intelligence. Be kind. All brands inspire me. There is room for everyone. And hopefully we can all stop.”
And Selena’s decision to speak out has been heavily criticized online, with some arguing that she was fueling the fire against Hailey with her statement — and pointing out that there is no suggestion that Hailey was referencing Rare Beauty in the interview.
What do you make of Selena’s statement? Let me know in the comments below!