Hailey Bieber is not here for it. While chatting about her skincare line, Rhode, with The Circuit on Thursday (June 29), the model told host Emily Chang how she feels about people on the internet pitting her against Selena Gomez, and how much she hates it.
“I don’t think that this is about me — Hailey Bieber — and Selena Gomez. This is not about this pitting between two women and division between two women. It’s about the vile, disgusting hatred that can come from completely made up and twisted and perpetuated narratives that can be really dangerous,” she responded when Chang asked her about the drama that ensued after the internet thought she and friend Kylie Jenner were shading the “Lose You to Love Me” singer’s eyebrows — something that both The Kardashians star and Rhode founder have denied doing.
After rumors of bad blood between Bieber and the Only Murders in the Building star picked up earlier this year, the singer-actress shared in an Instagram Story that the model — who is married to Justin Bieber, whom Gomez previously dated — was receiving death threats online. “This isn’t what I stand for,” Gomez insisted at the time. “No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I’ve always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop.” It was a message that the model later thanked the singer-actress for speaking out about.
In her interview, Hailey said that she thought of the situation as “an opportunity to really stand for bringing people together” and taking a stand against the division. “I don’t like this whole idea of Team This Person and Team This Person,” she said. “I’m just not about that — I want to be able to bring people together, and I think that that was a really important moment for people to see that you can do that, and you can bring people together, and it doesn’t have to be about this divisive nature.”
What’s more, she couldn’t believe all of this hatred was over a man. “Because of a guy?!? It’s awful! I hate it! I’ve hated it since the beginning, and I think that kind of goes back to a little bit of just being misunderstood when it’s, like, time and time again, I don’t know why I keep having to say and we keep having to say that there is no issue, and there is no problem,” she continued about rumors of a feud between her and the Golden Globe nominee. “It’s so disappointing that people still behave this way because of … over a man. It’s the world we live in, unfortunately.”
Earlier in the interview, Hailey also discussed how it can be “hard sometimes” dealing with all of the strong opinions about her online. “I think sometimes it’s just a harsh reality check for me,” she said, noting that she’s learning how to shut out the negativity. “For me, the internet’s not real life to me. My real life — with the people that I love — is my real life. And sometimes it’s hard to just stay there and stay focused on that when things can feel loud and disruptive.”
She added, “There’s never any winning with the internet.”
Watch Hailey Bieber’s interview with The Circuit above.