What the Selena vs. Hailey discourse shows us about internet fandom
Analysis
People love celebrity feuds, especially in the age of internet gossip. But the imagined feud between Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber reached a tipping point last month when fans started pointing out social media posts that seemed to reference some sort of beef between the two.
Gomez, who currently stars in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, dated singer Justin Bieber for several years before he married model Hailey Bieber in 2018.
After a TikTok Gomez posted about laminating her eyebrows, Kylie Jenner posted a screenshot that showed a video call between her and Hailey Bieber—with zoomed-in shots of their brows. Fans thought the pair were calling out Gomez, but Jenner responded in a TikTok comment that there was “no shade” toward Gomez.
But a viral Twitter thread by a fan account, which has received more than 13.6 million views and 30,000 likes, added fuel to the fire by detailing all the instances of Gomez allegedly mentioning Hailey, Justin, or their marriage.
The thread, by user @jbarizzle, begins by talking about Gomez’ songs that reference her previous relationship with Justin before diving into Gomez’ social media interactions, including likes, follows, and comments on TikTok videos about the supposed feud. The thread refers to Gomez’ behavior as “pathetic.”
Now there are several more Twitter threads also commenting on the Selena vs. Hailey drama, often referencing what’s been happening on TikTok—where accounts are taking sides and dissecting the “proof” that one of the women has a problem with the other.
The discourse has spilled out into the mainstream media, with several publications covering the alleged feud.
Why it matters
Last year, Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber took a photo together, and Gomez stated “it’s not even a thing” when a reporter referenced the supposed feud.
That should have put a lot of the gossip to rest, but it didn’t. There are now endless fan accounts on platforms like Twitter and TikTok, and they don’t seem to be going away.
Even if you don’t follow celebrities, or don’t care about who supports who, you should still be paying attention to the way the internet is responding to this saga. Because it’s indicative of the way fandom is becoming more and more intense online.
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