Hailey Bieber Says She Has Faced Some of Her ‘Hardest Moments’ in 2023 After Selena Gomez TikTok Drama

Hailey Bieber took a break from her typical Instagram activity to get real about her mental health this year. In an Instagram Story on Wednesday, the model shared that she has privately been struggling this year. While she did not explicitly reference the harassment she received throughout TikTok’s viral dissection of her treatment of her husband Justin Bieber’s ex Selena Gomez in February and March, she made no secret of the fact this has been one of her “hardest” years ever.

She wrote, “I like to make jokes about how I feel because sometimes it’s easier than admitting I’m having a hard time. But truthfully since 2023 started I have had some of the saddest, hardest moments I’ve ever had in my adult life and my mind and emotions have been fragile to say the least. And I know woman other people feel the way I feel, so just know you’re not alone. ????????”

Hailey previously touched a little on how she has privately been doing when she shared a statement about the TikTok discourse. In her own earlier statement, Gomez had revealed that Hailey received death threats and asked fans to stop the bullying. Hailey thanked Gomez and wrote that everyone could stand to be kinder online.

Hailey shared:

I want to thank Selena for speaking out, as her and I have been discussing the last few weeks how to move past this ongoing narrative between her and I.

The last few weeks have been very hard for everyone involved and millions of people are seeing so much hate around this, which is extremely harmful. While social media is an incredible way to connect and build community, moments like this only create extreme division instead of bringing people together.

Things can always be taken out of context or construed differently than they were intended. We all need to be more thoughtful about what we post and what we say, including myself.

In the end, I believe love will always be bigger than hate and negativity, and there is always an opportunity to meet each other with more empathy and compassion.

Hailey’s IG Story comes after the model released her cooking show, “What’s In My Kitchen” earlier this month. Some online immediately compared it to Gomez’s HBO Max series Selena + Chef and accused Hailey of copying Gomez on social media. The comments show that while Gomez and Hailey asked for the discourse to end very publicly, not even their statements can make some corners of the internet stop trying to stir up drama.

Senior News and Strategy Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.