Hollywood’s back to its first-world bickering ways with the latest Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez controversy. 

Just when it seemed that the pair had waved a white flag, Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber jumped right back into a fan-fueled internet feud. Gomez and Bieber have been pitted against each other since news broke out of Justin Bieber’s engagement to Hailey in 2018, six months following the end of Selena’s decade-long on-and-off relationship with him.  

The world assumed the years-long rivalry came to an end in October 2022, when Gomez and Bieber posed in a picture together after Bieber set the record straight on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, saying it was “all love” between the two.

The timeline of events begins this January, when the rest period came to a quick end as rumors resurface:

January 9: “I’m Not Saying She Deserved It, But…”

Fans quickly assumed Hailey Bieber’s TikTok with fellow models Kendall Jenner and Justine Skye was shade towards Selena. The three lip-synced “I’m not saying she deserved it, but God’s timing is always right,” which people quickly theorized was aimed at Gomez, who had just been body-shamed across social media after vacation photos were spread by the press. 

January 11: Rumors To Rest?

In response to the rumors, Hailey said she “never comments on that type of thing” and that she did “a random TikTok sound for fun”. She eventually deleted the video after much backlash.

February 9: Selena’s Take

Selena enters the TikTok comment section on a fans’ reaction to the incident, writing, ““It’s OK! I don’t let these things get me down! Be nice to everyone!”

February 22: Kylie’s Raising Brows

In an unlikely addition to the drama, Kylie Jenner posts an Instagram story of her eyebrows, captioned “This was an accident???” Fans speculated that this was a response to Selena saying on TikTok that she had accidentally over-laminated her own eyebrows. When Kylie added a picture of Hailey Bieber’s brows to her story, fans went into a frenzy.

February 23: Best Friend Defense

Kylie herself comments on a TikTok about the speculation a day later, writing that “This is reaching. No shade towards Selena ever and I didn’t see her eyebrow posts! You guys are making something out of nothing. This is silly.” Later on, Selena directly replies to Jenner’s comment, “Agreed @kyliejenner It’s all unnecessary. I’m a fan of Kylie!”

However, things took a turn later on in the day when fans found a comment by Selena under an old clip of Hailey gagging at the mention of Taylor Swift, Gomez’ celebrity best friend. Under Hailey’s shady video, Selena comments “So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game.”

Shortly after the viral drama trended on Twitter, Selena declared on a TikTok live that she is “taking a second from social media, because this is a little silly. And [she’s] 30, too old for this.”

February 25: Mother Knows Best?

At the height of the drama, Justin Bieber’s mom, Pattie Mallette, logs on Twitter to give her two cents. She tweets, “Hate is ugly. Don’t be ugly.”

February 26: Thumbs Down For Drama

As fans continue to watch Pattie Mallette, they see her briefly like and dislike a tweet by @PopBase reporting on Selena’s social media break announcement.

February 27: Calm Down!

Hailey Bieber returns to Instagram, this time putting “Calm Down” by Rema over her story post. Fans assumed that this was done intentionally, as the viral song has a version featuring Selena Gomez, that supposedly, Bieber didn’t use purposefully.

March 5: A Heavy Heart

Under a fan’s TikTok, Selena breaks her silent streak with a comment saying, “Please, please be kinder and consider others’ mental health. My heart has been heavy and I only want good for everyone. All my love.”

What’s your take on the drama? Are you Team Selena, Team Hailey, or are you ready to stop paying attention to A-lister attention-seeking drama?