Selena Gomez has been quite open about her struggles with body image and mental health, and tries to lead by example on social media with healthy conversations about gaining and losing weight. But in early January, photos of the pop star climbing out of the water into a boat in a bikini while on vacay in Cabo went viral. Partly because she struck a pose for the paparazzi, and partly because people were body-shaming Gomez for appearing to have gained weight.
The criticisms were relatively few compared to the number of people celebrating seeing their fav having a good time in a tropical atmosphere. However, around the same time, Hailey Bieber posted a TikTok that she quickly deleted in which she is lip-synching to a popular sound on the platform, in which she mouthed the words, “And I’m not saying she deserved it, but God’s timing is always right.”
Before it was erased, another TikToker named @ellenacuario captured it and alleged Hailey was being shady towards Gomez about the bikini pics. They then commented that Bieber has a history of being bullied by Gomez fans, who don’t like that she married Gomez’s ex, Justin Bieber. Gomez has spoken up about the bullying in the past, and asked her followers to be careful of what they say and choose kindness. She’s also made an effort to show there’s no hard feelings between them, even posing for pics together last year at the Academy Gala.
Of course, there’s no way to know if the TikTok posted by Hailey was about Gomez or some other person or nothing at all, just a trending sound. But Gomez commented on @ellenacuario’s TikTok, saying she was trying to stay positive about the whole thing.
“It’s ok!” Gomez wrote from her verified TikTok account. “I don’t let these things get me down! Be nice to everyone! x.”
Of course, if the original TikTok wasn’t about Gomez, there’s nothing to get her down to begin with.
For her part, Hailey has denied that her deleted TikTok had anything to do with Gomez, writing in her own TikTok comment, “I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls night and did a random tik tok sound for fun. It’s not directed at anyone [sparkles and white heart emojis].”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.