An old video showing Hailey Bieber, Jordan Barrett and Presley Gerber has resurfaced online, prompting renewed accusations that Bieber displayed 'mean girl' behaviour towards the late model. The footage, which appears to show Bieber and Barrett making middle-finger gestures while Gerber was nearby, has divided TikTok users following Gerber's death at 27.
The footage dates to a 2017 Victoria's Secret casting call in New York and shows Gerber standing in a queue ahead of Bieber and Barrett.
At one point, Gerber turns towards the pair as they appear to be laughing. Bieber and Barrett then appear to make middle-finger gestures in his direction. Gerber subsequently turns back with what appears to be a smile.
@npworld0 also she was a high school bully girl#fypシ #haileybieber #hailey #jordan ♬ crying and puking - 🪬𝕶𝖆𝖗𝖒𝖆(Hange's #1 wife)
The resurfaced edit also shows Gerber entering the casting venue, with Bieber appearing ahead of him in the queue, a sequence that some users interpreted as showing her cutting in front of him. The sequence has since been used by social media users to argue that Bieber was deliberately rude towards Gerber.
However, the footage alone does not establish the context of the gestures or whether they were intended as bullying.
TikTok Users Accuse Bieber of Being a 'Mean Girl'
One TikTok post highlighted the footage, with its caption describing Bieber as a 'high school bully girl.'
Some commenters agreed with that characterisation. One wrote, 'This is the Hailey people love to forget,' while another asked sarcastically, 'but she could never be a mean girl, right?' Another commenter simply wrote, 'she is THE mean girl.'
Others were more direct in accusing Bieber and Barrett of bullying, with one user claiming, 'They AINT friends! They are mean kids!' These are social media users' interpretations of the footage and do not establish that Bieber bullied Gerber.
The comments were not universally negative, however. Several users argued that the interaction appeared playful because Gerber was smiling. One said, 'it doesn't take a genius to see they were all joking with each other, hence them laughing,' while another described it as an 'insider joke.'
A separate commenter suggested they could have been 'flipping off the paparazzi,' claiming the group were friends at the time.
Presley Gerber and Jordan Barrett Were Friends
Gerber and Barrett were part of the same fashion circles during this period. In May 2017, Fashionista reported that the two models prepared together before attending the Met Gala as guests of Topman, describing Gerber as Barrett's friend.
That relationship provides additional context for the resurfaced footage, although it does not independently establish what was happening during the exchange involving Bieber.
The competing reactions also highlight the difficulty of determining the intent behind a short clip filmed nearly a decade ago.
Why the Video Resurfaced After Presley Gerber's Death
Gerber died aged 27 on 20 September at a rehabilitation facility in California, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
Santa Monica police said they were investigating his death as a suspected overdose. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said the cause and manner of death had been deferred pending additional information.
His death has prompted renewed interest in older footage involving the model, including the 2017 casting video. There is no evidence connecting the resurfaced interaction with Gerber's death, and the online accusations remain interpretations of the footage rather than an established finding of bullying.
