Hailey Bieber has spoken candidly about her relationship with her husband Justin Bieber’s ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, with the model claiming they owe each other nothing but “respect”.
The Rhodes Beauty founder, 25, opened up about her relationship with her husband, as well as speculation about a possible overlap with his relationship with Gomez, during an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast with host Alex Cooper.
During the conversation, which saw Hailey deny rumours that she was romantically involved with Justin while he was dating the Only Murders in the Building star, and speak out against the “disrespectful” way she was treated by Gomez’s fans at the Met Gala, the model was also asked whether she has spoken to her husband’s ex.
In response, Hailey replied: “Yes,” before Cooper followed up by asking whether the pair have spoken since she and Justin got married in 2018. After reiterating that they have spoken, Hailey noted that “that’s why I’m like, it’s all respect, it’s all love”.
The model also told Cooper that she believes that the pair owe each other nothing but respect, while revealing that she respects Gomez “a lot”.
“She doesn’t owe me anything. Neither of us owe anybody anything except respect. I respect her a lot and I think there’s no expectations,” she said. “I respect her, there’s no drama personally.”
Hailey’s comments about mutual respect between herself and Gomez came after Cooper asked whether anyone has ever asked the “Lose You To Love Me” singer, who dated Justin on and off for years, to step in and defend Hailey from her fans.
In response, Hailey said no, before noting that the singer’s decision not to intervene may stem from a belief that “it wouldn’t fix anything”.
“No but I will say that she has been in this industry much longer than I have and maybe there’s something she knows about like, it wouldn’t fix anything,” Hailey said, adding later: “If that’s something she felt necessary, that would be amazing.”
However, Hailey also noted that, what is important to her is knowing the truth and “what happened,” before acknowledging that “you’re never going to be able to correct every narrative”.
Gomez has seemingly come to Hailey’s defence in the past, as the singer urged her fans to “be kind” after the release of her single “Look At Her Now” in 2019 sparked drama among her supporters. The controversy began after Hailey posted a screenshot of the song “I’ll Kill You,” shortly after the release of Gomez’s other song “Lose You To Love Me,” which fans suggested was in response to Gomez’s single.
While she did not mention Hailey by name, Gomez appeared to address the drama on Instagram Live, where she told her followers that she was grateful for the response to the song but did not stand “for women tearing women down”.
“I will never, ever be by that,” she continued. “So please be kind to everyone. It doesn’t matter what the situation is, if you’re my fans don’t be rude to anybody, please. Don’t go off and say things that you just feel in the moment.”
Justin has also publicly defended his wife from social media bullying over his past relationship with Gomez, with the singer condemning the behaviour in a statement shared to his Instagram Stories in 2020.
While Hailey told Cooper that there is nothing but love and respect between her and Gomez, she also said she “understands” why the internet was angry over her engagement to Justin, which took place less than six months after he’d seemingly rekindled his romance with the Rare Beauty founder.
However, she said that her engagement to Justin “closed a chapter” between him and Gomez and revealed that she believes it was the “best thing that could have happened for him, to move on and be engaged and get married and move on with his life in that way”.
“It was the most healthy, mature decision that he could have made,” she said.