Hailey Bieber's Dangerous Decade-Long Obsession

[0:00]From the undeniable hits of the Backstreet Boys and and sync, to the breakout success of One Direction and the Jonas Brothers. Every generation has their teenage heart throb, and for teens and pre-teens in 2009, that position was unmistakably occupied by Justin Bieber. Known as Beliebers, Justin fans were known to pack arenas, flood social media with endless posts, and even cause near riots at his appearances. This behavior was so common that it was even given a name, Bieber Fever was taking over the world. With one famous case in Australia where they had to cancel the show after only a few minutes, as eight girls in the crowd fainted after catching a glimpse of the artist. While teens and pre-teens around the world dreamed of being Justin's baby, Beliebers would never get the chance and eventually grow out of the fandom. But what if I told you, one Belieber never gave up. In fact, she was there the whole time, lurking in the shadows, using her famous friends and dad's Hollywood connections to turn her 13-year-old dream into reality. This is the story of how relentless ambition and a hidden agenda turned Haley Baldwin into one less lonely girl. Following the 2009 release of Justin Bieber's debut singles, One Time and One Less Lonely Girl, he was invited onto the Today Show to perform them. Unbeknownst to Justin, this appearance would completely change his life, as Haley Baldwin's father, Stephen Baldwin, would take her backstage to meet 15-year-old Justin Bieber when she was just 13 years old. This is my daughter Haley. We've been, we've been enjoying your music. Like many 13-year-old girls at the time, Haley likely had a crush on Justin, and her father Stephen was using his connections to do something sweet for his daughter. However, this wouldn't be the only time Haley was around Justin before he really knew who she was. For example, Haley would also appear at Justin's Toyota Concert series performance in Rockefeller Plaza, before following him to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of his movie, Never Say Never. Where she can be seen watching him from the sidelines as he walks the purple carpet. Stephen Baldwin would actually pull some strings that allowed Haley to meet Justin again, and this would give us their first photo together. Four months later, Haley would even be photographed posing with a photo of Justin Bieber on the cover of M magazine, while attending the premiere of the 2011 movie, Monte Carlo. Something ironic about this is that Justin's photograph is next to his new at the time girlfriend, Selena Gomez, who also starred in the Monte Carlo movie, and would soon become Haley's arch enemy. It's clear by this point that Haley Baldwin wanted Justin Bieber for herself, and even though Selena Gomez took him off the market, Haley wasn't going to give up so easily. For example, in 2012, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez would enjoy a date night together where they would eat sushi and go to the movie theater. However, paparazzi photos and videos would reveal that none other than Haley Baldwin was following them around on their date, keeping an eye on Justin. Now, it's possible all of this has been a coincidence. Haley does have a famous father, and the Hollywood circle is smaller than it appears. Except that in 2019, a self-proclaimed former Justin Bieber super fan posted a video on YouTube where she claims to have helped set up Haley with Justin and has the receipts to show for it. I feel like this is an opening to a documentary. I used to be a Bieber fan, and I'm not talking a Bieber fan, I'm talking a New York City Bieber fan, and we've all been there, but I lived in New York City and I had the resources to go see him. According to this video, Dana, the former super fan, used to run a Justin Bieber fan account with over 200,000 followers and had become somewhat of a niche internet celebrity amongst the Justin Bieber community. 15-year-old Haley Baldwin followed Dana in 2011, and over time she would become friendly with her online, regularly tweeting back and forth and DMing her for intel on Justin Bieber's location. Here you're going to see where I wrote Setai 5th Av. The DM that was right above that that she sent to me is gone because she unsent it right away. And if I went back to my MacBook from 2013, maybe I could find that, because above that, and you're going to have to take my word for this one, because I don't have it, but she said, what hotel is Justin staying at? Hailey and I want to know. According to Dana, when she would give Haley information on what hotel Justin Bieber was staying at, Haley would either book a room there or eat at the hotel restaurant. Haley's goal was to cross paths with Justin Bieber as much as possible, in hopes that he one day considered her a potential partner. We would give her that info because she would either stay at that hotel, or she would eat at that hotel, or do whatever at that hotel so she could bump into him. Hailey Baldwin went from trying to bump into Justin Bieber at the Setai, the London, to married. That is so iconic. Everyone's making a joke that it was her 10-year plan, like Dana even shows tweets and now 16-year-old Haley Baldwin sent to her, where Haley discusses Justin Bieber's height and speculates how much more he will grow. Something you would expect a super fan to tweet. Even back in 2013, Haley was serious about protecting her man, and would ask if the DMs Dana tweeted from Justin Bieber were real or not. With Dana confirming to her that she was just making a joke. Although it's difficult to believe everything you hear on the internet, it's worth mentioning that Haley Baldwin actually participated in the Justin Bieber fan video orchestrated by Dana. After Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez released a lip sync video to Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe, Dana and several other Justin Bieber super fans recreated it, with none other than Haley Baldwin sending Dana a clip of herself to include in the fan recreation. At this point in time, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez had broken up and gotten back together multiple times. But 2014 would mark the beginning of their longest break yet. And luckily for Haley, she had become close with Kylie and Kendall Jenner. This is important, because Justin was also friends with the Jenner sisters. And because they now shared mutual friends, Haley's access to Justin had never been easier. She would no longer have to rely on Belieber fan accounts to give her intel on his location. Now she could simply ask her friends. This new found connection with the Jenner sisters proved valuable, and things were looking up for Haley after she was spotted getting dinner with Justin, going to a movie, and then going back to his house, where she wouldn't be seen leaving until the following morning. However, with Justin's heart healing from the recent breakup with Selena, and New Year's Eve quickly approaching, Haley had her eyes on the prize and didn't want to risk Selena ruining that for her. It's a little loose, but fans speculate that Selena Gomez's last minute New Year's Eve trip to Dubai with Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid was actually a setup to put Haley and Justin together. With Selena out of the country, the chances of Justin and Selena rekindling their relationship at midnight were now zero. Unfortunately for Haley, Justin would make it clear that he wasn't looking for a new partner, and instead was more focused on having fun. And just like old times, Haley would defend her territory. After Halsey was photographed leaving a building with Justin, Haley would post a video of herself to social media, telling her driver to change the radio station after a Halsey song started playing. Can you change the station? This is when Haley really started to lose the plot, and get progressively more and more bold with her actions. While Justin and Selena were still separated, Justin would do a series of interviews where he praises Selena and describes her as the love of his life, going on to say they were, quote, so in love. Nothing else mattered. We were all about each other. Clearly feeling jealous about how Justin was speaking of his ex, Haley began accidentally retweeting tweets that shipped Justin Bieber and herself, as well as tweets from people wishing that Haley would fight Selena. This is when Haley's behavior stops coming across as enthusiastic and starts coming off as obsessive. As over the next couple of years, she would seemingly try and mold herself to be more like Selena Gomez in hopes of receiving attention from Justin. For example, Haley has a tendency to copy Selena's outfits and poses. Fans have dug up many examples of Haley posting photos shortly after Selena, where she's either wearing the same exact outfit or something very similar. The copying allegations even extend to the poses she makes in the photos, as well as her facial expressions. Now, if you're shopping at the same stores or keeping up with the current fashion meta, the reality is, your outfits are going to overlap with what other people are wearing. But all of these outfits were posted by Selena first, with Haley sometimes posting her in the same exact outfit as soon as 24 hours later. The accessories, the facial expressions, the outfits, they're all the same. But it doesn't just stop with clothes. On June 4th, 2015, Selena Gomez would be spotted with a new tattoo behind her ear. This tattoo is just the letter G and is supposedly a tribute to her baby sister Gracie. However, on June 16th, just 12 days later, Haley Baldwin would be spotted sporting an almost identical G tattoo in the same exact location as Selena's. Haley would claim that the tattoo is an homage to her pastor's daughter Georgia, but Haley, seemingly copying Selena while simultaneously rooting on her downfall, will become harder and harder to ignore. In February of 2018, Selena Gomez would check herself into the Prive Swiss Psychiatric facility in Connecticut, a facility that offers therapy for individuals needing a retreat from high profile, always-on lifestyles. And Haley would allegedly drive past Selena's home with her pastor's wife to make sure Selena was still in therapy. The rest of 2018 is kind of confusing as Justin Bieber would get back together with Selena Gomez for a couple of months before she finally broke up with him for good. Only for Justin to marry Haley six months later. Haley would later claim in interviews that she and Justin officially started dating in 2016. But if that's the case, why was Justin dating Selena just months before your wedding? Either way, Haley Baldwin was now Haley Bieber, and even though she got what she seemingly always wanted, it still wasn't enough. Following the release of Selena Gomez's song, Lose You to Love Me, Haley would immediately post a screenshot of her playing Summer Walker's song, I'll Kill You. While Haley would claim the timing was merely a coincidence, many fans interpreted this post as another attack on Selena. To make matters more confusing, in 2019, Haley Bieber would debut another tattoo. This time on her ring finger, and featured the letter J. This tattoo is clearly a Justin Bieber tribute. However, fans were quick to notice that it shares a striking resemblance to a ring Justin Bieber bought Selena Gomez all the way back in 2012. A couple months later, Haley even made sure to crash Selena's album release party being held at the restaurant Craigs in West Hollywood. Despite not being invited, by making sure to arrive there before it started, and staying long enough to overlap with the event, only leaving through a back door once Selena left her party. According to tweets from the evening of the party, once Selena arrived, the restaurant started playing her music, and that didn't sit right with Haley. Haley's stylist, Maeve, asked a waitress to play the song Yummy by Justin Bieber. And when that request wasn't fulfilled, Haley and her table allegedly started yelling Justin's name. Hailey Bieber would find herself under the microscope yet again, following the release of her home cooking show, What's in My Kitchen. As it shares a striking, undeniable resemblance to Selena Gomez's cooking show, Selena + Chef, that debuted two years before Haley's show. Let's start at the beginning. Selena's show starts with a faux camera HUD overlay to give that raw homemade production quality feel. Haley's show also starts with a faux camera HUD overlay. Selena points out that the show does in fact take place in her real home. This is my real home. Everything that we're doing is at home. Haley points out that the show is actually recorded in her real home. Yes, we actually are in my real kitchen, in my real house. Selena has her Nana introduce the dish they will be cooking. So Nana, what do we call this? Cheesy tortilla chip casserole. Haley has her Nana introduce the dish they will be cooking. And Nana, what are we making today? Pancakes. Selena + Chef would go on to have four 11-episode seasons on HBO Max, as well as a spin-off that's still currently airing, titled Selena + Restaurant. While Haley Bieber's What's in My Kitchen would release five episodes before being abandoned completely. After fans caught on to Haley practically copying Selena word for word, things got even darker when they dug into Haley's interviews. I realized that everybody else seemed to be narrating my life for me. Yes. So why don't I put something out that is my side of the story. I realized that I was able to tell my story about who I was from my own mouth instead of people from the outside being able to tell my story for me. That was one of the moments where I was like, I don't have to be that 19-year-old body shape anymore because I'm not. That's the other thing too that I think I'm learning is I'm not 19 anymore. I'm 24 now. I feel like my body has changed the most even this last year. Somebody asked me a while ago, what's the one thing you wish people knew about you? And I said I wanted it to be my heart. What do you wish more people knew about you? My heart. People didn't really know me. They didn't know who I was, they didn't know Haley for Haley, and I just always had this constant battle where I was saying, I wish people just knew my heart. For what it's worth, this last Selena Gomez interview where she talks about her heart, isn't even easy to find. It comes from the press circuit for the movie Rudderless, and at the time of this recording, only has 2,870 views, and is seemingly only hosted on a Portuguese Selena Gomez fan account. If Haley really did copy Selena's quote, and this is the same source she stole it from, she would have had to have been far down the Selena interview rabbit hole, as this clip was hard to find, even knowing what to search for. It's almost comical how many instances you can find of Hailey Bieber coincidentally doing something Selena Gomez has already done. Even extending to the ad campaign for Haley's beauty company Rhode, sharing a striking resemblance to Selena's beauty company, a company that when not copying Selena's, is allegedly copying smaller, lesser known brands, even down to the descriptions. Hailey's greatest life achievement will be marrying Justin Bieber. And just for a bit, let's give her some credit. Like most girls during the Bieber Fever era, she wanted nothing more than to be with Justin. And through her relentless ambition, world-class hating, and a meticulously orchestrated plan, Haley spent nine years building connections with people to put herself around Justin as much as possible. From befriending the Jenner sisters and working with fan accounts to feed her intel on Justin's every move, to booking countless hotel rooms just to bump into him in the elevator, and then traveling to the next hotel to pretend to coincidentally be dining there that evening. Haley set her eyes on the prize, put in the work, and found herself across the altar from Justin Bieber. I don't even know what to call it, because it's so beyond iconic that there needs to be a new word invented for what Hailey Baldwin has done. Hailey Baldwin went from trying to bump into Justin Bieber at the Setai, the London, to married. That is so iconic. Everyone's making a joke that it was her 10-year plan. Like We stand Haley Baldwin. She did that. Do not give up. Like that's inspirational. You can do anything in life, because Haley Baldwin did that. What other cases of a pop music stand marrying their idol can you think of? She might be the only one to ever do it, and she at least deserves some credit for that. However, after spending a third of your life fighting another woman for your man, what are you left with? You arrived at the destination, but is it as fun as the journey you took getting there? Perhaps this is why, after six years of marriage to Justin, we still see Haley copying and cloning on Selena. Perhaps Haley can't help herself because it's all she's really known. While most people spend ages 13 to 22 discovering who they are and finishing school, Haley spent those formative years indulging herself in a childhood fantasy. It also has to hurt that after announcing your pregnancy to the world, Selena Gomez, your husband's ex-girlfriend, started trending on Twitter, and not you, your husband, or your baby. It seems we're not the only ones pondering these questions, as despite the pregnancy announcement, their relationship seems to be on the rocks. Stephen Baldwin, Haley's father, has asked people to pray for Justin and Haley on Instagram, while divorce rumors swirl around the internet. With some people pointing out that Haley and Justin arrive and leave events in separate cars, and others speculating that they haven't lived together for some time. All while blind item after blind item alleged depression, substance abuse, and cheating from Justin. Always take blind items with a grain of salt, but something often alleged is that Justin and Selena's four-month stint in 2018, just months before Justin's marriage to Haley, came as the result of an unexpected pregnancy with Selena, followed by a miscarriage. This could potentially give some added context to why Selena checked herself into a wellness retreat, and why Justin flipped from Haley to Selena to marrying Haley all in less than a year. Regardless, one thing is for certain, if Selena goes left, Haley goes left. If Selena goes right, Haley goes right. But could Haley, for the first time in almost a decade, have a new blueprint?