This Stays Between Us

Just Between Us… Internet Witch Hunts, Teen Crushes, and Hailey Bieber Conspiracies

• Riss & Chrys • Season 1 • Episode 12

Share episode

Send us a text

We’re back, and this time we're diving headfirst into one of the internet’s favorite rabbit holes — the long-standing drama (or… manufactured narrative?) between Hailey Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Justin Bieber. We unpack the conspiracy theory circulating on TikTok, analyze fan behavior vs. actual stalking, and ask the big question: Is this just a PR stunt?

From our own teenage crushes on Zac Efron and the Jonas Brothers to discussions on fame, trauma, and parasocial relationships, we get personal, we get reflective, and (of course) we laugh a lot. What’s too far when you're a fan? Is Hailey guilty of copying or just caught in a social media echo chamber? And why are we still pinning women against each other in 2025?

This one's for the tea lovers, the skeptics, the secret conspiracists, and anyone who's ever shown up at a party just because a crush might be there (don’t worry, we’ve all been there).

👀 Episode Highlights:

  • 0:09 – "I didn’t start this rumor"… but we’re here for the tea.
  • 1:28 – The Selena Gomez lookalike moment at an airport. True story.
  • 3:32 – Riss explains her conspiracy theory about the viral TikTok series and Selena’s new album drop.
  • 5:42 – Why Justin Bieber's marriage deserves peace — and maybe a little more respect.
  • 7:58 – Rumors of Justin & Hailey leaving Hollywood… for good?
  • 9:08 – A nostalgic deep-dive into our own fangirl behavior and what’s really considered "creepy".
  • 13:49 – Is Hailey just guilty of being a fan with access?
  • 15:47 – Mob mentality on the internet and how easily we buy into it.
  • 18:40 – "I’ve done more for less" — the lengths we go for love (or a crush).
  • 20:22 – Wouldn’t you be exhausted hearing about your partner’s ex every day?
  • 22:13 – Why women are playing chess while men think they invented checkers. 👑

Takeaways:

  • Celebrity Feuds Are Often Fan-Made: Much of the Hailey vs. Selena discourse might not even come from the celebs themselves, but from fans reigniting old flames for clicks and content.
  • Fan Culture Isn’t New — But It’s Evolving: From stalking Justin Bieber concerts to driving to Sundance for a Zac Efron meet cute, the behavior isn’t exclusive to the famous. The difference? Money, access, and a front-row seat.
  • Not Everything Is a Stunt… But Some Things Might Be: The timing of Selena’s album, the resurfacing of drama, and the power of narrative in PR all make this worth a second look.
  • Parasocial Relationships Are Powerful: We think we know celebrities — their exes, relationships, and values — but we’re often projecting our own experiences onto them.
  • Let People Move On: Whether you love or hate Hailey or Selena, they’ve both clearly moved on. Maybe we should too?
  • Justin Bieber Deserves Grace Too: Fame, trauma, and a life under the microscope has lasting effects — and JB might just be trying to build a quiet life out of the spotlight.

hailey bieber vs selena gomez, justin bieber drama, viral tik tok hailey bieber, hailey bieber stalker allegations, hailey bieber copying selena, selena gomez benny blanco album, justin bieber marriage, parasocial relationships, celebrity drama podcast, women in pop culture, gen z pop commentary, this stays between us podcast

Tune In If You:

  • Are obsessed with breaking down celeb gossip and viral conspiracies
  • Think women’s experiences in media deserve better nuance
  • Love a mix of humor, hot takes, and heartfelt reflection
  • Want to join a judgment-free inner circle of millennial/gen-z girlies just f
Chrys:

Welcome to another episode of this Day's Between Us. This is Crystal and I'm Marissa. I didn't start this rumor.

Riss:

I was ready. Hey, we love the tea. Welcome to our inner circle. Have you seen the seven-part series that's going viral about Hayley bieber and selena gomez? Yes, I have all right. So basically, if you haven't seen it and are in fact living under a series about how Hayley, there's some like odd similarities of Hayley Bieber and Selena Gomez and basically how Hayley Bieber has been copying Selena with the purpose of attracting Justin Bieber and bagging him.

Chrys:

It sounded like murder. Oh, bagging him Unintentional, just kidding him. Yeah, I will say I mean at 12, I thought I was going to marry him 100%. Didn't we all oh yeah. And then when he started dating Selena Gomez when I was younger, people would say a lot that we looked alike.

Riss:

Oh, that's true. That's what celebrity look like.

Chrys:

I got it for real at an airport once in, like Florida or something. Someone asked me like if they could get an autograph. And I'm like girl Be so true.

Riss:

It was never that close. I wish you went with it me nowadays I probably would have.

Chrys:

At the time I was just like don't look at me, I'm unexplained. Just any attention at the age of 13 was too much, probably poor choice of words.

Riss:

We're at an airport. Okay, yeah, we're at an airport.

Chrys:

Okay, yeah, that's fair. I feel like that's when bomb conversations start up, though, because they're not supposed to. I feel like I'm too embarrassed, anyway, um, anyway, yeah, I think that I don't know some of it I can excuse other things not too much. Like some of it is kind of creepy, like some of, I will say, some of those pictures that they had of like him at concert, concerts, or like doing interviews and like she's always just like behind a bush, okay, well, okay, here, can I?

Riss:

can I tell you what my thoughts are, yeah, about this whole thing. It's kind of within the realms of conspiracy, so bear with me here. We got a conspiracist over here. Yes, investigative journalism at its finest. I'm throwing that one around too much, um, anyway, um, okay, I think it's very odd that. Okay. Okay, I'm gonna backtrack here. I hate seeing women pinned against each other.

Chrys:

Okay, I was ready to do it, but I got. I got the direction.

Riss:

Okay, and not to be like virtue signaling because boy, oh boy, boy, have I been there, you know but I like, I feel like this narrative of uh, hayley Bieber versus Selena Gomez has been going on for so long. I feel like, even was it like last year, there was a whole thing of like what was it? Uh, hayley Bieber had posted something and it was just like selena gomez's post and I was all about that. I followed that pretty closely of how they were, her and kendall jenner and all these girls were mean girling and all the stuff, and and then it like blows up again now. I think it's very odd the timing of the seven part series coming from a random account.

Riss:

It was like that was the only thing that they posted yeah coming out at the same time that selena gomez and benny blanco are releasing an album. And yeah, and a lot of her, at least. Maybe not a lot, but at least one of her songs. She is supposedly allegedly quoting something that hayley beaver had said to her, so it's like I don't know, but it almost smells like a publicity stunt.

Chrys:

It could be. Honestly, I need to stop believing everything. But I don't know Like and, and I mean they did have pictures and some of the things were kind of creepy. But yeah, at the same time it's it was so long ago that it is kind of tired that we're still talking about it. You know what I?

Riss:

mean, yeah, and, and part of me is like I don't get up in a podcast, but it's like, it's to me, it's, it's almost like, even if she, even if all that is true I don't know if it is or not that she's deliberately copying Selena Gomez, like all the evidence kind of points in that direction.

Riss:

So I wouldn't be surprised if that's true, um, but even if that is true, like she's married now, you know, her and Justin have a baby together and at some point we need to kind of respect as as like a society respect that Justin made his choice, whether he regrets it or not, like that's kind of his own thing. He made his choice, he's married, he's got a baby with this woman and selena gomez is his ex, who is very happily engaged and rich, and it's I don't know either. Sometimes it just happens. It happened again, yes, um, but I also think that there's like, uh, there's been sort of a I've I've heard this around the block of media of how, like, justin Bieber is trying to get out of Hollywood. You know he is.

Chrys:

That makes sense. I mean, he seems that he's been like kind of over it and it's got to be hard for your marriage, right, Even if you try to not let it affect you, that's going to be exhausting, yeah, and your family, like now that he has a kid a kid, you know I feel like a lot of things change.

Riss:

Not that I have children, but I would assume like it gives you a different kind of perspective of life and um, and he's been a child star and I'm sure he's tired of the attention, both positive and negative, that he gets, and now that his wife gets and his family gets, it probably gets to a point where it's just like leave me alone you know, yeah, and I mean he even sold the rights to his songs or maybe not the rights but the royalties or whatever for several, several million dollars, um and but, but that just kind of like sounds like somebody who's over it and trying to step away, you know and so suck it for what he can and just leave

Riss:

yeah, and, and I've heard rumors of them like him, him and Hailey Bieber wanting to move to somewhere in Europe or something. Privacy, privacy, that makes sense, and yeah, and so I don't know. I think it's again. Maybe it's more on the conspiracy side of things, and I would be so curious to hear from you or other people like prove my theory wrong. You know, like why, why? Why is that not true? I?

Chrys:

think. I think a couple of things to it too. It's I mean, isn't Selena Gomez like the most followed person on Instagram? She has a huge platform. I would like like Taylor Swift level of like fans, like fanatic, like obsessed yes, that like people would do the work for her too.

Riss:

Yeah, she's back in the spotlight, um that's true, like yeah, it might not even be her like behind anything, but just people wanting to stir the pot yeah, yeah, I mean, like I was saying, I think it's interesting.

Chrys:

I mean we were all obsessed with him growing up. If we had connections to get in there, we all would have a hundred percent like we would have been there and him and the jonas brothers and harry styles.

Riss:

We would have taken any of them, all of them together, even Kevin, not Kevin, we'd take Kevin but yeah, I mean, I feel like, yeah, I don't.

Chrys:

I mean even what we're blaming her for is like some of the pictures and the videos were kind of creepy, but it's also like she's just a like, she's just a kid.

Riss:

She's just a kid there, like if you could afford to be there front row for everything I would have been there 100 and it's yeah, there's just a lot of um, I don't know. Sometimes we think that because we want to support one one, one woman or person doesn't even have to be a woman, like a lot of times even a man, and in order to support them we have to kind of tear down, uh like quote unquote, enemy of theirs, you know, when it's like, are they even enemies? We don't even know, like yeah, I don't know.

Chrys:

You know what I'm saying, though that was probably so long ago too. Now right, because when did they break up last? I don't even know, 10 years ago, maybe, maybe it hasn't been that long.

Riss:

I don't know, did Hayley Bieber and Justin Bieber get married in COVID? I think they got married before COVID yeah, it's definitely been a long time, and it is like there's something to be said too about there's like so many clips of justin maybe not being the best, to hayley, you know, but even those clips, I don't know, everything can be taken out of context, you know, and it's also like when everything you do, all the time is being is under a microscope or whatever like I've done so many idiotic things.

Chrys:

Yeah, sometimes I'm having a bad day, I've been rude when I shouldn't have been and I didn't mean to be, or whatever. But like if that's being recorded and then played over and over again.

Riss:

That's you see yeah, you're gonna look like a bad person, like they're. Yeah, and again, I honestly feel bad for justin bieber in a lot of ways, like I just can't imagine that kind of fame at that young of an age. And also even just he he was part of the whole diddy thing too. You know, like we just we don't know to protect him, yeah, and and he's there's so many songs of his that he talks about things like that and he's probably gone through different kinds of abuse and so he, the way he reacts in certain scenarios is probably so different from the way we would. But because he's a person with trauma, you know, and it's and it's weird to even say because he's so famous and he's rich and he's got so much going for him, but it seems like he had a very troubling childhood in a lot of ways.

Chrys:

Yeah, Allegedly um troubling childhood in a lot of ways, yeah, allegedly with drugs and yeah, yeah just rough and and again.

Riss:

Like I think there's also something to be said about the fact he stepped away from the spotlight, for I don't know when this was, but for a while he stepped away and when he came back he was like had this deep belief in in christ, right like he was a christian and he was like turned his life around and all this stuff and um, yeah, it just exactly. It just shows somebody who is really, who's found a belief in something greater, you know, and that I think I deserve. I respect it, it gets I don't know how much that's worth, but he's got my respect. So I don't know, that's kind of like I think it's a, it's. It is fun to speculate and it's interesting to see and it is kind of like weird to see that there are some things like the tattoo that hayley got, you know, like the g, like I don't know, that's weird and it's hard to be like oh no, she didn't copy Selena because what do I know.

Chrys:

But but I think you also think, like I don't know, she's like quite a bit younger than Selena and like I don't know, I feel like I did things to copy Disney stars and like these people that were famous or whatever. Yeah, no one paid attention yeah if they did, they're like she's stupid, whatever. I don't know, yeah, I mean I said two. I don't know why I said that, but I mean, yeah, I feel like in some ways, we're always copying what's cool, what people are doing.

Riss:

Yeah and I want to be. I just feel like there's a lot of missed context and I feel like, coming from the position of somebody who I don't, I've had my relationship questioned by people who don't know what's going on and who who have no insight into my actual relationship. You know, and I know how frustrating that can be. And then to have that times a million, yeah, and it's like a ton of people looking at these pictures and just drawing their own conclusions and then that like just grows and grows and grows and you're a new parent, yeah it's like, yeah, oh my gosh, I would be so done with it.

Riss:

I'd be like, leave me alone, like I yeah no, I totally agree.

Chrys:

I would too. Yeah, kind of exhausting. It's funny too, because I feel like Selena has come out like a few times I don't know too much, but I've seen that she's come out a few times Like they took a selfie together at one point, mm-hmm. There was another point. I think she commented like a heart on something of hers, or like she's gone on her Instagram story and been like hey, this is not what I'm about to not send hate to other people.

Chrys:

So I don't understand, like, why people are picking up like their little torch.

Riss:

Yeah.

Chrys:

Whatever, to just go after people.

Riss:

Yeah, it's the whole like mob mentality is very interesting.

Chrys:

To be fair, sometimes I buy into it.

Riss:

Look me too.

Chrys:

I have a pitchfork in the car and I'm like if I had the resources would I have done it. Okay, yeah, she went to every concert. It's like if I could have, I would have yeah, yeah, no, and, and again.

Riss:

There are things that are kind of weird.

Chrys:

Yeah, there's a line between like stalker and then a fan. But it's not to defend stalkers, but also like when you have the resources and you are a fan of someone like, when is that line crossed? You know, right Outside of like what's illegal?

Riss:

But I mean like going back and forth.

Chrys:

I like I just hear, like I feel like the line is pretty thick I'm not saying like following them to their house or like whatever, but like going to every concert, buying like their merch or whatever right, yeah, like maybe we throw the like, we throw the term stalker around like it's nothing yeah, like I don't did she actually do something.

Riss:

Super creepy was she like parked outside of his house like yeah, whatever did she conspire to, like get into that, like in between the relationship? I don't know. And maybe she did, maybe I don't know, maybe she had like all that. That was like her one goal and props to her for being able to do it, you know and someone.

Chrys:

something else that they said was like she kept on trying to go to the same places that he was at to run into him. Like babe, same six years ago there was like a sun dance festival or maybe longer than six years ago, I don't remember, but Zac Efron was going to be there, fully drove up with my friends and we were trying to run into him because he was obviously going to marry one of us, and it didn't work out. Full body shaved, Fully prepared Like nails, done Like you were ready.

Riss:

I was ready right now.

Chrys:

Like not wearing heels because he's not that tall.

Riss:

Like you were ready, I'm like I'm not wearing heels because he's not that tall. Like I was ready, girl, we've done that for men who aren't even famous. Let's be so for real right now.

Chrys:

Like I know, we all have, like all us girls like I yeah, I've definitely done less for like a five on a good day.

Riss:

I've done less for less, I've done less for less or I've done more for less. Yeah, no, like it's so. That's like sadly, like it's normal behavior, like when you're young and you really you have a big crush on a guy and you have access to where he is, you're going to go right into it.

Chrys:

Oh my gosh, it sounds so creepy saying it now, but like I mean you know, the thing is too, is like, how different is that from like someone you like, from like your school and knowing he's gonna be at a party and so you want to go because, like you might have a chance to talk to him? Like it sounds worse sometimes than yeah, because when you change the scenario or whatever, but similar idea, yeah, it's not that bad. It's like you're just trying to talk to that person or like maybe you're like friends with someone who's friends with them and you're trying to get those friends to bring him or whatever. Like haven't we?

Riss:

done that so many times yeah, yeah, and I think it'd be safe to assume that they were within, like the same social circles. Yeah, you know, rich kids, justin and Hayley yeah, the rich kids social circle. Yeah, yeah. So, anyway, food for thought. You know, maybe it's like, maybe it is she, she is just like a stalker fan, but I just don't see that as the reality of things and I don't think anybody's losing sleep on it anymore and also like they've been together.

Chrys:

I looked it up they've been married since 2018. They've been married for a few years now, like if you don't like a person, they would have both been gone by now, I think yeah, yeah, they have a baby together. They're just trying to live their life you know, even still, like they both are financially secure enough that they could both leave that situation at any point yeah, and be so okay yeah.

Chrys:

So yeah, because I mean, if they're not meant to be together, being together for the kid is probably not the answer either, but I'm saying like if they are together it's probably because they want to be yeah, I completely agree.

Riss:

Um, yeah, I yeah. I can't imagine how annoying it would be to be in a relationship where you're just hearing about your significant other's ex all the time. Yeah, like if people around me were talking about my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, it would just, it would be so annoying, you know yeah it's like they're broken up for a reason. We're together for a reason, you know, and it's.

Chrys:

I.

Riss:

I almost like I've bought into Haley being like a mean girl and and maybe she is, I'm not even saying that she's not but even horrible people can find love. Mean girls also get married yeah, we should advocate for love for mean girls. Um, um, yeah, I forgot where I was going but no you're good um well, isn't there that whole?

Chrys:

like I cannot remember what this is from but isn't that. But they're that whole thing where, like the girl, um, the girl drops the handkerchief or whatever and the guy picks it up and then they meet. It's a meet cute, but it's like the girl plotted it. The guy thinks it's his idea yeah, like isn't that true for, like so many things, a hundred percent? Even now I have conversations with my husband and I'm like I'm gonna make you think this is your idea.

Riss:

It's because us women, we're always one step ahead. Yeah, but men have the ego where we need to have them think they're the ones taking those steps on their own yeah, maybe you're so good at vacuuming, yeah, and then they want to do it to impress you yeah, you're so good at doing the dishes.

Chrys:

Yeah, completely agree, yeah, well, wish them luck. And I mean, if I had a bunch of money, I would move away too. Yeah, live a quiet life.

Riss:

A quiet life or something and just get out. Yeah, yeah. All you need is a ton of money and a quiet little corner of the earth.

Chrys:

That just sounds like a beautiful life honestly, seriously, yeah, there's some place where, like, you're just taking a little bike around the little place a little.

Riss:

Actually I need a little e-bike yeah, we ain't doing exercise in this ideal world we're taking a golf cart, all right.

Chrys:

Well, thanks for joining us for another episode of Stays Between Us. We'll see you next time Bye.