“I’m so sick of [this] same old” drama and the negativity that spirals from cancel culture.
Those who have an account on any social media platform, especially TikTok, most likely have explore pages deep into the drama surrounding Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber.
None of the events following this polarizing drama are very deep; however, the effects it can have on how people treat others around them are anything but superficial.
Society places so much emphasis of what celebrities are doing in their daily lives. We are easily influenced to buy the makeup they wear, cars they drive or be a fan of the sports teams they play on.
If we treat the people that we idolize in such a hypercritical way, we are bound to start opening our eyes to the faults in the people around us and closing our hearts to seeing who they really are.
Gomez and Hailey Bieber are just an example of the ways that society has started to pit people against each other for the littlest coincidences and twisting stories to find a person to dislike.
The tension that surrounds these two celebrities has been thick since 2018, and it has only occurred by the rash assumptions and defenses the fans have come to. Let me give a little background.
Gomez use to date the singer of the hit song “Baby,” Justin Bieber. The couple broke up in 2018, and six months later, Bieber was engaged to model, Hailey Baldwin. Ever since this engagement, fans of Gomez have picked out any time Hailey Bieber seemed to copy or make fun of her husband’s ex.
There have been many instances where accusations by Gomez fans had to be cleared up by Hailey Bieber and her friends that had been dragged into the mess. Something as simple as posting a photo of one’s own eyebrow after Gomez complained about her own stirred up controversy.
The newest addition to this seemingly never-ending drama is a TikTok video posted by Hailey Bieber mouthing the words to the popular sound, “I’m not saying she deserved it, but God’s timing is always right,” with her friends. Gomez fans instantly believed this was directed at the body-shaming articles written about Gomez back in January.
Even Gomez seemed to believe the short video was about her as she commented on a TikTok reaction video, “It’s ok! I don’t let these things get me down! Be nice to everyone! x.”
Hailey Bieber tried to clear up the rumors that the TikTok video was directed toward Gomez by commenting on another reaction post:”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.”
Now, here is why this whole ordeal is over-the-top and ridiculous.
Firstly, why would Hailey Bieber post a TikTok video directed toward Gomez insinuating at articles written about her a month later? While the sound she used is popular for making fun of the ex of a current lover or a girl a user doesn’t like, there were two other people in the video. Why do viewers not assume the sound was picked out by Kendall Jenner who is recently single? The jump fans made that this TikTok video was about Gomez was hard for me to understand.
Secondly, the drama between Gomez and Hailey Bieber started completely because of their fans. There was no strong animosity between the two celebrities beforehand. There was an awkwardness between them as one’s ex was the other’s husband, but that same awkwardness would occur in “normal people’s” lives. Multiple times, Gomez has had to ask her fans to be kind and not to move so quickly to dissect and tear down Hailey Bieber and her friends. If Gomez can still be kind, why can’t her fans?
Lastly, there is an unfair judgement people put on celebrities. “Common-folk” put celebrities up on a pedestal and expect perfection out of them. However, perfection is not possible for anyone, but fans and non-fans continue to judge these humans more harsh than they should.
The judgement that surround this whole debacle is the true danger. If we are so ready to tear down, analyze and call-out celebrities who is to say we won’t judge those around us just as much?
If this mentality continues where we are pitting females, and people in general, against each other, then no progression will ever happen for anyone. We can ruin our own mental health by placing unrealistic expectations on our friends, coworkers, bosses and neighbors. If we are so negative about others, we will soon become negative about ourselves and the world around us.
At this time in the world, people need to come together as a whole within the population. Kindness and respect should be freely given. The fact we are wanting to cancel someone for posting a TikTok video, just like millions of people do every day, is sad and proves we are not making progress toward becoming closer as a human race.
We should cancel this stirred-up drama, not a person just trying to live the best way they know how.
