New Selena-Hailey Update Just Dropped
When will it end?
Selena and Hailey’s online feud continues its warpath, with accusations and finger-pointing from stars and fans alike taking over my For You feed, WhatsApp groups and close to every waking minute at this point. (Sorry to everyone who knows me at this time.)
Over this journey — yes, journey — I’ve thought long and hard about how it might all play out, but I really didn’t think it was likely that Selena’s ex-boyfriend and Hailey’s now-husband Justin Bieber would get involved (he’s been relatively quiet on everything Selena-related for a while now). And by a bewildering party favour, no less! Colour me intrigued.
I’ll explain: so, snaps of a metal lighter holder, which Bieber is said to have gifted attendees at his 29th birthday party, have cropped up online. The lighter holder bears the quote: “I’m so grateful that I didn’t end up with what I thought I wanted”. Hmm.
At Justin Bieber’s 29th birthday party, he gifted a souvenir to attendees bearing the words:
“I’m so grateful that I didn’t end up with what I thought I wanted.” pic.twitter.com/FFdtLwWyN3
— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) March 5, 2023
While Beliebers will call this as an innocent coincidence (‘It’s a popular quote!’ etc.) I think it’s deeper. This lighter says multitudes, and lots of people on the internet agree with me. Generic party freebie or not, the cryptic quote lighter holder (on sale for USD$423 at a Twojeys near you) is now caught right in the eye of the Selena-Hailey storm. The timing is too pointed to come to any other conclusion: it’s a jab, and not a subtle one.
Perhaps the timing is only gasp-worthy to those of us painfully invested in the minutiae of this celebrity feud (me) but didn’t someone warn the guy that lighters with a Facebook status era quote might be the wrong play here? Surely Justin was made aware of the potential PR nightmare Lightergate would cause? I think he was, but went ahead anyway, devil-may-care. Maybe this lighter holder quote thing is a way to continue the feud and ‘defend’ Hailey’s cause, without directly implicating himself..?
As it stands, the court of public opinion on ‘Selena vs. Hailey’ is pretty clear: Selena gained over 10 million IG followers in the two weeks since this all kicked off again, while Hailey’s lost close to a million. She needs some backing from her celebrity husband, ASAP. Both Selena and Hailey have added fuel to the fire over the years (we’ve got the receipts) so it’s not unlikely, I think, for Justin to be throwing shade Selena’s way here (misguided or otherwise).
So, are the engraved lighters just engraved lighters with a sentimental quote, or do they signal the next round in this never-ending saga; a saga that could actually have some benefits to keeping going? Selena’s single ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’ with Charlie Puth just reportedly had its biggest streaming day on Spotify since its release back in 2017; same with Justin Bieber’s ‘Beauty And A Beat’ with Nicki Minaj. People are using Rare Beauty, Selena’s makeup brand, to publicly choose sides, including Kylie Jenner’s famously ex-bestie Jordyn Woods. All this tea is good for business.
If these lot are in cahoots to keep each other at the forefront of pop culture, it’s all coming together nicely. I don’t know where this chaos will end, but I spy a new beauty line or a new album (possibly several) on the horizon. At the very least, Twojeys lighter holder sales will be through the roof.