Selena Gomez just surpassed Kylie Jenner as the most followed woman on Instagram having over 400 million followers. This comes upon the resurfacing battle of fans favorites pinning the pop star against the model since 2018 when Justin Bieber proposed to Hailey Baldwin six months after their break up. The drama recently boiled over after Kylie Jenner joined the mix. Jenner posted her eyebrows with Hailey Baldwin after Selena Gomez posted a TikTok saying she accidentally overlined her eyebrows.
TikTok users began to claim that Jenner was casting shade at Gomez. The stars immediately shot the rumors down, commenting that everyone is reaching and making something out of nothing. The following weeks were filled with rumors that only fueled the fire. This led to the uprising of a controversy that has taken over the internet of whether fans are Team Hailey or Team Selena. Ultimately pinning the celebrities against each other. The lines between the start and end of Gomez and Bieber’s relationship are blurred with Baldwin entering into the mix. This contributes to why the debate is disputable.
Last year, Baldwin spoke about the situation for the first time. Sharing that she doesn’t understand why she and Gomez are being compared to one another and that the rumors surrounding her and Bieber’s relationship are false. The couple is unbothered by it all.
Rumors that Bieber is unhappy with his wife took center stage as fans started to document similarities between Baldwin and Gomez’s presence on social media.
Upon picking sides TikToks started to be made of fans unfollowing and blocking Baldwin on Instagram. Some even reported her account as impersonating Gomez. Soon Baldwin’s followers began to drop as Gomez’s popularity skyrocketed. Leading to her becoming the most followed woman on Instagram for the second time since 2017. Gomez remained the most followed woman on Instagram till 2019 when Ariana Grande surpassed her. Jenner followed, overtaking both.
Due to mental health and body image struggles Gomez has always had an on-and-off relationship with social media. Four years ago she had deleted the app from her phone giving posting permission to her team. Gomez struggled with negative comments being posted on her page and she developed an unhealthy fixation with them. Especially after she had been diagnosed with Lupus, a medical condition where your immune system attacks itself. The inflammatory disease involves taking medication that can cause you to gain weight.
In January of this year, Gomez returned to posting on her account and continues to speak out about the way comments on the app affect her. She tells her story to be an advocate for mental health and speaks out about spreading kindness.