Selena Gomez Accused Of Playing Petty After Hailey Bieber Sells Rhode

Selena Gomez is sparking controversy once again, this time over a cryptic social media post that fans believe may have been aimed at Hailey Bieber.

Just one day after it was announced that Hailey’s beauty brand, Rhode, had been acquired by E.l.f. Cosmetics in a blockbuster $1 billion deal, Rare Beauty, Selena Gomez’s cosmetics company, shared two glamorous photos of the singer.

But it was the caption that really grabbed fans' attention: a simple but loaded, “Still here.”

In the images, Gomez can be seen blowing a kiss toward the camera in one shot and staring confidently into the lens in the other. While the post itself didn’t mention Rhode or Bieber, many fans were quick to interpret it as a subtle jab following Hailey’s headline-making sale.

Supporters of Hailey quickly flooded the comments with backlash, calling out what they perceived as unnecessary shade.

“It seems like Hailey is always on her mind. Pathetic,” one commenter wrote, while another added, “It doesn’t seem like the behavior of someone who claims to be a girl’s girl.”

One comment read, “The way she’s actually shady as hell.”

Others were even more blunt. “She actually pisses me off. Like MOVE ON UR A GROWN A-- WOMAN,” one user said.

Another remarked, “At this point you might as well tag her,” while others accused the Rare Beauty founder of being “mean” and “attention-seeking.”

The backlash emerged amid major career news for Hailey, who launched Rhode in June 2022 with just three core products: the Peptide Glazing Fluid, Barrier Restore Cream, and Peptide Lip Treatment. The brand has since become a viral favorite, expanding into tinted lip products, blushes, and even accessories like phone cases that double as lip gloss holders.

Hailey broke her silence about the sale in an Instagram post celebrating the milestone, calling E.l.f. a “like-minded disruptor” and expressing excitement over stepping into an expanded leadership role as Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation for Rhode.

While Gomez and Bieber have made public attempts to distance themselves from long-standing comparisons, largely stemming from their mutual history with Justin Bieber, speculation over tension between the two continues to follow them. Interestingly, just last week, Gomez appeared to show public support by liking a Sephora post about Rhode’s newest collaboration, leading many to believe the rivalry rumors were cooling off.

Earlier this year, Hailey Bieber came under fire from fans who believe she mimicked Selena Gomez, this time, over her recent acceptance speech.

The 28-year-old model and founder of Rhode Beauty accepted the Beauty Innovator of the Year Award at the Daily Front Row Awards in April, delivering a heartfelt speech about the origins of her brand. But shortly after the clip circulated online, a TikTok comparing her remarks to a 2021 interview Gomez gave to Madame Figaro Arabia quickly went viral, and social media erupted.

“When I started Rhode, I didn’t want to start a brand for the sake of starting a brand. I really wanted to create an entire world,” Hailey said in her speech.

In Selena’s 2021 interview, she said something strikingly similar, “I didn’t want to launch a makeup line for the sake to launch a brand. What interests me is cultivating beauty from the inside.”

The TikTok side-by-side triggered a wave of reactions from fans, with some branding Hailey a “creepy stalker” and accusing her of lacking originality.

“Does Hailey have a personality of her own?” one person commented. Others went further, calling the speech “copycat behavior.”

However, not everyone agreed. Some pointed out that beauty brand founders often express similar sentiments, especially when discussing their mission and purpose.

This isn’t the first time Hailey has been accused of echoing Gomez.

Just a month earlier, she and her husband, Justin Bieber, were criticized for allegedly mirroring a Disneyland date Selena had with her partner, record producer Benny Blanco. The couple, joined by The Kid Laroi, visited the Anaheim theme park, riding the same attractions and even wearing similar outfits to those seen on Gomez and Blanco just weeks before.

The comparisons only intensified after Justin posted photos from their day at the park, which social media users quickly spliced into side-by-side montages with clips of Selena and Benny’s earlier outing. The videos, shared widely across TikTok, showed each couple on the same rides, including the fan-favorite "Cars" attraction.

While neither Hailey nor Selena has addressed the latest wave of online speculation, the pattern of side-by-side comparisons has reignited tensions between their respective fanbases. The two women have long been pitted against each other due to their shared history with Justin Bieber, though both have previously asked fans to put an end to the drama.

Now, with Rare Beauty’s “Still here” post stirring up new waves online, fans are once again divided over whether the subtle caption was simply self-assured or something more pointed.