Hailey Bieber is not here for the drama. To celebrate rhode's $1 billion sale to Elf Cosmetics and its launch at Sephora, Bieber sat down with the Wall Street Journal in a wide-ranging interview. The star also took the chance to subtly clear the air about “being pitted against” others in the beauty industry — after being asked about fan discourse on her long-speculated “feud” with Selena Gomez.
In the piece, Bieber was described as a new member of “a growing class of beauty supermoguls," with rhode's recent achievements solidifying her status in the beauty industry even further and positioning her alongside the likes of Rihanna and Selena Gomez, who also have launched successful brands that sell at Sephora.
In the interview, Bieber was asked if she felt worried that Sephora shoppers might compare rhode to Rare Beauty, given the fan narrative that there's an unspoken "rivalry" between her and Gomez. And, although her publicist asked to skip the question, Bieber decided to seemingly graciously address the chatter afterwards with a simple but effective answer.
“It’s always annoying being pitted against other people. I didn’t ask for that,” she responded. “When people want to see you a certain way and they’ve made up a story about you in their minds, it’s not up to you to change that.”
Bieber was also asked if she felt “competitive,” seeing as her rhode products will “have to stand up against other Sephora brands,” and she also found a perfectly courteous response: “I think there is space for everybody."
This isn't the first time that Bieber has spoken out against fan narratives that pit Gomez and herself against each other. In 2022, the duo posed and hugged together to prove there was no bad blood between them. Then, in 2023, Bieber opened up about the situation and said the "feud" rumors stemmed from “completely made-up and twisted and perpetuated narratives.”
Earlier that same year, both Bieber and Gomez put out statements defending each other and calling out fans for spewing hate online. “I want to thank Selena for speaking out, as her and I have been discussing the last few weeks how to move past this ongoing narrative between her and I," Bieber wrote at the time, though that did not stop online discourse from escalating in the years since.
Back in May 2025, when it was announced that rhode would be launching in Sephora, Gomez quietly liked an Instagram post about the feat, signaling support. In the past, Gomez has also defended Bieber from online vitriol.
In her WSJ interview, Bieber admitted that the constant scrutiny she faces regarding her personal life has not been overshadowed by her business news, and eyes are very much still on her and Justin Bieber's every move. However, they have learned not to let it take over. “We’re both really finding our voices of who we are and, I believe, both really walking authentically in what it is we actually want to be doing,” she said.
Part of that shift has been, in part, thanks to the birth of their firstborn, Jack Blues Bieber, whom they welcomed in August 2024. “I feel like time has just become so precious,” Bieber said. “Having kids makes you realize that.”
Bieber also opened up about her son's privacy. Though the couple has given us peeks at the baby here and there, do not expect to see a close-up picture of Jack Blues's face anytime soon. “Until your child can understand it and it’s possible to have [a] conversation around it, I have no interest in putting him out there in any way,” Bieber said.
She also shared that she has a newfound “ferocity” since becoming a mom, which is also part of the reason she won't put up with noise anymore. “I like who I am so much more now than I did before I had my son,” she told the publication. “You gain this silent strength and confidence. You can’t tell me the same sh*t that you could tell me before. You’re not f*cking with me after I pushed a human out of my body.”
