Can the internet go one day without being weird about Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez? It appears that the answer is no. ICYMI, Bieber dropped his seventh studio album, SWAG, on July 11, and internet users were quick to draw comparisons to Gomez’s March 2025 album I Said I Love You First, which she released with her fiancé Benny Blanco. Now, on X/Twitter, users are claiming that SWAG is major shade toward Gomez and Blanco. I’m rolling my eyes already.
For some background, Bieber and Gomez were in an on-again, off-again relationship from 2010 to 2018. Following their final breakup, Bieber married model (and eventual founder of rhode) Hailey Baldwin in 2018. As for Gomez, she went on to date producer Benny Blanco, whom she got engaged to in December 2024. It seems as though Bieber and Gomez have moved on in the seven years since their breakup — but, for some reason, the internet can’t do the same.
On July 10, Bieber promoted his album SWAG alongside several photos of himself and his wife, Hailey. Almost immediately, internet users claimed that this was shade toward Gomez and Blanco — seeing as their album, I Said I Love You First, featured a photo of the couple as the cover art. Y’all, are we serious?
But that’s not all. Despite the fact that Bieber’s album has virtually nothing to do with Gomez (it’s full of lyrics about Hailey, along with personal anecdotes about his mental health), internet users are pitting the two artists against each other, seemingly for no reason at all.
And yeah, of course they’re bringing Hailey into it, too. (And for what?!)
Seriously, can either one of these people do anything without fans bringing up their past? As long as the internet is alive and well, it appears not. But damn, give it a rest!
So while I’m busy streaming both Gomez and Bieber, with my face glazed in rhode, the haters can go outside and touch some grass. Is it clocking to you now?