The Internet Won’t Stop Trying to Manifest Justin and Hailey’s Divorce

Justin and Hailey Bieber are not getting a divorce, a “source” close to the couple told People on Wednesday. So we can all breathe a sigh of relief, punch a hole in the wall, or just keep on scrolling—whatever you need to do to take this news in. “There’s no divorce and no truth to that whatsoever. They are very, very happy,” the source said. This comes as, for weeks now, the rumor mill has been churning one story after another about how the two are separating, or already separated, or pregnant, but definitely, certainly, getting a divorce.

Hailey’s own family seems to have inadvertently gotten things started at the end of February, when her uncle, Stephen Baldwin, re-shared an Instagram story from All Things Possible Ministry founder Victor Marx. The post read: “Christians, please when you think of Justin & Hailey, take a moment to offer a little prayer for them, to have wisdom, protection and to draw close to the Lord,” adding, “There are special challenges that folks in high visibility positions face.” Certainly a little odd, but the post could have been about anything: Between Hailey’s mini-stroke and Justin’s struggles with Ramsay Hunt syndrome (both in 2022), and their tempestuous semi-ongoing feud with Selena Gomez that reached a fever pitch in 2023,  they’ve certainly been up against it for a couple of exorbitantly wealthy celebrities.

Shortly after Baldwin shared (then deleted) that prayer request in February, TMZ reported that the post stemmed from “something specific that’s going on with the young couple” and the Biebers were handling a “private issue.”

Nonetheless, even as “private issue” takes on a very broad meaning, the first thing everyone’s mind went to was divorce. Tabloids and viral social media blind-item accounts quickly took that narrative and ran with it. Just last week, for shits and giggles, I literally read an essentially unsourced blog about how Hailey has already moved out and isn’t taking Justin’s desperate calls for reconciliation. “Hailey’s not asking for a divorce. She knows Justin feels hurt and confused, but she feels lost too. She just needs a break,” a conspicuously unnamed “insider” told In Touch.

In early March, Hailey addressed the rumors head-on in her own Instagram story: “Just FYI the stories and constant ‘blind items’ I see on TikTok are 100% of the time wrong. Made out of thin air… come from the land of delusion,” she wrote. “So I know it may be fun feeding into these stories but just know they’re always false xx sorry to spoil it.”

I enjoy a good celeb fan fic as much as the next person, but I have to ask: Doesn’t this particular plotline—the ol’ “Hailey and Justin are breaking up” arc—get boring to you all?? All the more so when… nothing ever happens???

Granted, by being honest about some of the struggles in their relationship early on, the couple has however undeservingly fueled some of the continued speculation about their relationship status. In a 2021 interview, Hailey recounted one particularly rough patch shortly after they got married in 2018: “I called my mom … crying … like, ‘I just can’t do it.’ But I’ve loved this person for a very long time and now would not be the time to give up on him.” If anything, my takeaway from that interview is… that they chose to remain together and make things work…? The following year, Hailey told WSJ magazine she no longer wished to share details of her personal life in interviews because “it doesn’t feel worth it to me anymore when I try to have an open conversation with someone like you and then it gets taken out of context.”

In any case, in the ensuing weeks since Stephen Baldwin’s prayer request on Instagram, the Biebers have looked every bit the normal couple, posting pics on Easter and celebrating Justin’s birthday together. Not a whole lot to see here, really! I’m not saying a good, harmless celeb rumor to stir the pot now and then isn’t a fun time—just that, I’m pretty tired of this one and think it’s time for internet fan-fic writers to get a little more creative at this point.