Hailey Bieber Addresses Backlash and Rare Beauty Drama: She Says “I’m Really Bad at Being Famous”

When public life becomes a spectacle, even the most successful stars can feel the burden of simply being themselves. Hailey Bieber recently opened up about the false narratives, brand comparisons, and online backlash that accompany life in the spotlight—especially when you’re a model-turned-businesswoman married to a global pop icon. The conversation expands beyond her own feelings to touch on issues of privilege, motherhood, celebrity branding, and the tangled web of media-driven rivalries.

She began by acknowledging her own status, bluntly: “I’m a full-blown nepo baby.” The term “nepo baby” has come to symbolize inherited privilege in Hollywood—children of famous or influential figures who benefit from legacy. Hailey didn’t hedge her words. “The whole nepo conversation is really just a conversation about privilege,” she said. “And I think having that dialogue with your kid is important. I think talking about it is important. And I think awareness is important.”

To say she didn’t expect to be famous is the kind of humility the public loves. “Did you know you were going to be famous?” she was asked. Her answer: “No.” But the follow-up: “You’re so good at being famous.” She confessed, “Thanks. I feel really bad at it all the time.”

That statement might shock some people who assume her enviable lifestyle ensures effortless celebrity. The reality, she says, is far more complex.

Motherhood and Misconceptions

One of the more revealing segments of the conversation focused on her life as a mother. While she and husband Justin Bieber are navigating the early years of parenthood, she admitted that criticism has followed. She’s been accused of being too absent, of relying on full-time help, of prioritizing her business over her baby. Her response: “I’m someone who always wanted to be a mom, so I’m super, super, super hands-on with my son.” At the same time, she acknowledged the need for help: “I do have help. I have full-time help. And I’m super not ashamed to say that.”

It’s a nuanced position. On one hand, she wants to flip the script on the so-called “rich celebrity mom” stereotype who delegates parenthood entirely. On the other, she doesn’t shy away from admitting that the level of her ambition and public brand requires support. “If he’s not with me, he’s with his dad. He’s always with people he loves. That help is definitely how I’m able to say I get eight hours of sleep a night, because otherwise no way,” she laughed.

While many celebrity parents struggle to balance family and career, the scrutiny here is magnified. Every public outing, every brand launch, every appearance can be used as evidence of whether she’s “deserving” of her titles or whether she’s neglecting something fundamental.

Rumours, Branding and Backlash

Hailey’s brand world extends beyond motherhood. Her skincare and beauty line Rhode has become a major player, launching at major retailers while coexisting in the same space as Rare Beauty, founded by Selena Gomez. Inevitably, comparisons arose.

Rumours even circulated that Hailey was managing her husband’s career, or that she had wanted to brand her line under the “Bieber” name. She brushed off those suggestions, calling one headline—“Hailey is doing management for her husband”—“the craziest thing.”

She also addressed the branding rumour: “I always intended on making my brand Rhode. It was a family name.” That, she said, was always the plan—not leveraging the Bieber name for a beauty empire.

One of the more persistent and biting rumours: that Hailey copied Selena’s language, visuals, brand voice. In one highlighted instance, her acceptance speech for a beauty-industry award was compared line-by-line with a quote from Selena years earlier. The result? A wave of social-media backlash calling her a “copycat,” a “creepy stalker,” and worse. PINKVILLA+1

These comparisons drove home the reality: for every move Hailey makes, there is a precedent or a presumed precedent. When you share a shelf at Sephora and a shared love history with the same man, the stakes of branding and public perception are radically elevated.

The “Feud” That Never Was

Perhaps the most tiring storyline for Hailey has been the perpetual speculation of a rivalry with Selena Gomez. In a recent cover interview with the Wall Street Journal, she addressed this head-on: “It’s always annoying being pitted against other people. I didn’t ask for that.” People.com+1

The timeline explains why the question persists. Hailey married Justin Bieber in 2018; Selena had dated him for many years before. Hailey later co-founds Rhode, Selena co-founds Rare Beauty—both major brands, both featured at Sephora. The perfect conditions for rivalry lore.

But Hailey clarified that she feels “space for everybody,” and that she does not believe in competing with people who don’t inspire her. The sub-text? Quell the narrative of a feud, while gently reminding critics that the comparison game is their doing, not hers.

Selena chimed in too, albeit via a now-deleted Instagram Story: “She can say whatever she wants. Doesn’t affect my life whatsoever. It’s just about relevance not intelligence. Be kind. All brands inspire me. And hopefully we can all stop.” mint+1

Hailey insists the story is not about her and Selena—it’s about a culture that thrives on pitting women against each other.

The Paparazzi, the Drone, the Reality of Being Public

Celebrity isn’t just selfies and glam nights. Hailey recounted a chilling moment: a drone hovered outside the apartment of her interviewer as the two were filming. She said she looked at her phone and realized, “They’re hoping I’m visiting a secret lover or another scandal.” She admitted the moment rattled her: “I went off,” she said, recalling an exchange with her interviewer mid-recording: “Hold on a second … Don’t you ever do some (expletive) like that again. Do you understand?” It’s a reminder that despite everything, she remains human.

When she described the paparazzi chase—where a car pulled in front of her vehicle to snap her through the rear-view mirror—it was real. She pulled over, yelled, and tried to get her interviewer back on track, shaken by the intrusion.

In many ways the moment was refreshingly raw—not polished PR, but a candid glimpse of life under constant surveillance.

Privilege, Nepotism and the Emotional Toll

Hailey’s admission of being a “nepo baby” can be viewed as brave. Acknowledging that you benefit from privilege doesn’t inoculate you from criticism, but it invites a more honest conversation about what expectations come with celebrity.

“I feel really bad at being famous,” she said. That may seem counterintuitive: the model who launched a billion-dollar brand, married a global star, and earns accolades for her beauty line. Yet fame, she argues, comes at a cost: public expectation, privacy invasion, relentless comparison, and constant speculation.

That she admits the discomfort is striking. In a world where influencer culture often displays nothing but confidence, the admission of vulnerability stands out.

What This All Means for Celebrity Culture

What Hailey’s experience reveals is broader than her own story. It touches on how brands are intertwined with identity, how relationships become public property, how motherhood is judged through a different lens when celebrity intersects with commerce, and how women’s success is often treated as competitive rather than collaborative.

The branding of Rhode and Rare Beauty positions both women in a competitive beauty ecosystem—but the narrative of “rivalry” reflects less about them and more about a media culture eager to feed drama.

When Hailey says “I think there is space for everybody,” she may be repeating a motto—but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. If one person’s success means someone else’s story has to suffer, then the industry has bigger problems than lip gloss.

Her story also underlines the imbalance of criticism: a successful brand release is praised; a similar release is attacked. Public motherhood is romanticized; celebrity motherhood is scrutinized. Her words about privilege invite us to consider the flipside of “female success” as a commodity.

Why Her Message Matters

In an ecosystem where every quote, every post, every red-carpet appearance is parsed, Hailey’s openness is rare. She turned the “nepo baby” label into a conversation about awareness rather than guilt. She reframed mothering with full-time help as pragmatic rather than indulgent. She named her brand Rhode after family, not fame, and insisted that her success wasn’t an excuse for smooth-talking through interviews.

And importantly, she asked the media and the public to step back: to stop pitting women against each other, to let brands coexist, to view motherhood and business success without judgment.

Because behind every headline, there is a person—with doubts, anxieties, and maybe eight hours of sleep.