Singer Justin Bieber and his wife, model and Internet personality Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) have had a controversial start to their relationship. As we know all too well, it was Jelena (singer-actress Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber’s ship name) before Jailey. Fans were rooting for the former and saying that the latter was just Justin “settling.”
When they married in 2018, many naysayers told them they wouldn’t last. Even years after they tied the knot, they are continuously scrutinized under the microscopic lens. It was headline after headline after headline. Then, it all came to a point that even those who couldn’t care less about Hollywood knew them.
As much as they didn’t want the Internet to affect their relationship, it inevitably impacted the early years of their marriage. However, once they’ve learned their rhythm and slowly healed from their past trauma, they’ve become immune to the trolls.
Let’s take a look at how their relationship grew from fragile to anti-fragile.
Chapter 1: The Initial Break-Up
The two first sparked romance rumors when they reconnected five years later in 2014 at the Hillsong church’s New York outpost. (They first met back in 2009.) That is because there was an uptick in Instagram photos of them together following their reunion.
However, they denied everything, insisting that they were just good friends. According to Hailey, she had known him since she was 13, and he grew to become her best guy friend and homie.
That said, their appearances, including their highly-publicized December 2015 vacation in Mexico, told a different story. What made that complicated was Justin’s on-and-off relationship with Selena at the time. In fact, just a few weeks before that trip, he was spotted with the singer at a hotel in Beverly Hills.
People were right. On New Year’s Eve, the two shared a sultry smooch. In February 2016, they said they were into each other but emphasized they weren’t an exclusive couple. Sadly, their split happened as swiftly as their relationship progressed.
In a later interview with Hailey about their split, she said negative things happened that they needed to talk about and work through. However, it wasn’t like their relationship fizzled. Instead, she said the proper word would be “dramatic excommunication” because there were times when, if she walked into a room, he would walk out.
After their breakup, Justin spoke with GQ and revealed that he was hesitant to commit exclusively to Hailey because he feared that he might end up damaging her by rushing into things. If she were the girl he would end up with, she’d always be damaged.
He then rekindled with Selena, though that didn’t last long either. They called it quits in 2018 – for good.
Later that year, Justin and Hailey reunited and had a whirlwind romance, and they winded up engaged and then married in just a span of a few weeks.
Hailey said that the time apart allowed them to work through their issues individually. She said, “The common denominator, I promise you, is always church. By then, we were past the drama. I just gave him a hug.”
Chapter 2: The Honeymoon Stage
RELATED: Hailey Bieber Shows Off Stunning Wedding Ring Set From Tiffany & Co.
The couple’s honeymoon stage was a bittersweet phase for them. They were in love, but it was also a new chapter for them that they were trying to navigate through.
Hailey’s POV
In an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Hailey shared that being newly married and married too quickly, she was always careful when giving advice. She didn’t want to come at it like she was an expert on the topic. Besides, she was also taking it one day at a time and learning a lot in the process.
In an interview in May 2020 for the Hillsong YouTube channel (the church where the sparks first flew between them), she shared:
“What I learned being married is that every mistake that I made and bad decision that I made and everything that I was making myself feel guilty for lead to me being married and me being a wife.”
She continued, saying she was ridden with so much guilt, especially in the first six months of their marriage. She regretted her actions and wished she walked into it with a clean slate.
As time passed, she realized two things. First, that wasn’t a realistic scenario. Second, everyone carries guilt and shame for so many things and for many different reasons, which doesn’t have to define anyone as a person.
What helped her navigate this new phase was having a life before everything. She was comfortable in her own skin and had her own identity before Justin happened.
As for the attention that came with marrying a pop star, she said there was a learning curve – especially with trolls.
When they married, Hailey was bombarded with hundreds of thousands of comments saying they wouldn’t last and would be divorced after a few years. At one point, she wondered what everyone else saw that she didn’t when she was the one in the relationship. More importantly, the only people that should have a say in the relationship are the two people in it.
However, they eventually found their rhythm, which made things easier.
Justin’s POV
On the other hand, her husband had difficulty transitioning from single status to married.
Justin told Apple Music’s Ebro Darden that he had a little emotional breakdown when he first got married. He thought that his marriage would fix all of his problems, but as it turned out, it didn’t. Justin also shared that, at one point, he couldn’t look in the mirror and accept the reality that he wasn’t the person he thought he was.
“And that’s just a result of trauma and life circumstances,” he explained.
As A Couple
In their joint interview with Vogue a few months after their courthouse marriage, the couple admitted their marriage wasn’t a breeze.
Hailey said that though it didn’t seem like it from an outside perspective, they were fighting to build a healthy relationship. They came from a genuine place as two young people learning as they went.
She then continued, saying she wouldn’t lie and say it was a magical fantasy. “It’s always going to be hard. It’s a choice. You don’t feel it every single day.”
To her, the “hard” they were going through was beautiful in its own way. They accepted that they would change a lot and committed to growing through those changes together. That’s because he was her best friend at the end of the day.
Chapter 3: Justin’s Journey To Sobriety
One of the biggest challenges in their marriage was Justin’s journey to sobriety, as it triggered Hailey’s history with her dad, Stephen Baldwin’s addiction.
Talking with Chelsea and Judah Smith on their In Good Faith podcast, she remembered that she had called her mom several times because of it. However, there was an instance where she called her crying and said there was no way she could do it if it would be like that with Justin forever. Her mom responded calmly, soothing her and telling her that it would pass and they would both be fine.
Looking back to that moment, she thought that the decision to stay wasn’t just because of her mom. It was something that she wanted to do because she knew for a fact that she had loved him for a long time. On top of that, she just wasn’t about to give up on him and abandon him in the middle of a difficult time because she wasn’t that kind of person.
However, that didn’t mean sticking to that decision wasn’t hard. That’s because it was. There were even times when she literally didn’t know if he would be okay.
Then, something deep down inside kept whispering to her that he would get through it. The only question was how long it would take him to be okay. Despite all that uncertainty, she stayed.
Chapter 4: Reflections
As they journeyed together, Justin and Hailey have had many reflections through the years.
In a podcast episode of In Good Faith hosted by Chelsea and Judah Smith, the model shared that their stubbornness helped make their marriage work. That is because neither one of them was the first to say “I quit,” and neither would choose to be the person to walk away from a situation. Their perspective was that this was their decision, and they were going to keep fighting past whatever they needed to stay together.
In another podcast interview, this time for Victoria’s Secret, Hailey explained that communication also played a big role in their marriage.
She would ask him where he was at with a specific topic or conversation, ensuring he was okay with everything they did. That’s because she knew he went through a time in his life when he had to do things he didn’t want to, leading him to a very dark place.
She didn’t want him to be in that position again. Thankfully, Justin was also self-aware and open, so it was easy for them to figure things out.
Of course, even with the stubbornness and the communication, marriage was still “hard.”
Chatting with Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy, she said that Justin was her best friend, and she loved coming home to him. However, it was still hard because she had her own life and career and was trying to balance her wants, needs, hopes, and dreams.
At the same time, she was in a relationship with another human who also had his own hopes and dreams. They were both bust people, and making their marriage work was sometimes tough.
On the other hand, Justin credited Hailey for helping him heal through his issues. He said he had many rejection issues, but Hailey showed up for him every day. Seeing that made their commitment to each other more secure and stronger.
While it took him some time to transition to being married, he knew it was his calling once he settled in. Talking with GQ, he said they were creating moments and building memories as a couple and family.
He said it was something that he always looked forward to. He used to not look forward to anything, but when Hailey came into his life, he had someone to love and pour himself into.
Chapter 5: In Sickness And In Health
RELATED: Pop Stars Departing from Scooter Braun’s Empire: The Latest Developments
One of the biggest challenges that the couple had gone through was serious health issues.
In June 2022, the singer revealed that he was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome causing facial paralysis. According to a source, Hailey was Justin’s rock as he recovered, being by his side for whatever he needed.
Then, days after that announcement, Hailey said on her Good Morning America appearance that the silver lining was that it brought them a lot closer.
“You’re going through this together, you’re being there for each other, you’re supporting each other. There’s just something that really bonds you through these times.”
In a later interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the model said it wasn’t easy. They couldn’t plan and had to figure out how to deal with things as they came, and the “for better or for worse” part in the vows was definitely real.
Hailey Bieber and Justin Bieber have definitely gone through a lot in just a few years. It was definitely difficult, especially when they were just starting their new chapter. However, they were more than ready to fight through everything and make it work, and they did!