It turns out Justin Bieber’s alleged attempt to smooth over his latest controversy was not Kenough.
ICYMI, the 29-year-old pop star was recently dragged for wearing sweats to wife Hailey Bieber’s Rhode event for the launch of her skincare line’s new “Strawberry Glazed” lip treatment. And we’re not talking just any sweats—Justin went full middle school boy running late to homeroom in light gray cutoffs and a matching zip-up, pulling his hood tight around his face like Kenny from South Park. To add insult to comedy, he topped off the look with a pair of yellow Crocs and a pink trucker hat over his hood. Meanwhile, Hailey was wearing this:
Basically, the pair couldn’t have looked like they were attending more different events, and many felt Justin’s look was disrespectful…which is saying something considering the pop star’s fans have been less than sympathetic towards the 26-year-old model over the course of the couple’s marriage. Take a look for yourself and tell me you don’t understand what triggered all the girlies with low-effort exes.
As of August 31, it has been three days since this all went down and the internet is not letting up…nor is Justin Bieber. Since their mismatched vibes went viral, the “Sorry” singer has gone into Instagram Husband overdrive on social media, sharing four photo dumps filled with loving snaps of Hailey to his grid…but his followers aren’t really buying it.
“So he gonna dress better for the lake than for her event,” one user commented on his latest post on August 30, while another chimed in on August 31, writing, “6th post in a row with Hailey? Someone’s on damage control.”
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Over on TikTok, user Jordan T. Alexander initially suggested the looks were coordinated to inspire outrage and draw further attention to Hailey’s brand. “This is how they get their views,” Alexander said in one video that has been viewed over 300,000 times. “I’ve talked about outrage marketing a lot, usually using racism to push things forward, but I forget how many people really don’t like Hailey and really think Justin hates being with Hailey.”
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Alexander went on to argue that the looks may have been chosen because the images are “provocative” and “get the people going.” One user commented on the post, “If this isn’t outrage marketing, his sweats could have at least been red.”
On August 30, TikTok user Grace Brassel noted another reason Justin Bieber’s outfit and subsequent Instagram activity is rubbing his fans the wrong way, pointing out that he doesn’t use his platform to stick up for his wife when she gets bullied online. “He’s constantly posting these super cute lovey-dovey photos of her all the time,” Brassel said. “But it’s like why couldn’t you use your four million likes to vocalize and stand up for her when the whole internet was clowning on her?”
Back in February, Hailey faced the internet’s ire after being accused of making fun of Justin Bieber’s ex, Selena Gomez, on social media. While the bullying got so bad that Gomez herself had to step in on Hailey’s behalf, Justin stayed out of it. “Hailey and Justin are doing fine. They don’t want to continually deal with this repetitive, ongoing former relationship drama,” an unnamed source told Entertainment Tonight in March. “They are just taking things day by day and don’t want this to be something that impacts them negatively. Justin knows that speaking publicly about it will only amplify the situation and bring more attention to it, so they have been supporting each other privately.”
Well, if this is what supporting Hailey Bieber publically looks like, that was probably for the best.