The armchair detectives of TikTok spend a lot of time mining Hailey Bieber’s outfits for hidden meanings. When the Rhode founder showed up to a summer event in a red dress and heels, accompanied by her gray-sweats-and-crocs-wearing husband, Justin, fans speculated that the comically mismatched outfits meant the couple was on the rocks; meanwhile, a red-carpet appearance in a loose satin dress and the simple act of sitting down in a crop top have sparked pregnancy rumors. Regarding that last piece of gossip, Bieber would like to make one thing clear: “When there comes a day” that she actually is pregnant, “the internet will be the last to know.”
In a new cover story for GQ Hype, she got candid about dealing with an on-and-off deluge of baby speculation, which she says she’s experienced “multiple times” during her five-year marriage. “There’s something that’s disheartening about, Damn, can’t I be bloated one time and not be pregnant?” Bieber told the outlet. “It would be a lie if I was like, Oh, yeah, I don’t give a shit.”
An understandable sentiment from a woman who shoulders a stunning degree of online harassment stemming from a supposed feud some fans won’t let die. Earlier this year, Bieber told the Sunday Times that even though she wants them, she’s “scared” to have children for fear that they might become the subject of online vitriol. “It’s enough that people say things about my husband or my friends,” she said at the time. “I can’t imagine having to confront people saying things about a child.” Though she once hoped to raise her kids outside of the spotlight, Bieber told GQ she now understands that scrutiny is “probably totally unavoidable,” adding: “That was before I was married. Didn’t know who I was going to be married to at the time, I’m sure.”
In any case, Bieber maintains that she’s looking forward to motherhood (and maybe also some Baldwin-Bieber nepo-baby onesies?) on her own timeline. “It’s also such a private, intimate thing,” she says. “It’s something that’s going to come when it comes. And it’s just, honestly, at the end of the day, so hilarious how much people fucking care. Let me do what I want to do with my body and you guys can do what you want to do with your body — and let’s just let it be that.” Or, to quote Barbie president Issa Rae’s response to baseless pregnancy rumors, “LET A BITCH EAT DRINK AND BE MERRY,” thanks!