Selena Gomez' follower count is booming amid Kylie and Hailey drama

Fans are feeling really strongly about it all

Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez attends the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City.
(Image credit: Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty)

Selena Gomez, Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner have been embroiled in a whole lot of drama online, after fans interpreted a series of their social media activity as signs they were feuding — Selena and Hailey especially.

(Let's pause here to note that Selena and Hailey have repeatedly been pitted against each other because the first dated Justin Bieber, and the second is married to him, so let's take any speculation with a generous pinch of salt.)

Since the drama began ramping up in the past week or two, Selena fans have been posting to TikTok with the hashtag #teamselena, and people have been following the singer, actress and entrepreneur by the thousands — literally.

At time of writing, Selena has 392 million Instagram followers, making her the most followed woman in the world, up from 380 million on 22nd February, according to ELLE. That means she has gained some 12 million followers since the day she beat Kylie Jenner for most followed woman on the platform.

As for Kylie, she has gone from a rounded up 380 million followers to a rounded up 379 million, meaning she's lost hundreds of thousands of followers, who may be Selena fans who feel strongly about the whole drama.

So, why are people attempting to take sides in this story? Let's recap.

In January, Selena was body-shamed over bikini photos taken in Cabo, Mexico. After that happened, Hailey posted then deleted a TikTok that got viewers thinking she was "shading" Selena.

The video was of Hailey, Kendall Jenner and Justine Skye lip-syncing over a sound that goes: "I'm not saying she deserved it, but I'm saying God's timing is always right."

TikTok user @riristea posted a video in which she wondered whether there was a hidden message in Hailey's post, and some commenters seemed convinced it was directed at Selena.

But Hailey herself quickly set the record straight and commented: "I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls night and did a random tik tok sound for fun. It’s not directed at anyone."

TikTok user @ellenacuario then recapped the situation, and Selena commented: "It’s ok! I don’t let these things get me down! Be nice to everyone! x" (via StyleCaster).

THEN, Selena said on TikTok that she had "accidentally laminated my eyebrows too much." Hours later, Kylie Jenner posted a selfie with the words "this was an accident ????" written over her eyebrows, then posted a screenshot of a FaceTime call with Hailey, in which they zoomed in on their eyebrows.

When a TikTok user pointed out the timing of all of this, Kylie commented: "this is reaching. no shade towards selena ever and I didn't see her eyebrow posts! u guys are making something out of nothing. this is silly."

Selena backed her up, saying: "Agreed @kyliejenner It's all unnecessary. I'm a fan of Kylie!"

But wait, there's more. An old video reemerged on TikTok a few days after Eyebrow Gate in which Hailey appeared to express her distaste for Taylor Swift's music.

Selena commented on this video: "So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game"

@duckcopycat0

♬ Karma - Taylor Swift

After that, Selena briefly deactivated her TikTok, having told her fans: "I'm gonna be taking a second from social media, because this is a little silly. And I'm 30, I'm too old for this, so... but I love you guys so much! And I will see you guys sooner than later, I just... I'm just gonna just take a break from everything."

This is... a lot.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.