Hailey Bieber opened up about cancel culture in her latest YouTube video, explaining how it can sometimes feel like people are trying to “ruin someone’s life” after they’ve made an honest mistake.
During a conversation with psychiatrist Jessica Clemons about the sometimes toxic environment on social media, Hailey spoke about how cancel culture resembles bullying, adding that a genuine apology often makes no difference.
“I definitely understand people having to deal with their actions and repercussions,” Hailey said. “But what I’ve never understood about cancel culture is almost like bullying people into what you want.”
Hailey did appear to point out that people should be held accountable for their actions but said those who have made “genuine human mistakes” end up getting “berated” and endlessly trolled.
On the subject of being trolled and having your every mistake challenged, Hailey referenced husband Justin Bieber and how he grew up in the spotlight, noting that he was under immense pressure to be a “perfect example” to fans.
“I had it on a much smaller level, but even my husband had to just go through everything in front of everybody and make lots of mistakes in front of the entire world,” she said. “There was nothing that he could do that would get by the media.”
She went on: “It always made me feel really sad for him because so much of what was going on was what anybody his age would be doing, except it was on this much bigger scale.”
Hailey commended Justin and said she was “so impressed with how normal” he is now after growing up in the spotlight.
“There was so much more pressure on him to be, like, this perfect example to people, and I always say to him, ‘I’m so impressed with how normal you are,’ because I don’t even know what that feels like to go through mentally, emotionally, physically,” she said.
Hailey went on: “I know that it did have an effect, a big effect, on him, and I’m just grateful that he’s able to be the mature, stable adult that he is now.”
This comes after Hailey opened up about her decision to permanently delete her Twitter account and limit her Instagram usage to weekends, revealing that constant comments on her looks and body increased after marrying Justin in 2018.
“After getting married, especially, it really opened me up to this new kind of level of attention," she said. “I think one of the biggest things I struggled with for sure was the comparison aspect of body comparison, looks comparison, behavior comparison.”
She continued: “I think when you’re going through a situation where you just have so many people hounding you with the same thing over and over and over again, it starts to mess with your mind, and then you start to question everything.”