<\/p>\n
Justin and Hailey Bieber are fighting back against parasocial internet takes with the support of SZA.<\/p>\n
In the social media age, everyone has gotten very comfortable talking about total strangers on the internet. Hailey Bieber would know this better than most, having been subjected to constant scrutiny<\/a> about her marriage to Justin Bieber<\/a> over the past few years. But it seems one TikTok user named Julie Theis managed to break through the noise, gaining the 29-year-old model’s<\/a> attention and sparking potential legal action. Here’s the TL;DR.<\/p>\n According to her own TikTok<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> bios, Julie Theis is a content creator with a master’s degree in psychology who posts \u201cdark psychology breakdowns\u201d online.<\/p>\n In a social media post<\/a> from December 29, Theis used celebrity couples to explain her concept of a \u201ctolerant, codependent woman\u201d who “tolerates mediocrity, abuse, doing the majority of domestic and emotional labor in exchange for being a relationship.\u201d She cited Hailey Bieber as her prime example, describing her husband Justin Bieber as an \u201caddict,\u201d and, therefore, an \u201cabusive partner.\u201d<\/p>\n The post, which is still up on TikTok, has over half a million views on TikTok and over 900,000 on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to People<\/em><\/a>, TikTok users began claiming that Hailey reposted a video<\/a> about Theis’ analysis, which sparked a response from the model on her Instagram Story. \u201cHey! I know you guys who live on the internet are really bored, but I didn’t repost any video speaking on my relationship,\u201d she posted<\/a> on January 10. “Have a beautiful Saturday!\u201d<\/p>\n According to documents obtained by TMZ<\/a> on January 14, the couple’s attorney Evan Spiegel later sent a cease and desist letter to Theis, claiming she “manufactured a false defamatory narrative.”<\/p>\n “Your contact is wrongful, highly demanding, actionable, and exposes you to sustainable liability,” Spiegel wrote in the letter, which Theis also shared<\/a> on her social media accounts. Theis claims her video were her personal \u201copinions,\u201d which she says she’s \u201clegally allowed to have.\u201d<\/p>\n Theis then made another post<\/a>, citing one of Justin Bieber’s own Instagram captions<\/a> from 2019, in which he wrote, \u201cI started doing heavy drugs at 19 and abused all of my relationships.\u201d In that Instagram post, Justin Bieber admitted that he \u201cbecame resentful, disrespectful to women and angry\u201d prior to his marriage, which he described as the “best season of my life.”<\/p>\n According to a screenshot shared on TikTok<\/a>, the 36-year-old singer<\/a>\u2014who recently brought<\/a> Justin Bieber on stage for a cameo during her Grand National Tour with Kendrick Lamar\u2014responded to Theis’s original video with a question. \u201cHi are you a licensed therapist or psychologist? You speak with SUCH certainty and [I’d] like to know. Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n In response, Theis again stated that she has a master’s degree in psychology, and that she worked as a behavioral specialist and researcher; she added that she is now a full-time content creator and takes on clients as a coach or mentor, but not as a therapist.<\/p>\n SZA wrote back that while she \u201crespects study and inquiry” when it’s posed as such, \u201cpublicly diagnosing people you have absolutely no contact with and presenting that information as fact under the premise of education” may be dangerous \u201cfor all parties, including those you wish to educate.\u201d<\/p>\n She added, \u201cJust an opinion! All respect to you.\u201d<\/p>\n The (incredibly cordial) back-and-forth launched a new discourse in the comments, not about \u201ctolerant co-dependent\u201d partners, but about where we draw the line between \u201copinion\u201d and slander, as well as whether or not public figures have any legal protections when it comes to creators who are building (and profiting from) narratives about their lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhat did Julie Theis say?<\/h2>\n
How did Justin and Hailey Bieber respond?<\/h2>\n
Where does SZA come in?<\/h2>\n