“Just having a midlife crisis” - Internet reacts as they believe Justin Bieber seemingly shaded Selena Gomez's Engagement 

Justin Bieber has become the target of netizens who believe that he threw shade at his ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez's recent engagement with music producer, Benny Blanco.

On April 2, Justin Bieber took to his Instagram stories to post a meme. The meme contained an image of Gollum, a character from the Lord of the Rings franchise, staring longingly at the One Ring, a powerful and magical ring from the franchise. The image was captioned as:

“Girls on social media when they get engaged”

The internet immediately reacted to what fans assumed was a reaction of sorts to Bieber’s ex, Gomez’s happiness at her recent engagement with Blanco. Bieber, who never clarified what or who he was referring to, became a target of netizens who accused him of being hung up on his past. While X users largely disparaged Bieber, a fan also pointed out that perhaps Gomez and Bieber should get back together.

A netizen took to X to comment on Bieber’s meme, writing,

“I think he's just having a midlife crisis, he can't stand being 31”

Another netizen, while sharing a screenshot of Bieber’s Instagram story, wrote,

“he's been married for 8 years and has a child at home to take care of, but still shading his ex on insta story…..”

Another fan pointed out that Bieber indirectly targeted his own wife, Hailey Bieber, who flaunts her ring quite frequently as well. The fan wrote,

“ironically he’s also shading his own wife too”

An internet user, also referring to Bieber’s wife, Hailey, added,

“if i were hailey i wouldve divorced him right after this”

A netizen, suggesting that it was childish of Bieber to shade his ex, commented,

“EMBARRASING MY GOD”

Another netizen, who is clearly a Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez fan, wrote,

“at this point, they just need to get back together”

Selena Gomez, who has been dating Benny Blanco since 2023, debuted her engagement with Blanco in December 2024. Gomez announced on Instagram, writing,

“forever begins now..”

Alongside the caption, the post featured multiple images of the singer and actress happily showing off her engagement ring.

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Justin Bieber on his new brand

Justin Bieber ironically hinted in a new Instagram post on April 3 that he has left his past behind. Kicking off the promotional campaign for his new clothing brand, SKYLRK, Bieber released an animated video on his page.

In the video, the Canadian singer can be seen confronting vestiges of his own past in the form of his older brand, Drew House. Bieber has been distancing himself from Drew House since 2024, according to The Mirror.

Bieber gave a glimpse into his new brand in the video after setting fire to the house where objects with the Drew House logo were kept. He then walks off after sharing a kiss with his wife Hailey, who is seen pushing a stroller, evidently carrying the couple’s young son, Jack.

Bieber has collaborated on SKYLRK with Finn-Rush Taylor, a designer, according to Bieber’s post of an newspaper article covering the partnership. Bieber had first teased the brand and its sweatshirts in a post 2 days ago, following which, the pop star debuted the brand’s minimal logo.