What to Know
Once upon a time, the paparazzi were everywhere in Hollywood, New York City, and really everywhere else where you commonly see celebrities. OK, who are we kidding, they still are everywhere. And there are ongoing theories about certain celebrities tipping off the photographers themselves in an effort to be seen at the right places at the right time, and A-, B-, and C-listers have all been guilty of this over the years.
Now, we can officially add Hailey Bieber to that list. In a video posted on TikTok, she has some words with photographers who snap her photo by her car. And, it seems, judging by the conversation, Hailey called the paparazzi herself and she wanted to be “spotted” out and about so she could be photographed looking her best.
People already suspected Hailey Bieber of calling the paparazzi herself.
@user1381827l0 the posing😭😭 #haileybieber #justinbieber #paparazzi #goviral #trending ♬ original sound – user1381827l0
In the TikTok, Hailey exits her car and immediately, you can hear shutters on multiple cameras. Hailey asks a photographer if they want to get a shot of her on the sidewalk. You might be able to chalk that up to Hailey being snarky with the paps, but the video doesn’t end there. She actually appears to pose near the sidewalk, and then does a slow walk down the sidewalk toward the paparazzi as they continue to take photos.
At the end, she says she’s going to go back to her care, and a photographer is heard saying, “That’s perfect. Thank you.”
Text on the screen jokes that the paparazzi “forgot to edit this part out” before the video was posted. Who knows? It might have been intentional, since this footage has gotten plenty of attention from social media users who either love Justin Bieber, can’t stand Hailey, or a little of both.
“I thought people was lying when they said this wow,” a TikTok user commented.
Another wrote, “Her husband hates the paparazzi and she feeds into them?”
A different user in the comments had another take: “I don’t think she called them, I think she gave them what they wanted so she can move on with her day and get some good photos.”
It’s a tactic that has been used for years by different kinds of celebrities.
Whether Hailey did call the paparazzi, or she was just working with them to get a photo and hope they left her alone afterwards, celebrities of various calibers have been accused of tipping off the paparazzi for decades. In 2008, gossip blogger Perez Hilton even called out a famous eatery in Hollywood for being somewhere that celebrities go for the sole purpose of being seen.
At the time, Perez wrote that Jennifer Aniston was “really dumb or really really lame” for going to The Ivy. According to Yahoo! Life, celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Mariah Carey, and Taylor Swift have all been accused of doing the same thing at one point or another. Whether it’s true that they’ve done it isn’t totally clear. Not everyone is caught on video like Hailey was.
Justin Bieber is known for hating the paparazzi.
One reason why Hailey’s potential setup with the paparazzi is especially strange for some is that her husband, Justin, is notoriously anti-paparazzi. In June 2025, a video came out showing Justin arguing with photographers on the street after he asked to be left alone. A couple of months before that, Justin got into a similar argument with paparazzi who once again caught him at the wrong time.
Per TMZ, Justin confronted the photographers and accused them of being after nothing but money. Luckily, there was no physical altercation, but it was another example of Justin standing on business in his strong dislike for the paparazzi that Hailey is now accused of working with willingly.
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