Updated: After Justin Bieber reactivated his Instagram account earlier today, former model flame Hailey Baldwin re-followed him. But Bieber did not re-follow her. Baldwin subsequently unfollowed the singer.
Update 2: There seems to be a conflict between Justin Bieber and his management team. Within hours of the pop star’s return to Instagram, a tweet appeared on his official Twitter account which suggests that Bieber is not yet ready to return to the photo-sharing platform.
Still no Instagram it was an accident
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) August 29, 2016
“Still no Instagram it was an accident,” someone tweeted. It’s widely known that Bieber hasn’t tweeted on his account for years. But that tweet may have been the singer briefly asserting his Twitter sovereignty to make it clear he hasn’t returned to the ‘gram.
oh wait @justinbieber *accidentally* returned to Instagram, as one does https://t.co/WkkwgnJmul pic.twitter.com/LSUfEhFq0T
— idolator (@idolator) August 29, 2016
Amid fans’ speculation online, two longstanding Beliebers tweeted their takes on the confusion.
He’s clearly standing his ground and telling them he doesn’t wanna using it again for now
— LMc (@SelenuurrBieber) August 29, 2016
Justin VS his Team right now: pic.twitter.com/3E7tTNLR8O
— Amanda (@_MandaaaS) August 29, 2016
They’re out here playing with his name and he’s probably asleep. https://t.co/YvkEDW1E6X
— Amanda (@_MandaaaS) August 29, 2016
Sounds feasible, since no new posts have been uploaded at Bieber’s now activated Instagram account.
Update 3: Justin Bieber’s Instagram account has been deactivated again.
well, we hope you enjoyed seeing Justin’s account while you could. He deactivated once again. pic.twitter.com/7n5B3WQZrW
— Purpose Tour Updates (@PurposeTourInfo) August 29, 2016
Original article:
Justin Bieber has reactivated his Instagram account. On Monday, (August 29), the superstar popped back onto the photo-sharing platform after deleting his account two weeks ago. That drastic move followed Bieber and his new gal pal, Sofia Richie, receiving days of online death threats and vicious abuse from Beliebers, in addition to bizarre and opportunistic interference from Bieber’s ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez .
Justin Bieber has reactivated his Instagram. #JustinReactivatedParty pic.twitter.com/Lwyb4kDpiQ
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 29, 2016
#JustinReactivatedParty” trended high on Twitter shortly after the pop prince reappeared. Due to an initial glitch when Bieber’s 77.8 million followers reconfigured onto his feed, it looked as if the “Cold Water” singer re-followed former fling Hailey Baldwin after they unfollowed each other earlier this month.
But, in fact, the Grammy winner has not yet re-followed Baldwin back.
@hannespurpose you know what’s funny. If you sign into IG online you don’t see Hailey or Selena on his follow list. Just on the app it shows
— Christina (@Dina921) August 29, 2016
Yeah ig is glitching! He’s following all the people he unfollowed before he deactivated
— Hanne (@hannespurpose) August 29, 2016
@Dina921 @hannespurpose @instagram yeah. I guess the website version is right, hails is following him there too pic.twitter.com/EGm9S93Pme
— dan #BeyMAs (@yoncedrew) August 29, 2016
Evidently unaware of the technical mirage, Baldwin re-followed Bieber on Instagram within seconds of his illusory re-follow.
Justin’s #1 Instagram Stan pic.twitter.com/NSJ5sgqeme
— i hate everyone (@HighKeyJB) August 29, 2016
Baldwin attempted to play it cool by responding with a “lol” and “weary” emojis to a fan’s tweet which hyped up the model’s VMAs appearance on Sunday. The fan’s tweet suggested Bieber only “re-followed” Hailey because she looked good at the music event. [Note: Baldwin always looks good].
“When he see’s you looking fine at an award show & not sad, so he refollows you*.. girl tell him” the likely teenage fan wrote , including a GIF of Beyonce’s “Sorry” anthem with the caption “BOY BYE.”
@justin_rants lol
— Hailey Baldwin (@haileybaldwin) August 29, 2016
But, at press time (and obviously this may change), Bieber has still not re-followed Baldwin. That state of affairs is most likely due to the huge amounts of shade Hailey had subtweeted and possibly Instagrammed the Canadian’s way after he was spotted with his new gal pal, Sofia Richie.
Thank you @haileybaldwin pic.twitter.com/dS1hZ8aNGc
— JB Follow Help (@JBiebFollowHelp) August 24, 2016
“First of all…” “I just think its funny how…” “Honestly at this point…” @haileybaldwin pic.twitter.com/bGnCIWVUIL
— Lau (@jamesveIli) August 27, 2016
As always, eagle-eyed fans noticed the social media goings-on, with many taking to Twitter to weigh in on Hailey’s face palm moment.
She’s gonna look real dumb for that tweet????
— Hanne (@hannespurpose) August 29, 2016
Numerous fans commented that Baldwin’s nonchalant “Lol” and nuanced emojis reply to a fan was “extra” and non-authentic since her quick re-follow of Bieber on Instagram clearly indicates she is keen to re-establish online contact with the heartthrob.
She was so quick to hit that follow button back though pic.twitter.com/MbZwIcb3Fe
— Emma? (@biebers_desire) August 29, 2016
Hailey looks foolish rn bc Justin didn’t follow her back I’m pic.twitter.com/lSBvFimemQ
— i hate everyone (@HighKeyJB) August 29, 2016
@haileybaldwin what are you 4? You bring the hate on yourself girl, use to like you. Till you became so rude and attention seeking
— Mia (@stealmybi3b3r) August 29, 2016
Guess that’s why you @haileybaldwin refollowed him in less than FOUR seconds. Desperate much? https://t.co/UvepuwD9Zb
— Cailloubiebsus (@Cailloubiebsus) August 29, 2016
He didn’t even follow her back lol https://t.co/AN6WQYSuAv
— jb (@Jelysandra) August 29, 2016
im laughing so damn hard for homegirl Hailey, she followed Justin back soo fast,she probably has whiplash, and he didnt even follow her, lol
— Kathleen (@Biebercome2me) August 29, 2016
Some fans also mistakenly thought Bieber re-followed Gomez and unfollowed Richie. But it became apparent that his Instagram re-installation was simply experiencing some bumps and glitches.
he doesn’t follow Hailey or Selena anymore the followed by sign doesn’t come up either lol y’all shippers can quit pic.twitter.com/7XJK3R4RZ1
— jb (@Jelysandra) August 29, 2016
justin didnt unfollow sofia pic.twitter.com/rdHgqNSQgx
— jb follow help (@jbfollowarmy) August 29, 2016
Once Bieber hopped back onto Instagram, fans noticed the pop icon began posting a slew of blank pics , (which some fan saw as the singer’s way of drawing a line with his pre-deletion posts). Shortly after, he deleted the blank entries.
he’s posting loads of blank pics lol seems like he’s putting a break between his last stuff and new stuff pic.twitter.com/dtn2Zs4QqS
— LMc (@SelenuurrBieber) August 29, 2016
Now he’s deleting those white posts lol
— No Pressure Stan (@eionclarke) August 29, 2016
Some context on Bieber and Baldwin’s past tryst. The two have known each other since childhood and began to hang out constantly from November 2014. During a trip to Antigua and St. Barts at New Year’s in 2015, they kissed (the singer shared snaps on Instagram) and appeared to go public about their friendship shifting into something which — at the very least — involved sex.
The status of the brief change in their relationship was made clear in February 2016 when Hailey and Bieber told E! News and GQ magazine respectively, that they had a non-exclusive, open relationship with no titles. Put bluntly: they were never a couple.
By March E! News reported the singer and the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin had returned their relationship to a platonic one and were both single . The outlet added that the pair remained close friends. That amicable state changed in the following months. In June, E! reported Baldwin still wanted an intimate relationship with the Biebs. But, it’s clear those feelings were one-sided as the pair didn’t get back together.
In August, the ex-friends unfollowed each other on Instagram after the Guess model posted furious comments about photos of Justin and Sofia at a Baldwin-dedicated Instagram fan account.
Time to move on.
Alert: Justin Bieber Has Returned to Instagram After That Online Feud with Selena Gomez https://t.co/RLFJNWjh8J pic.twitter.com/4z5p4zy4gl
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) August 29, 2016
Justin Bieber has returned to Instagram! https://t.co/gtrrIrhJlu pic.twitter.com/6i4JQJyFuD
— EntertainmentTonight (@etnow) August 29, 2016
[Images via Instagram]