Pray for Justin and Hailey Bieber
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Hello and welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. This week: a pop star and his model wife need prayers, another pop star needs a curfew, and Bradley Cooper needs to stop going on podcasts.
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It brings me no pleasure to report that Justin and Hailey Bieber Divorce Watch continues. You may remember that just before the Super Bowl, when Justin was rumored to be joining Usher onstage at halftime (he didn’t), Us Weekly reported out of nowhere that Justin, 30, and Hailey, 27, were in “good place” after navigating “growing pains” in their relationship. Now, a month later, Hailey’s dad Stephen Baldwin is asking the world to pray for the couple as they deal with yet more unspecified challenges. Daaaad!
On Thursday, Baldwin, 57, reposted the following message from Victor Marx, a low-level conservative Christian influencer with whom he is apparently close friends:
The post, which has since been deleted, was a video of Justin singing the megachurch standard “I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever” with the caption:
“Christians, please when you think of Justin & Hailey, take a moment to offer a little prayer for them to have wisdom, protection and to draw close to the Lord…There are special challenges that folks in high visibility positions face and also the enemy doesn’t want them to draw closer to Jesus. So often regardless of the material things or the accolades they often face spiritual warfare that’s intense and seeks to ship-wreck their faith, marriage and life in general. So thank you.”
Marx also noted that his wife regularly prays for the couple with Hailey’s mom, Kennya Baldwin.
Shortly after Stephen’s repost went live, Justin and Hailey were photographed walking into the Beverly Hills location of Churchome, one of the hip millennial megachurches the Biebers have gravitated toward over the years. (The lead pastor, Judah Smith, officiated their wedding.) They looked like this:
TMZ, which typically has a direct line to the Biebers, has since reported that Hailey is pissed at her dad for drawing attention to what is apparently a real — yet still unspecified — issue. “While we weren't told what the issue is ... the one thing we know for certain is that it's a private thing that Justin and Hailey are dealing with,” the site proclaimed.
Sweet Justin and Hailey, who have been, against all odds, married for five-plus years now, have had issues before. We’ve seen Justin crying; we’ve seen Hailey getting stuck in a car; we know that he had unexplained facial paralysis and she had a mini stroke. According to Marx, the enemy (?) is trying to draw them away from the Lord. Who knows what, exactly, is happening now, but I wish for them to meet one real therapist with a doctorate and who goes by their last name to help them work through it. In the meantime, I guess it doesn’t hurt for all of us to pray.
We may also consider praying for Hailey’s older sister, Alaia Baldwin Aronow, who was arrested last night and charged with assault and battery after allegedly assaulting security guards and throwing a used tampon at an employee at a bar in Savannah, Georgia. Whoops.
Speaking of pop star Justins who may or may not have a divorce in their future: Justin Timberlake is going on tour and Jessica Biel is nervous about it. Understandably. According to a new report in Us Weekly, Biel, 41, “believes in” her relationship with Timberlake, 43, but doesn’t think the tour will be “smooth sailing.”
“Jessica is a bit worried about the tour,” a source told the tabloid. “If Justin were to have another incident, it would be the last straw for Jessica.”
How many incidents has Timberlake had? The last one we heard about was in 2019, when Timberlake was photographed getting handsy with a co-star at a bar while Biel was home newly pregnant with their second child. But that was almost five years ago now and apparently not the last straw. Ah well.
What is it about Dax Shepard that makes celebrities lose their minds when they enter his home to talk about themselves on his podcast? Here are two highlights from Bradley Cooper’s appearance this week:
I am thinking of Gigi Hadid in this confusing time.
STUFF BY HILARY DUFF: Remember when Hilary Duff was always promoting weird off-brand natural tampons? Okay, I am definitely the only one who remembers that, but guess what? The company never paid her! Duff sued in 2021 and just won a $1.25 million judgment this week.
Finally, I’ll leave you with a question: What do you think is going on with Kate Middleton?
I become fully convinced of every new theory I hear. Please share yours in the comments!
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I feel like everyone has just forgotten that the palace's original statement said that Kate would not return to public duties until after Easter?? It's confusing to me that there are these conspiracy theories when they laid out the timeline at the beginning. She still has at least a month left, right?!
It's the total blackout of stories and NO PHOTOS of Kate that has led to the drama. The British press loves little nothing stories about the Royals, so where are all the "George has stepped up to help Mom" or "Charlotte is learning to cook Mom's favorite foods"? Silence.
We have photos of Charles entering and leaving the hospital, none of Kate. A phot of Charles reading his get well cards, they could easily do one of Kate, why haven't they? Multiple pics of Camilla visiting, only one of William, and somehow no one has made it to the Middletons to ask a question, really?
It just goes to show the Royals can tell the media to back off when they want to, and they've chosen to protect Kate in a way they never did with Meghan. Maybe they learned their lesson?
Anyway, a Royal reporter was on TV yesterday saying he knows what's going on, it's bad, she will recover in time, but he can't say anything. I'm agreeing with that.