Does Jimmy Kimmel have a beef with Hailey Bieber?
Hosting an awards show is a notoriously challenging gig. Even the most practiced hosts can find their monologues turning awkward, and Jimmy Kimmel is no exception.
During Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony, Kimmel made a dig against nepo babies in the entertainment industry.
He called out one name specifically: Hailey Bieber.
Host Jimmy Kimmel speaks onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024. (Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Jimmy Kimmel called out nepo babies at the Oscars
While hosting the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, Jimmy Kimmel was particularly harsh when he referred to nepo babies.
“Heavily botoxed, Hailey Bieber smoothie drinking, diabetes prescription abusing, gluten sensitive nepo babies with perpetually shivering chihuahuas,” he uncharitably described.
Nepo babies refers specifically to people who are successful or got their jobs due to nepotism. It does not necessarily mean that they are not talented or qualified, but simply that they have opportunities that people of equal (or greater) talent did not.
Hailey Bieber attends the 3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, December 3, 2022. (Photo Credit: MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Was Jimmy Kimmel really describing Hailey Bieber?
Though some have accused Hailey Bieber of getting botox (specifically on her forehead), there’s no proof of that. And there are no indications that Hailey is one of the people abusing semaglutides like Ozempic for luxury weight loss.
Gluten sensitivity is a medical condition, though some fad dieters (let’s call it what it so often is — orthorexia) have made dietary restrictions “cringe” by association.
And chihuahuas most often shiver when anxious, excited, or overstimulated. To our knowledge, Hailey is not abstaining from gluten and, though the Biebers are dog parents, she does not own a chihuahua.
Host Jimmy Kimmel speaks onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024. (Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
But two of these shoes do very much fit Hailey Bieber
A couple of parts of this seem to apply to Hailey. One, she has a signature smoothie at Erewhon, an upscale grocery store. It bears her name.
Two, her maiden name is Baldwin, and though her father, Stephen Baldwin, is the worst and arguably least successful of the infamous Baldwin brothers, that does make her a nepo baby.
Would Hailey have had the modeling opportunities that she had as a teen if she weren’t from a famous family? Probably not. And she almost certainly would not have met Justin when she was just a 12-year-old fan.
Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber watch Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 11, 2024. (Photo Credit: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
This comes at an awkward time for Hailey
Earlier in March, Hailey Bieber called out “lies” about her marriage to Justin. She did not get specific about the rumors, but there have been so many clues about Bieber marital problems and fans have discussed them all.
“Just FYI the constant ‘blind items’ I see on TikTok are 100% of the time wrong. Made out of thin air…” Hailey claimed to her fans in an Instagram Story post.
She even wrote that these reports “Come from the land of delusion. …”
Taking to her Instagram Story late on Tuesday, March 5, Hailey Bieber lashed out at rumors about her marriage. (Image Credit: Instagram)
Fans perceived Hailey as feeling angrier than she let on
“So I know it may be fun feeding into these stories,” Hailey wrote snidely, “but just know they’re always false… sorry to spoil it.”
We can certainly understand Hailey’s frustration with seeing rumors, true or false, surrounding her marriage.
However, as a public figure, her best bet to lay these to rest would be transparency. She doesn’t owe her fans private information about her marriage, but it’s likely the only way to make most of the chatter die down.
Jimmy Kimmel speaks onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024. (Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Did Jimmy Kimmel go too far?
It doesn’t sound like he has a real beef with Hailey Bieber or even with nepo babies. There are tremendously talented actors whose parents are also actors, and there’s probably nothing wrong with that. (That said, the entertainment industry thrives on new talent and fresh faces)
Some people become way too defensive about the “nepo baby” label. But some people are also way too mean about assigning it to someone.
Ultimately, no one can help the circumstances of their birth. And, just to be clear, Kimmel seemed to be taking aim at people who drink Hailey’s namesake smoothies rather than at the 27-year-old model herself.
Jimmel Kimmel Scorches ‘Nepo Baby’ Hailey Bieber at Oscars was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.