‘Did he pay for that?’: Justin Bieber’s new achievement leaves Hailey Bieber fuming as she forgets she is his wife first

Justin Bieber received a major accolade recently, with Billboard rating the singer as one of their 25 Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century, but not everyone was happy with the rating — including his own wife, model Hailey Bieber.

Joining the rankings behind pop legends like Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Drake, and Rihanna, Justin clocks in at a very respectable number 8. Calling him the “greatest teen-pop phenomenon of the early 2010s,” the Billboard ranking praises Justin for making the shift to adult stardom and becoming “a trailblazer” of the modern pop scene.

Hailey Bieber, who was a major Justin fan before they got together, hit out at the Billboard ranking in a since-deleted Instagram comment, stating “Billboard is a f****** joke as per usual!” with a lips emoji. The feeling of outrage is one all pop stans know, but the negative words were perhaps not the best thing to come from Hailey, who is Bieber’s wife and not just a regular superfan.

Some Instagram users agreed with her, posting their own comments of disbelief at the pop star’s ranking, with one user heaping on the praise by saying: “He deserves more than that. Even without releasing a new song in these times, he is so relevant in the industry. A legend of an entire generation.”

But not everyone shared her rage, especially her dissing Billboard for not ranking her hubby higher.

Hailey’s comment on Instagram has since been deleted, but quick-thinking users captured it for posterity, taking to Reddit to discuss her sentiments.

Not all users reacted quite so positively to the news as Hailey and her fellow Beliebers, with some users being completely mystified that the star made the top 10. One Reddit user came right out, mocked Hailey’s outrage, and asked “Did he pay for that?,” expressing total disbelief that Justin could rank so high on the list.

While others in the comments agreed with that sentiment, many stepped in to defend Bieber’s placement on the list, citing his massive fanbase and the impact he made in the early 2010s as reasons for his inclusion. As someone who was around for Bieber fever, I find it hard to imagine many pop stars in the 21st century who’ve had as large or larger impact as Justin Bieber.

But it was Hailey’s superstan behavior that attracted a lot comments, with one poking fun at the model and suggesting she forgot to log in to her fan account! Others were entirely unsurprised at Hailey’s reaction, stating that she’ll always be a fan at heart.

This isn’t the first time Hailey Bieber made headlines for her response to Justin Bieber news, with the recent being her viral reaction to one of her husband’s lookalikes. There is also the fact that when it comes to social media reactions Hailey hasn’t had the best luck. Remember the time she walked right into a wall trying to evade photographers and the video went viral on TikTok given the number of people mocking her reaction?

But despite how and what she said in response to Billboard’s ranking, the fact remains that many celebrity couples don’t show half as much support for each other or are invested in their partner’s success as much as Hailey Bieber is. It might not be the best look for PR purposes, but Justin definitely appreciates always having his life partner on his team.