Justin Bieber hopes that ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez is ‘happy’ following news of her engagement to Benny Blanco, according to sources who say that the singer was left ‘stung’ by the announcement.
The former flames famously dated on and off from 2010 to 2018, before the Canadian singer, 30, eventually moved on with his now-wife Hailey Baldwin.
Last week, it was revealed that music producer, Benny, 36, proposed to Selena, 32, as she posted shots of her gorgeous marquise cut diamond ring.
Now insiders have revealed to DailyMail.com that even though Justin is happily focused on his life with Hailey and their baby son, Jack, the star acknowledged that Selena’s engagement officially marked the ‘end of an era’.
‘Justin is married and has a kid, we all know that but when he heard that Selena was engaged, he’ll even admit, it stung for a brief second,’ the source explained. ‘Because even though they will never be friends or date again or anything like that, it is officially the end of an era.’
Sparks first flew when Justin serenaded Selena with his song One Less Lonely Girl during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in 2009.
The pair went on to deny romance rumors throughout 2010, with Selena referring to Justin as her ‘little brother.’
Later that year they began attending red carpet events together and continued to date on and off until April 2014, when Selena reportedly found texts and photos from Kylie Jenner on Justin’s phone, leading to a breakup.
Months later they were back together, with Justin sharing a photo of them with the caption, ‘Our love is unconditional.’
However the reunion didn’t last long, and the two split again in October.
In October 2017, Justin and Selena were spotted grabbing breakfast and attending a church service together.
They continued to be pictured together, enjoying bike rides and attending hockey games, but by March 2018 they called it quits for good.
The source continued: ‘His past is so connected with Selena, and now that she is engaged, he is married and a father, it’s a bit of a shock to the system that everyone is getting older.
‘Justin is only 30, but he has lived a life, and an important part of his past is now officially moved on just as much as he has moved on. He won’t be stressing much about it and hopes that she is well and happy at the end of the day.’
Justin and Hailey tied the knot in September 2018 – just six months after he split with Selena for the final time.
The pair then welcomed their first child together in August, a son named Jack Blues Bieber.
Following years of fan speculation of a feud between Hailey and Selena, as well as undue calls for Justin and Selena to reunite, the source said Justin hopes the constant online chatter can finally come to an end.
‘He hopes this will finally get fans to stop stanning for that relationship, it’s been over and now this should put the nail in the coffin,’ the source concluded.
Elsewhere, Justin’s wife Hailey appeared to echo the same sentiments when she showed a subtle sign of support for Selena and Benny.
The Rhode Beauty founder, 28, hit the like button on the post featuring a close up of the Only Murders in the Building star’s ring and a photo of Benny embracing her while Selena giggled with her left hand over her mouth.
‘Forever begins now..’ the Wizards of Waverly Place actress wrote in the caption of her Instagram post, which showed a series of sweet snaps from the day of the proposal.
The two women had been rumored to be in a spat for years, after the pair seemingly started shading each other on social media – amid Hailey’s marriage to Justin.
In June of 2023, Hailey addressed the alleged feud with Selena while promoting her Rhode skin care line in an interview with Emily Chang for Bloomberg’s The Circuit.
She said she believed the fight stemmed from ‘made up narratives’ of what the celebrities’ lives are like, or, rather, what they hope they are.
‘There’s narratives that exist for me that really hurt my feelings and make me really upset,’ she explained.
When Chang pressed on the ‘ongoing drama’ between Bieber and ‘another celebrity,’ the brunette model was keen to have her say.
‘I don’t think that this is about me, Hailey Bieber, and Selena Gomez,’ she explained.
‘This is not about this pitting between two women – it’s about the vile, disgusting hatred that can come from completely made-up and twisted, and perpetuated narratives, that can be really dangerous.’
Hailey continued: ‘I don’t like this whole idea of team this person and team this person – I want to be able to bring people together and I think that it was a really important moment for people to see that you can do that and it doesn’t have to be about this divisive nature.’
Gomez has been dating Blanco since June 2023, though she did not confirm the relationship until that December.
At the time, she used Instagram to confirm to fans that she’d been secretly dating the hitmaker for six months and that he was her ‘absolute everything.’
Before getting romantic, Gomez and Blanco were friends for over a decade and even worked on music together.
He has produced three of the singer’s biggest hits, including the 2021 tune I Can’t Get Enough and 2015’s Same Old Love.
