Hailey Bieber's Viral ‘Mean Girl’ Moment All But a Misunderstanding? Fan Clarifies Details of Face-Off With Security Guard

A fan named Kristal Terrell had a friendly interaction with Hailey Bieber outside Nobu in New York City, but the internet took it out of context. Terrell, who was with a few friends at the time, ran into the model and shared a short conversation with her. When one person in the group asked for a photo, Bieber agreed to take pictures with all of them.

When it was Terrell’s turn to take a photo with Hailey Bieber, a security guard stepped in and attempted to stop the interaction. Terrell said she froze in the moment, but Bieber quickly intervened. She assured the guard that everything was fine and told him that there was no need to put his hands on anyone. After that, they went ahead and took the picture.

Terrell recorded part of the moment and later uploaded the video to TikTok, mentioning that she didn’t think much of it at the time since she only had around 1,000 followers. However, the video began gaining attention and was soon reposted on X (formerly Twitter), where people started sharing misinterpreted versions of the incident.

Some users edited the clip to make it seem like Bieber was upset with Terrell, cutting out the part where the security guard interrupted. “In the clip, you hear Hailey say, ‘I don’t like people putting their hands on anyone,’ and people assumed she was talking to me,” Terrell told PEOPLE.

The edited version spread across platforms with hashtags like #meangirl. “I rewatched it and looked at the caption and noticed it had a hashtag ‘mean girl,’” Terrell said. “This person had taken what Bieber had said, changed it, and clipped it so that you don’t see the man interrupting us.”

Commenters believed Bieber was being rude. One person wrote, “I always knew she was a mean girl.” Another said, “Wait, what does she mean? The girl wasn’t touching her.” In reality, Bieber was addressing the security guard and standing up for Terrell.

After seeing the misinformation spread online, Terrell decided to post a follow-up video to clarify what actually happened. She said she hoped the new video would reach people who had been “misinformed” by the edited version. According to her, Hailey Bieber was standing up for her during the interaction.

Terrell said that context is very important, stating that even if Bieber had been setting a boundary, she had every right to do so. She also pointed out that Hailey is just a regular person like anyone else.

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