Why Hailey Bieber is no longer “particularly close” to her famous family

Hailey Bieber announced that she has distanced herself from her famous family in an interview with W Magazine published on July 23.

“I’m not particularly close to my family at the moment because I feel very independent,” she revealed. “I’m my own individual now and have started my own family. But when I look back on my childhood and growing up, I have very fond memories.”

The 27-year-old model spoke openly about her “pretty normal childhood” despite the fame of her father Stephen Baldwin and her uncles Alec, Danny and Billy Baldwin.

“Of course, I come from the family I come from and I was always aware that it was different,” she said.

She was born in Tucson, Arizona, and grew up with her older sister Alaia Baldwin and her mother Kennya Baldwin in Nyack, New York.

She further explained to the publication that the reason for her distance from her family was that she started modeling at 17 and moved to New York City.

“I started traveling the world and making my own money. I got my own apartment and had to learn to live on my own… That pushed me into adulthood pretty quickly,” Hailey recalls.

In an interview with Vogue Arabia in 2018, the model reiterated that her relationship with her family remains close.

“Being close to my own people has helped me a lot in this industry. It’s great to have these strong bonds,” Hailey said at the time.

Hailey has not revealed that there was a specific argument with her family this year, but the Baldwins have been struggling with some difficulties.

In February, Alaia was arrested for simple assault, assault and trespassing for allegedly throwing her used tampon at a bar employee while drunk.

Alec, 66, was charged with manslaughter for killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while working on “Rust” in 2021. The case was dismissed earlier this month after a New Mexico judge criticized prosecutors for withholding key evidence from the defense.

Additionally, Hailey reportedly became angry at her father when he cryptically asked his Instagram followers to pray for her and her husband Justin Bieber in February, after which she had to walk back her theories about their marriage.

“Just FYI the stories and constant ‘blind items’ I see on TikTok are 100% fake,” the model wrote in a social media comment. “Created from nothing… from the land of deception.”

Currently, Hailey is expanding her immediate family with 30-year-old Justin. The couple married in a New York courthouse in September 2018, but opted for a larger celebration the following year.

Since their wedding, the two were alone until Hailey announced her pregnancy in May and she and Justin renewed their wedding vows.

At the time, Hailey’s father posted his joy at becoming a grandfather, writing in the comments: “Love you guys ❤️ blessed beyond words 🙏🏼 Praise God 👶🏼 let’s all have some fun 🎉.”

Their relationship has been under constant public scrutiny due to Justin Bieber’s previous, highly publicized relationship with Selena Gomez. Hailey spoke about the comments she receives about her relationship with the pop singer.

“People have made me feel so bad about my relationship from day one,” she told W Magazine of her marriage. “‘Oh, they’re breaking up. They hate each other. They’re getting divorced.’ It’s like people don’t want to believe that we’re happy.”

The couple has kept their relationship relatively private in recent years and even lived in Idaho for a time.

“He’s already there waiting for me,” Hailey said, revealing that she would like to spend some time there towards the end of her pregnancy.

Speaking further about her journey to motherhood, she told the publication that she kept her pregnancy a secret for the first six months.

“I was able to keep it a secret, honestly, because I was a small girl for a long time,” Hailey said. “I didn’t really have a belly until I was six months pregnant, when I announced it. I was able to wear big jackets and stuff.”

She added: “I probably could have kept it a secret until the end. But I didn’t like the stress of not being able to enjoy my pregnancy on the outside. I felt like I was hiding this big secret and that didn’t feel good. I wanted the freedom to go out and live my life.”