Hailey Bieber revealed that she has distanced herself from her famous family in an interview with W Magazine published on July 23.
“I’m not super close with my family at this point in my life because I feel like I’m very independent,” she disclosed. “I’m my own individual now, and I’ve built my own family. But when I look back on my childhood and how I grew up, I have very fond, beautiful memories.”
The model, 27, spoke candidly about her “fairly normal childhood” despite the fame of her father, Stephen Baldwin, and her uncles Alec, Danny and Billy Baldwin.
“Obviously, I come from the family that I come from, and I always recognized that that was different,” she said.
She was born in Tucson, Arizona, and raised by Stephen and mom Kennya Baldwin in Nyack, New York, alongside her older sister, Alaia Baldwin.
She further explained to the publication that the root of her distance from her family began when she started modeling at 17 and moved to New York City.
“I started traveling the world, making my own money. I got my own apartment and had to learn how to live on my own … That pushed me into adulthood kind of quickly,” Hailey reflected.
In a 2018 interview with Vogue Arabia, the model maintained that her relationship with her family remained tight-knit.
“Being close to my own has helped me so much in this industry. It’s great to have those strong ties,” Hailey said at the time.
Hailey didn’t reveal a specific falling out with her family this year, but the Baldwins have faced some difficulties.
In February, Alaia was arrested for simple assault, simple battery, battery and criminal trespassing for allegedly throwing her used tampon at a bar employee while under the influence.
Alec, 66, was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while working on “Rust” in 2021. The case was dismissed earlier this month after a New Mexico judge slammed prosecutors for withholding critical evidence from the defense.
Additionally, Hailey reportedly became angry at her father when he cryptically asked his Instagram followers in February to pray for her and her husband, Justin Bieber, forcing her to shut down theories about her marriage.
“Just FYI the stories and constant ‘blind items’ I see on TikTok are 100% of the time wrong,” the model wrote in a social media comment. “Made out of thin air… come from the land of delusion.”
Currently, Hailey is expanding her immediate family with Justin, 30. The couple married at a New York City courthouse in September 2018, but opted for a larger celebration the following year.
Since they wed, it has just been the two of them until Hailey announced her pregnancy in May when she and Justin renewed their vows.
At the time, Hailey’s dad posted his excitement at becoming a grandfather, writing in the comment section, “Love you guys ❤️ blessed beyond words🙏🏼 praise God 👶🏼let’s get ready to have some fun y’all 🎉.”
Their relationship has constantly been under public scrutiny due to Justin Bieber’s previous high-profile relationship, with Selena Gomez. Hailey opened up about the comments she gets regarding her relationship with the pop singer.
“People have made me feel so bad about my relationship since day one,” she told W Magazine about her marriage. “‘Oh, they’re falling apart. 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, even living in Idaho part-time.
“He’s already there, waiting for me,” Hailey shared, revealing that’s where she plans to spend some time during the end of her pregnancy.
Further discussing her journey into motherhood, she told the publication that she kept her pregnancy a secret for the first six months.
“I was honestly able to keep it quiet because I stayed small for a long time,” Hailey shared. “I didn’t have a belly, really, until I was six months pregnant, which was when I announced it. I was able to wear big jackets and stuff.”
She added: “I probably could have hid it until the end. But I didn’t enjoy the stress of not being able to enjoy my pregnancy outwardly. I felt like I was hiding this big secret, and it didn’t feel good. I wanted the freedom to go out and live my life.”
