Getty Shawn Mendes and Hailey Baldwin attended the Met Gala together.
In the last month, model Hailey Baldwin has been seen globetrotting around the world with international superstar Justin Bieber, the culmination of that month reportedly being their surprise engagement in the Bahamas. Baldwin’s history with Bieber is long and complicated: according to an interview with E!, Baldwin claimed to have been friends with Bieber since she was 13, and the two were first photographed together in early 2015. They were briefly together in 2016, before breaking up.
Of her breakup with Bieber, Baldwin told The Times UK in 2018, “Justin and I were friends for a long time. I met him when I was really young and he was one of my best friends. Everybody knows that at a certain point in time that turned into something else, but that just happens when you’re 18, 19. It was what it was…we went through a long period of time when we weren’t friends.”
She added, “We didn’t speak for quite some time and there was a lot of weirdness that went on” but that “we’ve moved past that.”
They’ve certainly moved past any weirdness by now. Though neither Baldwin nor Bieber have directly confirmed their recent engagement, their parents have certainly stoked the flames by posting their own cryptic messages. Baldwin’s father, actor Stephen Baldwin, shared his excitement in a since-deleted tweet, according to Us Weekly, saying, “Sweet smile on my face! Me&wife (Kennya) Always pray 4 gods will!! He is moving in the hearts of JB&HB. Let’s all pray for His will to be done,” he wrote alongside the hands-in-prayer emoji. “Love you 2 so much!!!”
Prior to her engagement with Bieber, Baldwin was involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with another internationally known performer: Shawn Mendes. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Their Relationship Reportedly Started in 2013, When Baldwin Tweeted at Mendes Jokingly Asking Him to Date
According to Teen Vogue, Mendes and Baldwin first made public contact when Baldwin tweeted at him in 2013, saying, “Hey Shawn Mendes, let’s date so you can sing to me all day. I’m joking but not really..”
Her tweet has since been deleted, but Mendes’ response to the tweet still stands, as seen below.
Just finding out now that @haileybaldwin tweeted at me !
This isn’t the first time that they’ve flirted on Twitter, either. Four years later, they resurfaced on the news network by both tweeting “craY” at the exact same time.
2.They Spent the Holidays Together in 2017, in Mendes’ Native City of Toronto, Canada
Over the holidays in December, 2017, Baldwin and Mendes were repeatedly seen walking around the city of Toronto, even stopping to take pictures with fans. Though neither of them posted any pictures to their own social media accounts, they were photographed on multiple occasions hugging, hand-holding and perusing shops throughout the holiday season.
What’s more, Baldwin and Mendes were seen in the VIP section of a Daniel Caesar concert in Toronto during that period. According to photos released by TMZ, Baldwin and Mendes were similarly intimate.
In the past, Baldwin has been public about her personal religious beliefs. To Teen Vogue, Baldwin said, “I was raised in church. I was brought up in that life, and I think that it’s very important for everybody to be in touch with their spirituality and to have a relationship with God… It’s a big part of my life. A lot of my closest friends, people that I trust the most, people that have been there for me the most are all people that are in my church and people that are kind of trying to guide me from the outside perspective.”
3.Mendes Was Baldwin’s Date to the 2018 Met Gala in May
Mendes and Baldwin attended the Met Gala together on May 6, with the internet immediately going insane over Mendes’ attentive care to Baldwin. From his tailoring of her dress to making sure she wouldn’t fall up the stairs as she walked, many fans immediately began to speculate that Baldwin and Mendes were ready to confirm their relationship.
Though Baldwin and Mendes both posted about the event on their social media accounts (Mendes’ photos are still on his Instagram account, though Baldwin has deleted hers), neither of them took the opportunity to confirm that they were more than friends.
4. Neither of Them Have Ever Confirmed a Romantic Relationship With any Specificity
Throughout the course of their supposed relationship, Mendes and Baldwin have both gone out of their way to keep it under wraps, whether as a friendship or something more.
Of Baldwin, Mendes said to W Magazine of being her Met Gala date, “We’re really good friends…It’s funny, she’s such a pro with this type of stuff. I want it to be amazing for her, so I’ve been trying for the past 24 hours to be really silly so that she stays on. I’m happy to walk with her—she’s amazing.”
In another interview (as seen in the video above) to a red carpet reporter, Baldwin responded to the question of whether or not Mendes was her date by saying, “He’s not even here… so how could he be my date?”
She then went on, “He’s a friend of mine and we hang out, so I see why people obviously want to make assumptions. Any guy I hang out with people are like, ‘Oh, she must be dating him or something’s going on,’ but I don’t ever really feel like I have to explain myself. It’s kind of my business and the other person’s business. That’s it…so I guess nobody will ever know!”
Though Baldwin and Mendes never confirmed a relationship, Baldwin did finally confirm that she was single in early June (directly prior to her return to Bieber). To the Times UK, Baldwin said, “We hang out and [Mendes] is super-lovely and a very, very nice young gentleman, but I am single.”
Baldwin Deleted all of her Instagram Photos With Mendes on June 19, 2018
According to People Magazine, Baldwin deleted all of her photos of Mendes on her Instagram account in the middle of June, right around the time that she was in her whirlwind public romance with Bieber.
Baldwin and Mendes still follow one another on social media for now, and Mendes hasn’t deleted any of his photos with Baldwin. The most recent photos on Mendes’ Instagram account of Baldwin are of the multiple posts he uploaded of himself and Baldwin at the Met Gala.
Prior to that is a photo he posted of himself and Baldwin in April of the two of them posing in a random location. Mendes has not yet commented on Baldwin’s engagement in any way, shape or form, though to be fair, neither have Bieber or Baldwin.
