Hailey Bieber is using her platform to call out online transphobia, and she’s not holding back.
In a new episode of the In Your Dreams podcast with her longtime friend Owen Thiele, the 28-year-old model and entrepreneur revealed that she’s often targeted by trolls who make comments questioning her gender identity. Instead of brushing off the comments, Bieber took the opportunity to deliver a powerful message in support of the transgender community.
“People are trying to be mean,” Bieber said. “They’re like, ‘She looks trans.’ And I’m like, why do you think that’s a diss?”
The Rhode beauty founder went on to make it clear that she doesn’t take those comments as an insult, and, in fact, she pushed back on the idea that being transgender could ever be something negative. “As if being trans is a diss?” she said. “Some of the most beautiful women, and men, in the world are trans. I don’t take that offensively at all.”
The conversation began lightheartedly when Bieber adjusted her jeans during the recording, joking with Thiele after he teased her about how the fabric had bunched up. But the tone quickly turned meaningful when she revealed how frequently people online try to use transphobic remarks to attack her.
Elsewhere in the episode, Bieber opened up about her hopes for a kinder world. “My big dream is that people have more empathy,” she said. “If we could meet each other with a little bit more understanding, I feel like society would be a better place.”