Skip to main content

Hailey Bieber has a legion of devout Christian followers hanging onto her every word. This makes a lot of sense — she and her husband Justin Bieber have joined a growing number of openly religious celebrities in Hollywood. Neither Justin nor Hailey is shy about sharing their faith and values.

But taking a stance on such a serious topic is bound to bring about criticism. This time, it isn’t the religious skeptics voicing their concerns about Hailey Bieber’s actions — it’s the same Christians she claims to be aligned with.

Hailey Bieber
Hailey Bieber | Sean Zanni/Getty Images for McDonald’s

Critics called out Hailey Baldwin for celebrating Halloween

The drama all started on social media, as it so often does. Hailey Bieber posted the innocent question on Instagram, polling her followers for Halloween costume ideas in advance of the holiday. “Spooky [season] is upon us and I need good ideas for Halloween!!! Send some my way,” the 22-year-old posted to her stories.

The backlash against her request was swift and fierce. “Aren’t u a Christian?” one person wrote. Bieber responded with a curt, “Yes. I still dress up for Halloween.”

“FAKE CHRISTIAN,” another person said. But instead of responding directly, Hailey Bieber confirmed that she and Justin Bieber planned to celebrate Halloween for the foreseeable future. “Our kids are gonna celebrate, too,” she wrote, adding a smiley face emoji.

Not all Christians celebrate Halloween

What’s the big deal about Halloween, anyway? This traditionally religious holiday has taken on new life in modern society, and many people associate the date with dark forces and occult worship. That’s why many Christian denominations advise against participating in Halloween activities, even though they may seem innocent.

For example, another popular Christian family chooses to skip celebrating Halloween. The Duggar family treats October 31 like any other day.

“While we do go to pumpkin patches and corn mazes, we don’t do the Halloween thing,” Michelle Duggar wrote in a now-deleted blog post from 2011. “From the beginning of our marriage, we just kind of felt like we didn’t want to celebrate that holiday. ”

Justin and Hailey Bieber are following Christianity their own way

With so many different denominations under the Christian umbrella, it can be difficult to keep track of which rules apply to each specific form of worship. But one thing is clear — Justin and Hailey Bieber aren’t letting haters determine which holidays they can and can’t celebrate.

And Justin Bieber doesn’t even consider himself part of one specific religion. “I don’t want to be thought of as someone who stands for any of the injustice that religion has done and does do,” he said in a Vogue interview, explaining why he doesn’t consider himself religious even though he attends church. He may be a believer, but Justin Bieber doesn’t subscribe to strict religious rules. Like not celebrating Halloween.

Also, eagle-eyed fans caught the reference Hailey made to their future kids dressing up for Halloween too. Will we get to see an adorable Bieber baby decked out in a costume next Halloween?

We can only hope so!