Forget focusing on Tik Tok in the pandemic, for Hailey Bieber it’s all about YouTube. Over the past few months, the 24-year-old model has spent her time becoming somewhat of a YouTube star. Since launching her channel just two months ago, Bieber has already amassed over 1 million subscribers to her videos, thanks, in part, to her enlisting famous friends to join her, including both Kendall Jenner and Addison Rae.
For the most recent addition of her video series, A Conversation With, Bieber spoke with Insecure actor, comedian and author Yvonne Orji about the demands of their respective industries, how to navigate being religious while working in entertainment, and setting boundaries for themselves.
“Sometimes it can be difficult to be in this industry believing in what we believe in,” Bieber told Orji, adding later that she’s feared some of her shoots which require her showing more skin and wearing lingerie would receive backlash from other Christians who don’t label her as “modest.”
“I’ve met Christian people that are just super judgmental and made me feel like I’m a bad person because I don’t live my life the way they think I should live my life,” Bieber said. “And I felt weird about posting certain photos of myself or feeling like, ‘People in the church are gonna see this. Am I doing something wrong? Am I setting a bad example?’ And the reality is no!”
“Well, let me just say one thing. God knew who he could trust with certain bodies because if I had your body I’d wear pasties to church every day. Crop tops and pasties,” Orji joked, before recalling her personal struggle to sign the nude waiver required for shooting sex scenes on Insecure and resulting conversations she had with producers.
Orji mentioned worrying she’d be recast in her role if she said she took issue with certain scenes due to her faith. “Unfortunately, in this industry that does happen a lot,” Bieber replied. “You go in, you say something you’re not comfortable with and then they’re like, ‘Okay, there’s 10 other people that would be happy to.”
Bieber added she’s come to a point where she’s realized her boundary is being shot naked. “I think I also take a place where I’m like, ‘OK, I wouldn’t want to ever be shot naked, but props to any woman who’s comfortable doing that,'” she said, before noting that her and husband Justin Bieber’s faith is “the biggest thing” that grounds their relationship. “If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t even be here. We wouldn’t even be together.”
Watch the full conversation below.
