A Look At Biebs' Current Dating Status

I have a lot (a lot, a lot) of questions pertaining to and surrounding a certain scandalous Canadian pop star. But these days, one of those questions seems to be more prominently on my mind than the rest. You see, after he took his adorable little brother as his date to the Grammys, I feel compelled to ask, who is Justin Bieber dating? Or is he dating anyone at all? Honestly, at this point, some time alone would probably do the dude some good. Nothing bad usually ever comes out of some good self-reflection.

I know what you're thinking. There was a point in time when the answer to who Bieber's dating was glaringly obvious. A time when the question would be met with a resounding, "Selena Gomez, of course!" But despite their names still being linked from time to time, it does appear that things between them are dunzo, because he said it himself.

Bieber outright told GQ that he covered up the tattoo he got of Gomez and he referred to her as his "ex-girlfriend." So that's pretty much all the confirmation you need right there that they aren't an item. At the very least, they certainly aren't together right now given that he's trying to hide the tattoo, so we can check the former Disney star off this list and breathe a great sigh of relief.

From here on out, let's leave the past in the past. There have been enough curious incidents happening recently to focus on anyway. Like, for instance, Bieber's friendlier than friendly friendship with Hailey Baldwin. Are the two dating? Before we jump to conclusions, let's take a deeper look into that. Remember, not everything is at it seems. Though, the evidence is kind of damning...

Despite the kissing, the Christmas vacation together, and whatnot, Biebs and Baldwin aren't exactly the next Brangelina. Case in point, E! News boldly asked Baldwin about the part of Bieber's March GQ interview where he told the publication he, "really loves" Baldwin and "spends a lot of time" with her. She told E! News,

I think it's awesome. It wasn't a surprise to me. I knew it was coming out... We are not an exclusive couple. He's about to go on tour. Relationships at this age are already complicated, but I don't really like to talk about it because it's between me and him... The thing is, I live a very public life and I have to keep things personal or else I have no personal life. It's very difficult. I am very open on social media, but that's why I don't like to talk about certain things. It really is my personal business. And I like to think my relationships are not between me the person and the whole entire world. It's hard.

I mean, it has to be hard considering the very palpable chemistry the two have. In his GQ interview, Biebs even alluded to the fact that Baldwin could potentially be the person he wants to marry, but doesn't want to make promises he can't keep to her right now and hurt her.That's actually really sort of beautiful, Biebs. A nuanced perspective for sure.

So, to answer that very loaded question I posed, it appears that Bieber is dating and that the person he's dating is Baldwin... but with stipulations. After all, dating is a subjective term. It can mean you're in a relationship with someone or that you're just "seeing" them without too many strings attached. Given their career circumstances, which will put them in very different, far away places, Bieber and Baldwin's more vague status makes sense. Enjoy it, guys!

For more relationship talk, check out Bustle's I Want It That Way podcast below: