Justin Bieber thought marrying Hailey Bieber would solve all his issues, he said on "The Ebro Show."- When it didn't, the singer said he hit "a little bit of an emotional breakdown."
Justin Bieber had an "emotional breakdown" after realizing that
The Grammy winner married 25-year-old model Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) in 2018 after a whirlwind engagement, though they had known each other for nearly a decade and had previously dated.
"It's a journey. I remember when I first got married, I hit a little bit of an emotional breakdown because I thought marriage was going to fix all my problems and it didn't," Bieber told host Ebro Darden.
He continued, "It just kind of was a reflection of like, 'Man, you're a bit of a hypocrite.'"
After the couple exchanged vows in a New York City courthouse in September 2018, Justin said he found himself wanting Hailey to do things that he wasn't doing himself.
"It's hard sometimes to look in the mirror and really have to realize, man, maybe you're not the person that you necessarily thought that you were," he said. "And that's just a result of trauma and life circumstances."
The Canadian pop star has previously discussed the toll that childhood stardom has taken on his life. He said becoming famous at such a young age led him to use drugs, struggle with mental illness, and mistreat past partners.
During his conversation with Darden, Justin credited his "faith journey" and his "relationship with Jesus" with helping him to "not be so hard on myself."
Now, almost four years into their marriage, both Justin and Hailey have publicly reflected on the challenges they faced as newlyweds.
The "Stay" singer told GQ in April 2021 that he was "on eggshells" during his first year as a husband to Hailey.
"The first year of marriage was really tough. There was just lack of trust," Justin said.
On top of adjusting to married life, the couple was navigating Justin's Lyme disease diagnosis, chronic mono, and mental-health challenges.
During a November 2021 episode of the "In Good Faith" podcast, Hailey recalled reaching a breaking point early in the marriage where she made a tearful phone call to her mother, Kennya Baldwin.
"I was like, 'I just can't do it. There's no way that I'm going to be able to do this if it's going to be like this forever,'" Hailey said.
Ultimately, Hailey said she committed to standing by her husband's side.
"I was in it. I made a decision. I know for a fact that I've loved this person for a very long time and now would not be the time to give up on him," Hailey explained while discussing Justin's mental health on the podcast. "I just wouldn't do that to him."
"Imagine abandoning somebody in the middle of the worst time of their life, potentially. I'm not that type of a person," the model continued. "So I was going to stick it out no matter what the outcome was going to be."