Minutes after she was born in August 2018, Justin Bieber’s half-sister Bay was preparing herself for stardom.
Justin’s father, Jeremy Bieber, shared a photo holding his newborn baby, who was wrapped tightly in a blanket, while her mother, Chelsey, lay behind them on the hospital bed.
The post on Jeremy’s Instagram has since racked up more than 357,000 likes.
This child had no way of knowing that her older brother was a global megastar with nearly 100 million Instagram followers – or that she too was now an international celebrity.
Three days after her birth, Jeremy, 49, and Chelsey, 36, set up a special Instagram account for Bay, which explicitly states that it is “parent-controlled” (the social media platform bans children under 13 from using the app ).
Minutes after her birth, Justin Bieber’s half-sister Bay was preparing herself for stardom.
Justin’s father, Jeremy Bieber, shared a photo holding his newborn baby, who was wrapped tightly in a blanket, while her mother, Chelsey, lay behind them on the hospital bed.
The first post that same day, featuring a sleeping bay and the caption “Hello,” received 85,000 likes.
Since then, Bay’s personal following has exploded, thanks in no small part to regular photos of her with her ‘biggest brother’ Justin.
Bay’s account encourages followers to “watch me grow” and shares photos of her posing on the beach during vacations, at birthday parties and with her junior cheerleaders.
Now, at the age of six, she has amassed more than 351,000 followers, with the account posting an average of at least once a week over her lifetime.
Many of her followers seem to be young girls and their mothers who engage with her cheerleading content. But there is another worrying group of admirers: grown men.
Even more worrying, experts have told DailyMail.com that accounts featuring children can attract the attention of child predators.
An analysis of Bay Bieber’s account, conducted by DailyMail.com using social media research platform Modash, estimates that 20 percent of Bay’s followers are made up of accounts registered as male and almost entirely between the ages of 18 and be 34 years old.
Many of Bay’s most-liked photos — aside from hers with Justin — are of her in bikinis and cheer outfits. Moreover, a scan of the comments from Bay’s followers seems to be cause for concern.
Underneath a photo of a three-month-old Bay in a bikini, a male user said “shawty maaaad thiccc” with a drooling emoji.
In 2020, when Bay was one, three different male users commented on another swimwear photo.
One user posted a smiley emoji with heart eyes, another wrote “I want it” and a third added “you very cute” [sic]’.
When Bay was three years old, another male user commented on a photo of Bay wearing a floral two-piece, writing, “Your legs are very perfect” and asking, “Bay, are you using some oil in your body?” [sic]?’
The same account was spotted in another photo earlier this year, calling Bay “my mini crush.”
These and many other posts have raised concerns, including among Bay’s other Instagram followers.
“Bikinis and little clothing for babies puts them at risk of being stalked by predators online,” someone wrote under a photo of three-month-old Bay in a swimsuit. ‘It all starts [with] parents post too much about it [their] Baby.’
There was no way this child could have known that her older brother was a global pop megastar with nearly 100 million Instagram followers.
Experts agree that parents should be aware of the risks of predatory online behavior.
‘[Instagram is] widely known as a leading site frequented by pedophiles seeking images of children,” Lori Cohen, CEO of Protect All Children from Trafficking, told the Mail.
In December 2023, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit against Instagram’s parent company, Meta, accusing them of creating a “breeding ground” and “marketplace” for predators to find and exploit children too outside.
A New Mexico judge has since denied Meta’s motion to dismiss the state’s claim. The lawsuit is still pending.
In February, the New York Times published an investigation into 5,000 Instagram accounts that feature children and are managed by parents.
The NYT found that many of these accounts attract the attention of “men who are sexually attracted to children,” with the papers following exchanges on the encrypted communications platform Telegram where “men openly fantasize about sexually abusing the children they follow on Instagram .’
“A parent wouldn’t let go of their bikini-clad child in a room full of pedophiles,” Lori Cohen of Protect All Children from Trafficking told the Mail. “Why would they post a photo of that same child online, where it will potentially be viewed and, even more terrifyingly, contacted by many thousands of them?”
Three days after her birth, Jeremy, 49, and Chelsey, 36, set up Bay’s dedicated Instagram account, which explicitly states that it is “parent-controlled” (the social media platform bans children under 13 from using the app ).
One reason parents may overlook the risks of Instagram accounts featuring their children is the financial incentive.
The NYT investigation also found that the most popular girls’ Instagram accounts can charge up to $3,000 for a single post promoting a brand or product.
While there is no evidence that Jeremy and Chelsey Bieber benefited financially from Bay’s account, the profile has repeatedly tagged the children’s cheerleading uniform brand “Rebel Athletic” in posts.
Rebel Athletic did not respond to requests from the Mail for information about the nature of the relationship with Bay’s account.
Aside from the immediate potential financial incentives, Bay’s parents are certainly building a significant fan base that she could benefit from as she gets older.
And child safety experts warn that this can also pose a problem, as young people cannot grasp the possible consequences of the fame their parents may be cultivating for them.
“Children and teens don’t have the executive functioning skills to understand the implications of what they are doing,” says clinical psychologist Emma Woodward of the Child Mind Institute. “They cannot legally consent to what their parents post about them.”
Bay Bieber has three other half-siblings besides Justin: Jazmyn, 16; Jaxon, 15; and Allie, 17. They all have large followings on Instagram. Allie has 236,000 followers; Jazzmyn has 1.5 million; Jaxon has 1 million.
Bay’s parents (pictured) are building a significant fan base that she could potentially benefit from as she gets older.
Jeremy Bieber has long been accused of mismanaging his son Justin’s fame.
In October, DailyMail.com exclusively reported that people close to the child star are critical of Jeremy and Pattie Mallette (Justin’s mother) for allowing their son, 15, to be friends with now-disgraced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs.
There is no reason to suggest that Bieber’s parents were aware of Diddy’s alleged criminal activities at the time, but these insiders said they believed Justin could have been protected from such excesses.
Justin “should never have partyed with Diddy or anyone else when he was a teenager,” sources close to Bieber told the Mail.
Bay Bieber has three other half-siblings besides Justin: Jazmyn, 16; Jaxon, 15; and Alie, 17.
They all have large Instagram followers of their own. Allie has 236,000 followers; Jazzmyn has 1.5 million; Jaxon has 1 million.
Neither Justin, Jeremy nor Chelsey Bieber responded to the Mail’s requests for comment.