That One Sound is a weekly column from senior internet culture writer Audra Schroeder that explores the origin of popular sounds heard on TikTok. Suggestions? Tips? Email audra@dailydot.com.
This week’s sound is one of those scenarios where audio meant to be serious or address something important is drained of context and reshaped. In this case, Hailey Bieber pleading for people to stop harassing her online quickly became a viral sound, and was applied to a variety of annoying—and less serious—scenarios.
The sound
The sound is Bieber saying: “Leave me alone, at this point. I’m minding my business. I don’t do anything, I don’t say anything. Leave me alone.” It has more than 25 million views and has been used in more than 7,600 TikToks since Tuesday.
Page Six quickly appropriated the audio to read into a video of Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly on a red carpet. Others applied it to more abstract concepts, like software updates.
Where’s it from?
Bieber posted a longer version to TikTok, ostensibly in response to trolls and critics still hung up on husband Justin Bieber’s past relationship with Selena Gomez. In the original, she adds that “enough time has gone by where it’s valid to leave me alone. I beg of you, truly. That’s my only request. Leave me alone. Be miserable somewhere else. Please.”
Bieber has been open about the harassment she’s received from Jelena stans since she and Justin married in 2018; her husband defended her in 2020 when a Jelena troll directed fans to “go after her.” She’s also had to shut down pregnancy rumors, after her Grammys dress fueled speculation. “I’m not pregnant leave me alone,” she commented on a clickbait-y RadarOnline post.
Sound off
There are supportive comments on Bieber’s post, as well as ones attempting to minimize her experience because she’s a celebrity. But, as pointed out by TikToker Dallas Ryan, one of the top comments on Bieber’s post is “sound has potential.”
That’s not an unusual comment, but it does illustrate the speed at which context or nuance is stripped away on TikTok in favor of keeping a trend going. Some women used the sound to address their own experiences with harassment, but there is something a little icky about skincare brands and food delivery apps recontextualizing it to sell stuff.
