Hailey Bieber thanks Selena Gomez for defending her amid 'very hard' time

Hailey Bieber feels like one less lonely girl.

After Selena Gomez shared a message defending the Rhode Beauty founder amid recent online criticism she's been received, Hailey also issued a note of gratitude.

"I want to thank Selena for speaking out, as her and I have been discussing the last few weeks about how to move past this ongoing narrative between her and I," the 26-year-old's message shared to Instagram Stories March 24 read. "The last few weeks have been very hard for everyone involved and millions of people are seeing so much hate around this, which is extremely harmful."

She added, "While social media is an incredible way to connect and build community, moments like this only create extreme division instead of bringing people together."

As Hailey—who is married to Selena's ex Justin Bieber—went on to note, "Things can always be taken out of context or constructed differently from what they were intended."

"We all need to be more thoughtful about what we post and what we say including myself," she concluded. "In the end, I believe love will always be bigger than hate and negativity and there is always an opportunity to meet each other with more empathy and compassion."