Justin Bieber and Sofia Richie are seen at Yaesu shopping mall on August 14, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo : Getty Images/Jun Sato)
A new report suggests that Selena Gomez may have been the reason behind her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber's sudden split from model Sofia Richie. Did something happen between them?
Bieber and Richie began to date one another in early August and went public on Instagram a short time later after traveling to Japan together. Shortly thereafter, the new couple visited Mexico to celebrate Richie's 18th birthday and during their trip, they were seen engaging in some heavy PDA on the beach and on a yacht.
For weeks, Bieber and Richie appeared to be going strong but then, in early September, weeks after Bieber and his former girlfriend Gomez got into a messy -- and very public -- feud on Instagram, their split was announced.
"It was super-hot and heavy, and because Justin doesn't want a relationship right now, he wanted to cool things down," a source told E! News at the time of the split, adding that "it wasn't an intentional cool-off" and "just sort of happened on its own."
According to the report, Bieber and Richie are still friends and will continue to see one another as they had when they were dating. However, when it comes to a relationship, the couple were said to have put their relationship on the back burner.
Meanwhile, another report, via iTech Post, suggested that Gomez may have been involved in their split -- and that the on-again, off-again couple could potentially rekindle their romance once Gomez returns from her career hiatus. The source also suggested that Richie may have only been dating Bieber in an effort to give her career a boost. As fans will recall, Richie starred in Kanye West's highly anticipated Yeezy Season 4 fashion show just weeks into their relationship.
As for how Gomez was reportedly involved in Bieber and Richie's split, it was noted that her recent meltdown, which led to the end of her Revival World Tour, prompted the end of the romance.
Because Bieber and Richie have remained silent in regard to their recent split, there is no way to know for sure what caused the breakup.
