Did Justin Bieber Get A Hair Transplant? One Very Subtle Clue Has The Internet Feeling Confident

Teenage Justin Bieber may have inadvertently thrown shade on Adult Justin Bieber. In an interview from 2012, when Bieber had just turned 18, the young musical star turned on Prince William for not taking steps to combat his receding hairline and generally thinning hair. Bieber told Rollercoaster (via The Hollywood Reporter), "I don't know why he doesn't just get those things, those products. You just take Propecia and your hair grows back."

Fast forward to 2026, and the tables have turned. Fans (and haters) are abuzz over rumors that Bieber seems to have undergone a serious hair transformation courtesy of a transplant. Not that there's anything wrong with that — thinning hair can be a common symptom of aging, and many men are just genetically hardwired to go bald. Is Bieber one of them?

I can recognize a poorly done hair transplant from a mile away. pic.twitter.com/LqLkEodgvW

— Hulst Nov (@HulstNov) February 3, 2026

Even European airline Ryanair joined the conversation on X, formerly Twitter, reposting an image of Bieber sporting a well-groomed and surprisingly straight hairline with the rather salty comment, "Should've gone to Turkey." Another person posted a picture of an airplane with text reading, "Turkish Hairline." For those who don't get the joke, Turkey has become a medical tourism destination in recent years due to its glut of economical transplant clinics. In fact, the Turkish Health Tourism Association suggested that at least one million people visited Turkey in 2022 for their hair restoration needs.

So, did Bieber actually get a hair transplant, or is the internet just engaging in cyber-gossip? The singer hasn't made any public comments, but some transplant experts say it's possible due to at least one subtle clue.

The best way to tell if someone has undergone a hair transplant is to examine the healing site. Replanting thin strips of hair from the back of the head (known as a follicular unit transplantation, or FUT) can leave obvious scabbing and scarring, and even a subtler follicular unit extraction (FUE) method of hair replantation isn't totally invisible.

An individual who undergoes FUE has single hair follicles transplanted from donor areas (like the back of the head) to thinning or balding areas. Each follicle contains up to four hairs and is carefully relocated to provide the desired level of new coverage. FUE procedures don't usually leave a lot of telltale injection scabs on the head, but it's possible to spot with a trained eye.

For instance, many people who've had FUE will have an unusually symmetrical hairline, according to the Long Hair Center (an example of a Turkey-based transplant provider). While that might seem natural, it's not. The human body tends to favor asymmetry, so perfection can often be a tad uncanny. As such, in the first month after FUE, the replanted areas of hair may look out of place. They may also grow in strange directions that don't seem to flow with the surrounding hairs.

Transplanted hair will mostly fall out by the second month of a transplant, which is actually expected; it will then slowly grow in as its follicular lifecycle begins again. Since all the hair will fall out at the same time, the bald areas may reappear, but only temporarily.

Applying these insights to Justin Bieber's case provides a possible answer, or at least a relevant talking point that suggests he may have had medical help on top. Specifically, his hairline in pictures from 2025 and after seems quite even. This wasn't the case in earlier pictures, which showed that he seemed to have a moderate "M" hairline recession (which would perhaps correspond with a Stage 3 level of hair loss on the Norwood Scale). This seems to be the clue that people are talking about the most.

Until Bieber acknowledges or disavows the rumors that he's taken hair transplant action, the rumors will keep circling the social media drain. However, Bieber's story may well be a reminder that before you trash-talk someone, as he did with Prince William years ago, be aware that you could find yourself in the same place.