Celebrity Justin Bieber Holds Hands with Sofia Richie and Speaks Out Against Fans Who Have Made 'Mean' Comments Beliebers have compared the model to the singer's ex, Selena Gomez By Stephanie Petit Stephanie Petit Stephanie Petit is a Royals Editor, Writer and Reporter at PEOPLE. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 14, 2016 12:20 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Jun Sato/GC Images Justin Bieber and Sofia Richie are hitting it off, whether fans like it or not. The “Sorry” singer threatened to make his Instagram account private following the barrage of negative comments geared towards his new flame. “I’m gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don’t stop the hate,” he captioned a black and white photo with the 17-year-old model this weekend. Bieber, 22, continued, “This is getting out of hand, if you guys are really fans you wouldn’t be so mean to people that I like.” Some fans have left negative messages about the daughter of singer Lionel Richie and sister of socialite Nicole Richie in Bieber’s comment section since the two began hanging out earlier this month. Beliebers have called Richie names and compared her to Selena Gomez, Bieber’s ex-girlfriend. He’s No Longer a Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh! Watch Justin Bieber Grow Up The warning came on the last of six consecutive posts featuring Bieber and Richie posing in the backseat of a car. The pair have been spending a lot of time together in recent weeks. An insider told PEOPLE that Richie – who will celebrate her 18th birthday later this month – and Bieber were seen together in Laguna Beach, California, during the week and spent some time at the singer’s Toluca Lake house. They also shared Instagram photos of each other after jetting to Japan together on Wednesday. The duo was most recently spotted holding hands in Tokyo, where Bieber has two Purpose World Tour shows over the weekend.