Selena Gomez Responded to a TikTok Explaining Why She Was ‘Always Skinny’ Dating Justin Bieber
One emoji can say a lot. Selena Gomez made headlines yesterday when she left a surprise comment on a TikTok shared by a fan account, @donttellmymomma.fr, about why Gomez was “always skinny” while dating Justin Bieber. Bieber and Gomez were in an on-off relationship for 10 years, which ended for good in spring 2018. Bieber went on to start dating and ultimately marry model Hailey Baldwin in June 2018.
The TikTok showed paparazzi photos of Gomez looking toned and included text on screen that read, “The reason why Selena is always skinny when she dates Justin.” A screenshot of an Instagram comment reply Gomez allegedly left also appears in the TikTok where she touched on Bieber’s preference for being with models over her: “no love. He’s rather models. I’m just too normal.”
The caption on the video added, “He rathers models..My poor baby #selenagomez.”
Gomez commented on the TikTok yesterday with a single but telling emoji: “????”
In her My Mind and Me documentary, early footage during Gomez and Bieber’s time on-off dating in 2016 shows her really concerned about her body and insecurity about not being enough on her own. “He [the head of her record label, John Janick] called me this morning about the song with Justin [Bieber], like, when am I just going to be good enough by myself?” Gomez said at one point. “When am I just gonna be good enough by myself, not needing anybody to be associated with?”
Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber At The Lakers Game in April 2012
Later in the documentary, Gomez discussed her final split from Bieber when addressing her October 2019 song “Lose You to Love Me.”
“Everything was so public. I felt haunted by a past relationship that no one wanted to let go of,” she said. “But then I just moved past it, and I wasn’t afraid anymore.”
“I feel like I had to go through the worst possible heartbreak ever and then just forgetting everything at the drop of a hand, it was really confusing,” she added. “But I just think that needed to happen and ultimately it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Gomez later called her 2016 comments about her body hard to watch. She told Vulture that seeing My Mind and Me, “I think it brought me back to a time. The things I was watching from 2016, 2017, 2018 — I can’t believe I was that girl. That breaks my heart. I’m grateful to be on the other side, but when I watched, for example, the first part of the film where I discuss my body—I don’t want to cry now, but I was completely upset with myself. I couldn’t believe the things I was aspiring to be. Which really aren’t possible unless you have a lot of money and you’re willing to spend it to do that to yourself. It really broke my heart. That’s not the feeling I want to give anyone. I hope I don’t. So watching it was a bit shocking and upsetting.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.