Selena Gomez Slams Critics, Becomes the Most Followed Woman on Instagram

It is 2023, and people are still commenting on other people’s bodies. Selena Gomez is one of the many celebrities that has had to respond to haters criticizing their weight as if it were their business. But despite all the backlash the Mexican-American artist has gotten about her image, she has managed to become the most followed woman on Instagram with 382 Million followers, surpassing Kylie Jenner. 

Amid the news, the “Calm Down” singer announced she will be taking a break from social media.

The singer, actress, and entrepreneur has been open about her mental health throughout her career in the public eye, talking about her experience taking medication for lupus, the autoimmune disease she suffers from. Having received a fair share of media attention due to her weight over the years, especially recently, she has spoken about the incessant criticism and body shaming she has suffered.

Selena attended this year’s Golden Globes wearing a gorgeous dark purple gown. However, all the attention went to her body. After seeing all the hateful comments, the singer went live on Instagram with her little sister, Gracie Elliott Teefey, and admitted that she had certainly gained weight after enjoying the holidays.

“I’m a little bit big right now because I enjoyed myself over the holidays,” she told Gracie, as the two joked around.

However, the comments didn’t just stop there. Selena has made a TikTok in which she opened up about how her disease causes changes in her body- even though she needn’t have to, obviously.

“I just wanted to say and encourage anyone out there who feels any sort of shame for exactly what they’re going through and nobody knows the real story. I just want people to know that you’re beautiful and you’re wonderful,” she said.

Selena then explained that her weight fluctuates depending on her medications. “I tend to hold a lot of water weight, and that happens very normally, and then when I’m off of it, I tend to kind of lose weight. We have days when we might feel like shit, but I would much rather be healthy and take care of myself. And my medications are important, and I believe they are what helps me.”

Symptoms of lupus include muscle aches, tiredness, joint pain and/or stiffness, hair loss, depression, and skin lesions, among others. Selena had to undergo chemotherapy in 2013 and had a kidney transplant in 2017.

“I’m not a model, I never will be,” she added. “Thanks for supporting me and understanding. If not, go away. ‘Cause honestly, I don’t believe in shaming people for [their] body or anything,” the singer concluded. 

This isn’t the first time Gomez has responded to body-shamers on TikTok. Last year, she proudly shared her Jack in the Box order. “I don’t care about my weight because people bitch about it anyway,” she said. “‘You’re too small,’ ‘You’re too big,’ ‘That doesn’t fit.’ Bitch, I am perfect the way I am,” she said.

In a recent interview, she talked about her 2015 Met Gala look and said that, at that time, she ‘didn’t feel right about my body’ due to fluctuating weight. However, she offered a positive takeaway: “That was one of the moments where I said to myself, ‘I don’t have to have that 19-year-old body anymore, because I don’t have it anymore.'”

In 2018 she was photographed wearing a bikini on the beach and, in response to people who said she looked “fat,” Selena ended up explaining, “I have lupus and deal with kidney issues and high blood pressure, so I deal with a lot of health issues. For me that’s when I really started noticing more of the body image stuff.”

“It’s the medication I have to take for the rest of my life. It depends on the month, to be honest. I really noticed when people started attacking me for that,” she added.

In December 2022, videos about how Selena stayed thin while dating Justin Bieber began to go viral on TikTok. “Justin preferred models,” said one of the videos, as the singer was forced to maintain impossible beauty standards to be with her then-boyfriend. Selena herself commented on the video with a sad face emoji, tired of the constant comparisons between her and all of Justin’s girlfriends and flings.

Since then, she has celebrated her stomach rolls, posted no-makeup selfies, and has embraced her body on Instagram. 

Go off, Selena!