Selena Gomez Opens Up About Emotional Struggles, Being Judged for Her Looks
WESTWOOD, CA – JUNE 30: Selena Gomez attends the Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s world premiere of ‘Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation’ at Regency Village Theatre on June 30, 2018 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
Selena Gomez had a lot to say about her emotional struggles and being judged by the public eye.
In a recent interview, the singer shared some very personal thoughts on what it’s like to be famous and have people form opinions of you without truly knowing her heart.
“I’ve had great moments, bad moments, whatever,” she told the hosts of Dream It Real, a podcast created by accessories brand Coach. “I always say this and maybe I repeated it too much, but I don’t really think people know my heart because I think that sometimes people may think that I politically say the right thing or I’m safe or I’ve been trained to speak this way. I don’t know how to be trained, like how on earth would someone be training me to speak things?”
She added that while she appreciates people thinking she’s beautiful, it’s not what she wants to be known for.
“I don’t really appreciate people judging me on my looks or anything like that. I just think that the world today, with so much exposure to everything, it’s great to dress up and to feel beautiful and to do those things,” she said. “I’m flattered when maybe guys are like, ‘You’re pretty.’ I am, but it’s just—I would just love someone to love me for the person that I am. That’s just what’s important to me, you know?”
Gomez attributed much of her knowledge of what it means to be a role model to The Disney Channel, where she began her career.
“It just taught me so much about being a role model, you know? That was the first thing that I started so they were very apparent on being perfect, I guess, just making sure that you’re being a good influence on people. I’m grateful that I had that opportunity because I understand what a platform means.”
She added that she thinks Instagram can be unhealthy for the younger generation.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s very unrealistic in a lot of ways, and I think that for me, I want to protect the youngest generation because they are exposed to so much information,” she said. “And I feel like that causes a lot of anxiety at the youngest age.”
Gomez added that therapy has helped her immensely through the tough times, but added that it’s “hard” and you have to be willing to put in the work and open up.
Finally, we also learned that her upcoming album won’t feature any collaborations with other artists.
“Working on this new record, I just wanted it to be me, all me. Every song is a story I’ve experienced. To that point, I think there’s no one who’s going to tell my story better than myself. I just really wanted to kind of just live with my story a bit and create it into something that means a lot to me.”
You can check out more of the interview by listening to the Dream It Real podcast.
