Selena Gomez says she was the victim of 'some abuse' while dating Justin Bieber
While promoting her latest album, "Rare," Selena Gomez spoke about her past relationship with Justin Bieber, during which the singer-actress said she suffered emotional abuse.
Speaking to NPR on Sunday, Gomez explained how her new single, "Lose You to Love Me," helped her process and move on from the "difficult" experience she had while she was seeing the "Yummy" artist. Gomez and Bieber were first publicly linked in 2011 and dated intermittently until their final separation in 2018.
"It is dangerous to remain in the victim mentality," said Gomez, "and I am not being disrespectful, I feel that I was a victim of certain abuses."
When asked if he was referring to emotional abuse, the "Bad Liar" hitmaker said "Yes" and then elaborated, despite noting that he did not want to "spend the rest of [his] life talking" about his past with Bieber. , who married model Hailey Baldwin in 2018.
"I had to find a way to understand it as an adult, and I had to understand the choices that she was making," Gomez said. "I'm really proud to be able to say that I feel stronger than ever and I felt that I have found a way to go through it with as much grace as possible."
Representatives for Bieber did not immediately respond to the Times' request for comment.
Following the October release of the emotional "Lose You to Love Me," Gomez pleaded with fans on social media to be "nice" and respect other women while supporting her and her work. Many assumed that she was indirectly defending Bieber's wife, who received some hate online when the song dropped.
“It is not a hate song; It's a song that says: it had something beautiful and I would never deny that it wasn't that, "Gomez told NPR." It was very difficult and I'm happy it's over. And I felt like this was a great way to say it's done, and I understand and respect it. "
Bieber and Gomez, both in the limelight from a young age, have had some trouble maintaining their private relationship drama in the past. In 2016, the ex-lovers leveled fraudulent accusations at each other via Instagram, visible to their millions of combined followers, in a heated dispute that caused Bieber to completely delete his account.
But according to Gomez, those days are over, and she is ready to enter a "completely different chapter."
She also reflected on her myriad health problems, which included depression, a kidney transplant, and an ongoing battle with the autoimmune disease lupus.
"I want to be able to tell my story the way I want to tell it," she said, drawing attention to tabloid media coverage. "I wasn't going to pretend to smile when it really was horrible, some of the worst moments of my life ... I just had to find a way to reclaim my story."
