Over the years, Selena Gomez has been criticized for building her career on public sympathy, portraying herself as a victim in every situation.
Netizens have mocked Selena Gomez for constructing her artistic career based on sympathy, making people feel bad for what she has gone through, and particularly always presenting herself as a victim. After many years of being mocked and criticized by the audience, Selena Gomez recently spoke out to assert that she never tried to play the victim as many have claimed.
“I see many people misunderstanding my sharing of the difficulties I go through as a sign of weakness and playing the victim. I don’t like this perception and way of thinking. I am not a victim. I am just being honest with myself, saying what I think, and then being labeled with an undeserved title,” Selena Gomez shared at the Nexus Summit event.
The incident leading to Selena Gomez being ridiculed for appearing vulnerable and playing the victim primarily involves Justin Bieber. Since breaking up with the 1994-born singer, Selena Gomez has often expressed feelings of heartbreak over the relationship. The peak was in 2020 when Selena declared that she thought she was a victim in love, having been emotionally abused when dating Justin Bieber. She revealed that she had to undergo therapy after experiencing a problematic relationship with her ex-boyfriend.
“The mindset of seeing oneself as a victim is very dangerous. I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I felt like a victim of emotional abuse. I had to grow up to make choices. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life talking about that relationship. I was very strong to exit that negative relationship as gracefully as possible,” Selena Gomez shared about her breakup with Justin Bieber.
Despite declaring “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life talking about my relationship with Justin Bieber,” Selena Gomez continued to talk about it in the media. In 2022, Selena bluntly stated that breaking up with Justin Bieber was “the best thing that ever happened.” Or in an interview with Fast Company in 2023, she mentioned that breaking up with Justin Bieber made her stop using social media.
Additionally, Selena Gomez has repeatedly deactivated and reactivated her Instagram account. All the reasons given were “afraid of reading toxic comments,” which worsened her depression. But soon after, the singer returned to the platform. Fans even discovered that Selena Gomez lied. She once declared she didn’t have the Instagram app on her phone but still used her account with over 428 million followers to respond to negative rumors online. Netizens expressed fatigue because this was not the first time they had witnessed Gomez saying one thing and doing another.
Besides contradictions in her statements, Gomez was also disliked by the public for being ungrateful to Francia Raisa – the person who risked her own health to donate a kidney to her. Saved by Francia Raisa, Selena Gomez still stated in the media that she “only has Taylor Swift as a close friend in the entertainment industry.” After this statement, Francia Raisa cut ties with Gomez, leading to a wave of harsh criticism. The “Lose You to Love Me” singer had to apologize and try to mend her relationship with Francia Raisa over the years.
