Selena Gomez is fiercely protective of her good friend Demi Lovato following Lovato’s overdose that left her hospitalized for nearly two weeks earlier this summer.
In an interview with Elle just days after Lovato’s July overdose, Gomez reportedly got choked up while discussing the “Sorry Not Sorry” singer, explaining that she wanted to keep her support for Lovato private and confined to their friendship rather than discuss it in the public eye.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“All I’m saying is, I reached out personally,” Gomez said six days after Lovato’s overdose. “I didn’t do a public thing. I didn’t want to. I…I love her. I’ve known her since I was seven. So…it’s…that’s what I’ll say.”
Days after Lovato’s overdose, which took over the celebrity news cycle, Gomez was spotted in public looking distraught, although she never said anything publicly until her Elle interview, which was conducted shortly after the overdose but not published until Tuesday.
Both Lovato and Gomez were child actors and singers for the Disney Channel. A source told E! News that Gomez was “devastated” by Lovato’s overdose.
“When Selena found out the news about Demi, she was very upset and emotional,” the source said, adding that the former Disney darlings “haven’t been close friends in a while now…but they always shared a special bond and they still have love for one another.”
“Selena has reached out to Demi’s family members to share her love and prayers, and she is really distraught about her health,” the source said. “She hates that Demi has been suffering.”
After Lovato opened up about her struggles with addiction and mental health in the 2017 YouTube documentary Simply Complicated, Gomez complimented her friend via social media.
“This was beautiful. I’m so happy for you. You always continue to [be] bold and real,” Gomez told her in an Instagram comment. “I wish more people were like you. Love you.”
Gomez and Lovato have historically been private and diplomatic when it comes to discussing news stories about each other, like the time when it was reported in 2014 that Gomez went to rehab and Lovato simply said, “That’s all of her business, and I just want to let her do her thing.”
In 2014, without detailing Lovato’s demons, Gomez told Seventeen that “Demi’s very, very strong. She’s the only person that I would tell the deepest, darkest secrets to. The only person.”
After Lovato spent nearly two weeks at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles in July and August, she reportedly entered an out-of-state rehabilitation facility, where she is expected to stay for a decent amount of time. She also reportedly spent time with an addiction specialist in Chicago following her hospitalization.
