Selena Gomez Hits Back Against Comments About Her Reaction to Chris Brown VMA Nomination

Selena Gomez's reactions at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards may have gone viral during the awards show last Tuesday, but the "Calm Down" singer now says it will be the last time she allows herself to become a meme. After the sour faces Gomez made in response to Chris Brown's Best R&B nomination and Olivia Rodrigo's performance became a topic of conversation on social media, the Only Murders in the Building star took to Instagram to address the issue. 

"I will never be a meme again," she wrote over a simple black background Wednesday morning. "I'd rather sit still than be dragged for being myself. Much love." Gomez had previously had fun with her awards show appearance, posting an Instagram Story earlier in the night with friend Taylor Swift she captioned, "She looks stunning I look constipated," but it's clear the reaction to other moments during the show got to her.

Gomez was spotted wrinkling her nose when Brown was named as a nominee for Best R&B, which largely earned praise on social media from users who pointed out that the artist physically assaulted Rihanna back in 2009. The reaction to Gomez covering her ear and looking concerned during Olivia Rodrigo's performance was a bit more mixed. Rodrigo took to the stage to sing a mash-up of tracks from her second studio album, "Guts," which surprised viewers midway through her performance of "Vampires" when her set collapsed. Gomez insisted on Instagram Wednesday that her reaction was simply in response to the shock of the moment, as she commented on a BuzzFeed Celeb post about the moment, "I heard a loud noise and it scared me."

Gomez has been open about her relationship with social media, telling Vanity Fair in 2023 that she had ultimately decided to outsource the job to her assistant. "People can call me ugly or stupid and I'm like, Whatever. But these people get detailed. They write paragraphs that are so specific and mean. I would constantly be crying. I constantly had anxiety...I couldn't do it anymore. It was a waste of my time," she told the outlet. "The only thing I have on my phone is TikTok because I find it to be a little less hostile. There are wonderful things about social media-connecting with fans, seeing how happy and excited they are and their stories. But usually that's filtered through [for me now]. I created a system. Everything I do I send to my assistant who posts them. As far as comments, my team will put together a few things that are encouraging."