Selena Gomez Hits Back at ‘Always Skinny’ Allegations That Blame Relationship With Justin Bieber

Selena Gomez responded to a viral TikTok video claiming that she was “always skinny” during her relationship with Justin Bieber. The clip appeared to blame the singer for the Only Murders in the Building star’s weight because Bieber preferred models. Gomez had an on-again, off-again relationship with Bieber for eight years before Bieber married Hailey Bieber in July 2018.

The Nov. 29 TikTok video begins with a slideshow of photos of Gomez, taken during her years with Bieber. “The reason why Selena is always skinny when she dates Justin,” the caption reads. Following the montage, the TikTok user included an old screenshot of a message Gomez posted on Instagram. “He’s rather models. I’m just too normal,” the “Lose You to Love Me” singer wrote.

On Dec. 11, Gomez responded to the video, simply posting a sad, pensive face emoji. This left fans to interpret her meaning. Most agreed that Gomez was not happy about seeing another social media post commenting on her weight and body image. “Maybe she’s upset you guys are constantly bringing up her body changing over the years. She has a right to react to her OWN life. either way, she’s [fire],” one fan wrote.

“This isn’t Selena’s fault, the fans are responsible for their own hate they continuously attack with on social media. Mad embarrassing,” one fan wrote. “Her weight shouldn’t even be a subject of conversation,” another commented. The TikTok user who created the initial video interpreted Gomez’s comment as confirmation that she lost weight because Bieber “liked skinny girls.” The TikTok even posted a second video with the caption, “Zelena Gomez confirms with a comment that she always tried to get skinnier because Justin liked skinny girls.”

In the past, Gomez, 30, has talked about how her health issues affected her weight and the judgment she faced from fans. She was diagnosed with lupus in 2015 and had a kidney transplant in 2017. Gomez has also spoken about struggling with anxiety and depression and seeking therapy. She also revealed that she has bipolar disorder in April 2020.

“I have lupus and deal with kidney issues and high blood pressure, so I deal with a lot of health issues,” Gomez said on Giving Back Generation in 2019, via E! News. “And for me, that’s when I really started noticing the body image stuff. It’s a combination of all of it. It’s the medication that I have to take for the rest of my life. It depends on even the month, to be honest. So, for me, I really noticed when people started attacking me for that. And in reality, that’s just my truth. I fluctuate. It depends what’s happening in my life… And that got to me big time, you know? I think for me, that really messed me up for a bit.”

More recently, Gomez had a direct message to body shamers in a TikTok Stories video. “Honestly, I don’t care about my weight because people b— about it anyway: ‘You’re too small.’ ‘You’re too big.’ ‘That doesn’t fit.’ ‘Meh meh meh meh,’” she said in the clip. “B—, I am perfect the way I am. Moral of the story? Bye.”