Selena Gomez Sparks Speculation of Shading Justin Bieber Over Promotion of His Single ‘Yummy’

On Jan. 3, Justin Bieber released his new single, “Yummy,” which is currently at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber’s single was released one week before Selena Gomez‘s new album, Rare, which has officially become her third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. Both Gomez and Bieber asked fans for help in securing them a No. 1 spot — but on Friday, Gomez shared a message asking fans to stream her new release upon news that it was in a tight race with Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial.

On Thursday, Jan. 23, the 27-year-old admitted that her self-promotion ultimately made her achievement feel “inauthentic.”

“It’s officially out! I was a bit embarrassed asking so often for you to stream or buy my album,” she wrote in an Instagram post of an article sharing the news. “It felt inauthentic. Thank YOU so much for making something so personal to me be a moment I’ll never forget. All I truly desire is for you all to enjoy the music and spread the love.”

Some fans think Gomez’s latest post was directed toward Bieber, though the fact that both artists asked fans to stream their work seemingly renders any alleged shade ineffective.

After the release of “Yummy,” Bieber posted an Instagram Story titled “How to get ‘Yummy’ to No. 1.” and featured instructions including, “Spotify: Create a playlist with ‘Yummy’ on repeat and stream it. Don’t mute it! Play at a low volume. Let it play while you sleep. iTunes: Buy the song on iTunes. Buy the song multiple times on Justin’s website.”

“LET’S GO HARD. TELL YOUR GREAT AUNT RUTH TO STREAM ‘YUMMY.’” Bieber wrote before posting subsequent stories about the song and telling fans to follow him on Tik Tok.

Last week, Gomez shared a series of videos on her own Instagram Story explaining that she had just learned how close the race for No. 1 was.

“I just found out that my album is neck-to-neck with another incredible artist,” she said. “I told people before that, you know, it’s not about numbers for me, but I would love for the most important album I’ve ever released to become No. 1. So, if you don’t mind streaming it or listening to it on all the platforms, it would mean the absolute world to me.”

The Texas native added that Rare hitting No. 1 is “something I’ve dreamed about for so long. But, regardless, I just hope that you guys are enjoying it and that it’s something that you all can just enjoy and have. So, no worries. Either way, I’m happy.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Axelle/Bauer-Griffin