Sometimes a single emoji speaks more than words. Selena Gomez recently left an unexpected comment on November 29th tick tock about her weight when dating Justin Bieber. “The reason Selena is always skinny when she dates Justin,” the caption reads over various paparazzi photos of Gomez, before showing a screenshot of an old Instagram comment from Gomez saying Bieber is standing up on models. “No love. He is [sic] rather models. I’m just too normal,” she said at the time. But on Dec. 11, Gomez surprised everyone when she left the “😔” emoji in TikTok’s comments.
Some speculated as to why Gomez decided to intervene, wondering if the sad emoji was a reflection of her feelings about the old screenshot or an attempt to express her disappointment at yet another conversation centered around her body. Others defended their decision, saying it was their right to comment on their own experiences, ambiguous emoji aside.
This is one of the few recent statements Gomez has made about her weight in relation to a previous relationship, but she has spoken out about body shamers in the past. In a TikTok story in April, she said: “Honestly, I don’t care about my weight because anyway people are like, ‘You’re too small, you’re too big, it doesn’t fit. meh meh meh meh.'” Gomez added, “B*tch I’m perfect just the way I am.”
Gomez has previously spoken openly about her fluctuating weight due to her lupus diagnosis, as well as her kidney transplant and experiences with bipolar disorder, all of which she discusses at length in her intimate documentary, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me.
Separately, Gomez has commented on her past relationship with Bieber, which was on and off from 2011 to 2018. Gomez recently called for kindness after his wife Hailey Bieber cleared up false rumors about the relationship timeline and alluded to Gomez in a “Call Her Dad” podcast interview. The two apparently made amends when they posed for photos at the Academy Museum Gala in October.