Selena Gomez is explaining her life in the limelight — and why she’s been so candid as of late.
The 27-year-old “Wolves” performer told pal Amy Schumer that she decided to be increasingly open about her personal life once things in her life “got out of control” and she felt the need to control her own narrative.
“My intention was never to become a tabloid,” Gomez told the comedian in a conversation for Interview magazine. “So when things kind of happened that way, it got out of control. And then I was like, ‘Wait, none of this is true.’”
“The way the media has sometimes tried to explain things has made it sound really bad when in reality there’s nothing wrong with the fact that I needed to go away or that I fell in love,” she continued. “I had to start opening up because people were taking away my narrative and it was killing me. I’m so young and I’m going to keep changing, and no one has the right to tell me how my life’s going.”
Gomez has been wildly outspoken in recent months about the difficult times she’s endured in her life and even made waves again earlier this month when she revealed to Miley Cyrus on Instagram Live that she was diagnosed as bipolar.
In speaking with Schumer, Gomez said people shouldn’t feel bad for her at all, given her story and what she’s gone through, adding that she hopes folks can learn more about themselves through her tribulations.
“Millions of people have so much love for you, and when someone meets you, they can see your kindness and your intelligence and your vulnerability,” Schumer said before stating: “I think people worry about you. I’ve worried about you. Should we be worried about you?”
“No,” Gomez replied. “I’ve gone through some really difficult stuff, and because of those moments, whether I liked it or not, a picture was painted of my life. That was scary because I didn’t want it to affect my career.”
Schumer pressed: “You didn’t want what to affect your career? Your personal life?”
“Yeah,” Gomez said. “It got out of control when I was super young. I think it showed people that I was weak in certain moments and that I had troubles. Some people just get off on building people up and then trying to bring them down.”
Schumer maintained to Gomez; “I’ve never witnessed any backlash to you,” adding, “when you say weaknesses, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Selena Gomez attends the premiere of ‘The Dead Don’t Die,’ at the Museum of Modern Art on Monday, June 10, 2019, in New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
“I guess what I mean is that people worry about me because I’ve had some trouble in the past,” Gomez acknowledged. “And it’s kind, it is. But I’m okay. I deal with what I deal with, and if I feel like I’m having a rough week or I’m not up to doing something, I don’t do it.”
In September 2019, the pop star was honored by McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, receiving the 2019 McLean Award for mental health advocacy at the hospital’s annual dinner.
The award honors people who have “furthered the public’s understanding of psychiatric illness and mental health,” according to its website. Past recipients of the McLean Award included former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall, ABC News anchor Elizabeth Vargas, singer Judy Collins and actress Jane Fonda, among others.
