The Backlash Against Selena Gomez Has Been a Long Time Coming

Selena Gomez—beloved pop singer and Only Murders in the Building co-star—is making headlines for her messy social media interactions yet again. It started with Gomez hopping on Instagram to confirm her previously rumored relationship with music producer Benny Blanco, and now the former Disney star is catching heat for everything from defensiveness over her new man to so-called hypocrisy related to exes, to her ongoing controversy over her comments (or lack thereof) on the war in Gaza. If all that made zero sense to you, then keep reading and have no fear—your Selena Gomez expert is here.

I feel like I’m going to regret asking about the latest Selena Gomez drama, but … what is the latest Selena Gomez drama?

On Thursday, Gomez confirmed a rumor that she is dating Benny Blanco by commenting on an Instagram post from @PopFactions—a pop culture rumor and news account that compiled “evidence” of the rumor—with one word: “Facts.” Then, Gomez outrightly debuted her apparently six-month relationship on her own page by sharing a photo of her and Blanco on Instagram Stories and stating below a different @PopFactions post that “[Blanco] is my absolute everything in my heart.” Unfortunately, this news was not met with kind words, as fans began voicing their disapproval of the relationship and questioning the singer’s taste in men. Gomez, taking offense to the pushback, began defending her new boo with heated comments, for example: “then why has he been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. The end.” Gomez warned her fans, “If you can’t accept me at my happiest then don’t be in [m]y life at all.”

Who even is Benny Blanco?

Blanco is a prominent pop music producer and songwriter who has worked with artists such as Justin Bieber, Halsey, Maroon 5, Rihanna, J Balvin, SZA, Charlie Puth, the Weeknd, and, of course, Selena Gomez. (If you’re keeping track, that collaborator list includes Gomez and at least three of her known ex-boyfriends.) His work—which includes megahit tracks such as Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” “Lonely” with Justin Bieber, and “Eastside” with Halsey and Khalid—has been commercially successful, and he has won awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, iHeartRadio, and more. Needless to say, he’s one of the most accomplished songwriter-producers in pop music right now. SZA fans may also recognize him from the music video for her song “Snooze,” in which he can be seen eating french fries off the R&B singer’s bum.

Why are people upset that Gomez is dating him? He seems like a pretty normal guy.

In 2020, when Blanco was publicly pretty close with Gomez’s famous ex, Justin Bieber, he may or may not have thrown shade at Gomez during an interview on the Zach Sang Show when asked about working with Bieber: Blanco praised Bieber for not being “one of those cookie-cutter pop artists” who announce their new music alongside their other business ventures like a “makeup line.” Coming on the heels of Gomez launching her cosmetics line Rare Beauty—and a year after Gomez and Blanco had worked together on the song “I Can’t Get Enough” (complete with the two looking chummy in the music video)—this comment was read by fans as being targeted at Gomez. But if there was ever bad blood between the pair, they’ve clearly gotten over it, as Gomez herself indicated in response to one fan bringing up the incident. She replied: “he’s still better than anyone I’ve ever been with.”

However, it seems like the biggest issue Gomez’s fans have with Blanco is that they don’t find him to be attractive enough to be dating their fave. One Selenator (as Gomez’s fans are called) responded to the news, “HE IS SO UNHANDSOME,” while another commented, “HE IS SO NOOOO WHY? SELENA YOU ARE GORGEOUS WHAT THE HELL,” as another expressed hope that “this is marketing for a new album.” In a particularly nasty comment, one fan hypothesized that Gomez “has low esteem sadly,” stating, “There’s so many intelligent, talented, handsome clean men that want her but she always chooses the musty, problematic ones.” (It’s unknown what “problematic” thing the comment is referring to, if there is any.)

I imagine that it can’t feel good to read all these comments, but can’t Gomez just, I don’t know, log off? Why is she going full defense mode in the comments?

You would think that someone who’s been in the public eye for as long as Gomez has should know that sometimes—most times, even—saying nothing to online trolls is the best course of action. She could have just happily reveled in her newfound love without addressing strangers’ meaningless opinions on the matter. Instead, she chose to defend Blanco in a somewhat unhinged-looking way (I say this with love, as a Gomez fan), responding to multiple negative comments, rather than just, say, posting a cute couple photo with an emoji heart to combat the hate. Now she’s not only stuck appearing frazzled to all the onlookers, but she’s also getting dragged for her apparent hypocrisy, considering her history of making messy comments about her ex Bieber and his partners after their relationship ended.

Wait, what? What has she said? 

Bieber and Gomez have gone back and forth plenty of times on social media. Even most recently, back in March, there was an entire drama when Bieber’s wife, Hailey Bieber, and her Kardashian bestie, Kylie Jenner, were accused of bullying Gomez online by posting TikTok videos that seemed to poke fun at Gomez without actually naming her. That was just a recent continuation in a long line of drama between Gomez and Justin Bieber’s romantic partners dating back to when the two singers called it quits. Notably, there was the famed Instagram comment Gomez left on Bieber’s photo with his now-ex, Sofia Richie, in 2016. In response to negative comments left by fans of the Bieber-Gomez couple on a photo that Bieber had posted of him and Richie, Bieber threatened to make his Instagram private if fans didn’t “stop the hate,” pointing out that if they were truly his fans, they “wouldn’t be so mean to people” that he likes. Gomez, then, commented on that post: “If you can’t handle the hate then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol -it should be special between you two only, Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you and supported you before any one ever did.” Bieber volleyed back with, “It’s funny to see people that used me for attention and still try to point the finger this way. Sad. All love.” Which is, if anything, a great showcase of just how messy that relationship was in the public eye.

There are almost comical echoes of that situation with what’s going on with Gomez right now. But we’re not the only ones who’ve noticed. One fan lobbed Gomez’s 2016-era words right back at her, pasting her infamous comment nearly verbatim in reference to her new beau. It is unclear if Gomez gleaned the reference; she responded, “not mad,” and “I will always defend my friends family and fans till the day I die.”

Now what on earth does this have to do with *checks notes* Gaza?!?

Buckle up. One person online pointed out the irony that Gomez apparently has the energy to speak on this, but not larger things going on in the world, commenting: “she out here doing the absolute most under this post over some fuckass relationship but when asked to stand with the people of [Palestine] all of a sudden she had to take a social media bre— *call drops*.” To which Gomez, in what has to be a publicist’s worst nightmare, responded, “you’re right.”

This reply has summoned a growing wave of criticism of Gomez’s previous actions—or lack thereof—when it comes to political causes, social justice, and philanthropy. Some have pointed out that Gomez’s blasé-seeming acknowledgment of her silence regarding Palestine is leagues different than her statements against Russia’s war against Ukraine and her subsequent donation to UNICEF on the behalf of Ukrainian children. There was also the previous, brand-related controversy on the issue.

If that isn’t overheated enough, the tides have turned from ire at Gomez’s political response to ire of the more general variety. One Twitter user used a clip from the singer’s 2022 documentary My Mind & Me to show “what kind of person” she actually is, labeling her a person who “wants praise for maybe potentially doing good work in the future” instead of “doing good things selflessly.” Others have shared memes imagining Hailey Bieber’s gleeful reveling in Gomez’s apparent downfall, while a tweet that calls Gomez a “narcissistic loser” has received 10,000 likes.

Wow, OK. What was Gomez’s response to this?

Well, Gomez, as she is wont to do, announced that she was going on another social media break. She has a history of saying she’s going on a social media break (when she’s catching flak) only to return after a few days.

And, lo and behold, mere hours after announcing she was taking a break from Instagram, Gomez was spotted commenting on a new post of Ariana Grande’s. Since then, Gomez has also posted a photo of her wearing a ring with a “B”—for Benny Blanco?—on it. Social media breaks just aren’t what they used to be.