Selena Gomez is, of course, no stranger to the public eye — and yet, her consistent, relentless message of spreading positivity is still to be acknowledged by the general public. On Feb. 16, the singer addressed, once again, the comments on her weight in a TikTok live, opening up about her experience getting treatment for Lupus. Her message left fans with the reminder that everyone deserves to be loved, no matter what they look like.
Gomez has been transparent about her journey and struggles with her autoimmune disease ever since her diagnosis, which she first revealed to the public in 2015. She also underwent a kidney transplant in 2017 after experiencing complications from Lupus. In her recent livestream, the Rare Beauty founder shared with her followers that the medication she is taking causes her weight to fluctuate.
“I tend to hold a lot of water weight and that happens very normally, and then when I’m off [the medication] I tend to kind of lose weight,” she said. “I just wanted to say and encourage anyone out there who feels any sort of shame for exactly what [you’re] going through, [when] nobody knows the real story… you’re beautiful and you’re wonderful.”
Gomez also added that, like anyone else, there were days that she felt “like sh*t,” but she stated that she would rather be healthy, and that her medications are more important. “So yeah, not a model, never will be,” Gomez said. “Thanks for supporting me and understanding, and if not… go away. Because, honestly, I don’t believe in shaming people for [their] body or anything.”
Interrupted by fans who were adding filters — like a cowboy hat and mustache — during the TikTok live, Gomez headed off early since she eventually got frustrated with the distractions while responding to the criticism. “This is getting a little too much,” she said, blocking the filters by putting a hand over her face. “I just wanted to tell you I love you guys.”
Selena Gomez has previously spoken out against body-shaming on TikTok, and her recent comments are not the first time she’s taken a stand. In a video last year, she proudly shared her Jack in the Box order of four tacos, egg rolls, and onion rings: “I don’t care about my weight because people b*tch about it anyways,” she joked. “‘You’re too small,’ ‘You’re too big,’ ‘That doesn’t fit.’ B*tch, I am perfect the way I am.”
In a feature for Vogue‘s Life in Looks, the singer also recalled her appearance at the 2015 Met Gala, revealing that she “didn’t feel good about my body” due to weight fluctuations. She concluded, though, by offering a positive perspective, as always: “That was one of the moments where I was like, ‘I don’t have to be that 19-year-old body shape anymore, because I’m not.”