Regarding leaving Instagram around the same time, Gomez told the outlet, “I had just gotten my heart broken. I didn’t need to see what everyone was doing. Then there were those moments of not feeling positive about how I looked because of what I’d see on Instagram. Wow, I wish my body looked like that…” That was the only part of the article where there was any reference to her time with Bieber.

The fan on TikTok brought up the mean comments Gomez was receiving on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the interview was published. They pointed out the absurdity of the situation, saying, “Apparently Selena Gomez can’t address life experiences anymore, and she can’t talk about past relationships even though a ton of other celebrities do the same every fucking day in articles.” To those claiming Gomez was just using Bieber for attention, they cited her own career success that preceded her relationship with him. She is “in the news all the time,” they said, adding, “It is very delusional to think that she’s getting clout from Justin Bieber.”

Gomez saw the video, as celebrity news fan account PopFaction first noted and ELLE.com confirmed, and commented “Thank you so much!” on it. It is a very rare comment from the singer on the online discourse about her.