Justice

What Selena Gomez Has to Say About Her Body Shamers

September 15th 2015

During a recent interview for "On Air with Ryan Seacrest," pop star Selena Gomez promoted her upcoming album "Revival" and discussed her experiences with body shaming over the past year.

The singer, who has been in the spotlight for many years, discussed her nude album cover, which received negative feedback from commenters on social media because of her seemingly fuller look. As Gomez told host Ryan Seacrest, she's not new to the world of body shaming, as online commenters made fun of her figure in the spring when tabloids published photos of her swimsuit "curves" on vacation. Gomez admits to gaining weight, but the negative response from commenters was tough to process nonetheless.

Following media stories about her vacation pictures, Gomez shared this Instagram snapshot in April declaring, "I love being happy with me yall #theresmoretolove."

"The past year was so interesting," Gomez said to Seacrest. "I've never been body shamed before ... [I was body shamed] for sure. I mean, I did gain weight, but I don't care ... I posted [the above photo] on Instagram and I was like, 'there's more to love, I'm happy with myself.' The reason why I did that was [because] I didn't want them to win. Because then the next day, it wasn't about how I gained weight, it was about how I embraced it."

Gomez also addressed the issue of Internet trolls during her sit-down with Seacrest.

"Sometimes you can't help [reading mean comments]," she said. "I full on catch myself just doing it and other times I know how to avoid it. It's inevitable, you're going to see it. It's so evil, it's crazy how mean people are."

The Texas native made similar remarks about body shaming during a promotional interview with "The Cruz Show."

“You have to understand that I dealt with a lot of body shaming this year, and I’ve never experienced that before," she said. "I don’t care about that stuff, but I did start gaining weight … Man, that hurt. That was really hurtful. Because I’ve experienced people who have tried to control that kind of stuff before, and I didn’t care. This is my time. I want to do it the way I want to do it.”

Gomez, of course, isn't the first woman in entertainment to come forward about her challenges with body image. Earlier this year, "Orange is the New Black" actress Dascha Polanco told the Huffington Post that she's struggled with feeling good about herself all her life. However, she is trying to use her celebrity to help other women feel more confident about themselves.

"I think it’s very important [to talk about it] when you’re in a position of where you are looked upon or onto as a role model or inspiration," she told the publication. "Young girls and women, we all need that sense of security and that empowerment, so it’s very important for me to display that."

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