Back in December, Selena Gomez confirmed her relationship with music producer Benny Blanco.
Many of her fans expressed disappointment and outrage online, believing he once shaded her in an old interview.
Selena made headlines when she came to Benny's defense, calling him "the best thing that's ever happened to me." She replied to numerous comments on Instagram and told one fan, "If you can't accept me at my happiest then don't be in [my] life at all."
When one fan accused her of trolling, she announced she'd be taking a break from Instagram.
Well, Selena was a panelist at yesterday's TIME100 Summit, where she spoke about dealing with social media as the most followed woman on Instagram.
According to Elle, the 31-year-old said, "I just — I find it frustrating and then I get a little mouthy, and I wanna defend people I love."
"It’s important to take breaks. So I try to — I don’t really pay much attention. I’ll just do things here and there."
She addressed her four-year break from Instagram, saying, "I let my team post for me for those years. I felt like it was the most rewarding gift I gave myself. I think people, especially young kids — you’re sitting there so focused on what looks wonderful when everything that’s meant to be wonderful to you is not from here."
Selena said she was "more present" during the break. "I was happier. I would actually get real phone calls [from] people telling me about their story, and I could actually hear it instead of going, 'Oh, I already know what you did today.' It’s more human."
During the event, the singer also spoke about how "freeing" it was to share her bipolar disorder diagnosis back in 2020.
"It’s actually a bit freeing once I was able to get it out because for years, I was so confused that my emotions were so intense," she recalled. "And it was very confusing and then I went into psychosis, and all these confusing things were happening. And once I finally found the answer, it wasn’t, 'Oh, I have this problem.' It actually made me feel better to know and understand what was happening in my mind. And I actually found it to be less scary."
Though Selena noted that "words and titles" can confuse people, she said, "I've been lucky enough to have the right medications, and I believe in taking care of yourself. And I just wear it as a badge. I’m not ashamed of it in any way."
