Selena's Untold Story

After years of projecting strength amid health and love woes, Selena Gomez admits life in the public eye hasn't been easy

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The comments were brutal. “Definitely pregnant,” “I would skip lunch,” and “She got bigger” were just a few of the hurtful jabs written after Selena Gomez posted photos of herself on Instagram enjoying a night out following the Golden Globes in January. The singer-actress hit back, explaining in a February TikTok Live that her weight fluctuates due to meds she takes for the autoimmune disease lupus. “My medications are important, and I believe that they’re what helps me,” she declared, adding, “Not a model, never will be.”

While Selena seemed to brush off the criticism, weeks later she got honest about how all the hate and body shaming — which stretches back years — have really affected her. “I lied. I would go online, and I would post a picture of myself, and I would say, ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m not accepting what you’re saying,’ ” she said on the March 10 episode of Apple TV+’s Dear… Yet, in reality, Selena confessed, she was actually “crying my eyes out because nobody deserves to hear those things.”

Now, at 30, the former child star “is sharing the real story of what it was like growing up in the public eye — how it hasn’t been pretty,” says a source. Though she’s long attempted to put a positive spin on things, “she’s admitted to her friends, ‘I’ve been lying to my fans for years.’ Her life may look glamorous from the outside, but fame almost destroyed Selena.”