Selena Gomez photographed at Rare Beauty headquarters in El Segundo in July.
(Jessica Chow/Trunk Archive)
428 million people follow Selena Gomez’s every move on Instagram, which is BeyoncéTaylor Swift, or the Kardashians.
For a performer who was famous since she was a child (she was appearing regularly on the Disney Channel by the time she was 15), this constant scrutiny has taken a toll, with harsh comments about her relationships and appearance taking a toll on her mental health. She has stepped away from social media multiple times to focus on “what really matters,” but she has always found a way back online, choosing instead to use her massive platform to speak her mind.
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In the 2022 documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me, she revealed that she had sought treatment at a psychiatric facility after cancelling her world tour in 2016. At the time, she said she needed help to deal with the anxiety, panic attacks and depression caused by her lupus, but later revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Since then, Gomez, 31, has launched the Rare Impact Fund, which hopes to raise $100 million over the next decade to support youth mental health. She also co-founded Wondermind, a digital platform that offers mental fitness tips and resources. And in 2022, she met with President Biden to discuss ways to eliminate the stigma surrounding people with mental health issues.
“I’m not perfect. I’m human. There are obstacles I have to overcome.”
– Selena Gomez
“I’m not perfect. I’m human. I’ve been through a lot,” the Texas native said during her conversation with the president. “And that’s why I think it’s important for someone like me to be able to stand, hopefully, on the other side of the voice and say, I don’t have it all together, I’ve had to go through this, I’ve tried everything to get away from this feeling.”
Like many celebrities, Gomez uses social media to promote her projects, and she has many. Her cosmetics line, Rare Beauty, is expected to make about $300 million in sales in 2023, but none of her products cost more than $30. She is also executive producer and co-star of Hulu’s acclaimed Only Murders in the Building, alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short. She is also currently developing a version of the at-home cooking show Selena + Chef through her production company July Moon. Her fourth studio album is reportedly due for release this year.
Oh, and TikTok announced that she was the most popular artist in the United States on the video-sharing platform in 2023. But she only has like 58 million followers. So, yeah, whatever.
