After attending the premiere of her new film, Emilia Perez, Selena Gomez took a stand against body-shaming remarks.
Following her appearance at the French American Film Festival in Los Angeles on October 29, the 32-year-old actress and singer responded to online criticism regarding her body.
Some TikTok users speculated that Selena was trying to conceal her figure when she posed with her hands over her stomach, suggesting she was “hiding” her body. For the event, she wore a chic asymmetric black dress with a thigh-high slit, exuding elegance and confidence.
While her press tour for Emilia Perez has featured glamorous looks, Selena has also embraced showing the less polished side of herself. After attending the film0’s October 21 premiere at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, she humorously shared a picture of her skin breaking out, captioning it on October 22 with, “Even my skin is over me.” This open approach to her appearance is familiar to her fans, who have followed her journey with health issues, including her lupus diagnosis and kidney transplant in 2017.
In an October 3 interview with Fast Company, Selena expressed how unrealistic beauty standards can affect self-esteem, noting, “None of the sample sizes were fitting, and that would make me feel embarrassed. Although how unrealistic is it to expect a normal woman’s body not to change?” She also shared how social media intensified these pressures, especially during difficult times, saying, “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.'”
Despite the criticism, Selena remains dedicated to promoting self-love and body positivity. In a video posted in February 2023, she encouraged fans by saying, “I just want people to know that you’re beautiful and you’re wonderful. Yes, we have days where maybe we feel down, but I would much rather be healthy and take care of myself. My medications are important, and I believe they are what helps me. So yeah, not a model, never will be. And I think they’re awesome, mind you, but I’m definitely not that.”
In response to a now-deleted video, Selena commented, “This makes me sick. I have SIBO in my small intestine. It flares up. I don’t care that I don’t look like a sick figure. I don’t have that body. End of story. No, I am NOT a victim. I’m just human.”
The Mayo Clinic describes small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) as a condition where excessive bacteria, often atypical for the small intestine, accumulate in that part of the digestive tract.