Selena Gomez Would Like You to Leave Her (and Her Appearance) Alone

If you’re a celebrity, it’s pretty much expected that everything you do is up for public discussion — and scrutiny. BF caught at Sushi Park with someone that wasn’t you? It’s probably on TMZ. You decide to get bangs? You can guarantee the world has thoughts. But one thing that shouldn’t ever be up for discussion? Their physical appearance, including rampant speculation about the cosmetic tweaks folks like Bella Hadid, Jennifer Lawrence and Chrissy Teigen have had done. And it turns out they’re over it, too.

Just ask Selena Gomez. On July 30, the Only Murders In The Building actress waded into the murky waters of #CosmeticTok, commenting on a video from TikTok user Marissa Barrionuevo (a.k.a. @marissathepa), a Florida-based plastic surgery physician’s assistant, who shares educational vids about Botox and other cosmetic procedures.

The 2023 video in question was in response to a user comment asking Barrionuevo to share what cosmetic procedures she thinks Gomez has had done — a popular trend of videos on the app. In response to the video, Gomez commented: “Honestly I hate this. I was on stripes [sic] because of flare up. I have Botox. Leave me alone.” Essentially, kindly STFU.

To be clear, Barrionuevo was pretty much saying just that in her video, stating: “I literally have no idea what she’s gotten done,” adding: “When it comes to Botox and filler, I do these things when I’m pretty confident that I know what someone has gotten done; but when it comes to Selena, I literally have no idea what to attribute her physical changes to. People say lupus diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease>, people say other things, and at the end of the day, let’s just leave her be, I feel like she’s been through enough in her life and she’s beautiful regardless.”

And we couldn’t agree more. Because it’s 2024, and we seriously need to stop talking about people’s physical appearances. Not only is it tacky, it’s extremely harmful.

This isn’t the first time people have talked about Selena Gomez’s appearance

Despite Barrionuevo using her platform to tell people to mind their own business, Gomez’s response to the video is 100 per cent understandable, because this is far from the first time people have publicly dissected her looks, specifically how her physical appearance has changed due to her fluctuating weight (raise your hand if that’s relatable).

While growing up as a young woman in the spotlight means you’re always at the mercy of prying eyes (editor’s note: we hate it), commentary around Gomez’s appearance reached a fever pitch in March 2018 when photos of the star wearing a bathing suit on the beach started making the rounds on social media. Fans quickly started speculating about her weight — something Gomez attributed to the medication she takes for lupus — and body shaming her.

In a 2019 interview on the Giving Back Generation podcast, Gomez shared how the comments affected her, saying they “messed [her] up,” especially considering the attacks were for something out of her control. “In reality, that’s just my truth. I fluctuate. It depends what’s happening in my life, it’s out of my control and that got to me big time,” Gomez said.  And since then, comments about Gomez’s looks have been as constant as those about her completely fabricated “feud” with Hailey Bieber.

In February 2023, Gomez went live on Instagram to once again defend herself against body shaming, receiving support from fans in the aftermath.

And most recently, in January 2024, Gomez took to Instagram Stories to comment on the changes in her body throughout the years, sharing photos of herself from years past and present day, writing:“Today I realized I will never look like this again…” Gomez followed up that statement with another, sharing: “I’m not perfect, but I am proud to be who I am… Sometimes I forget it’s OK to be me.”

On one hand, it’s fair to be skeptical of what celebs want us to believe

Speculation about Gomez feels icky because it is — but it also doesn’t come from nowhere. Commentary on whether or not your fave TikToker had her buccal fat removed or which one of the Kardashians had yet another nose job stems from the fact that, as consumers, we’re constantly being fed an unattainable (and often dangerous) ideal beauty standard and told it’s normal. With celebs regularly tweaking their appearances — then sometimes straight-up lying about it (we’re looking at you lip kit-era Kylie Jenner), people are being led to believe that these celebs are aging normally.

And it can have an incredibly negative impact on fans and followers. They’re trotted out time and time again, but we only have to look so far as the Kardashian/Jenner family. As FASHION noted in a recent article about Kylie Jenner, after the youngest Jenner revealed in 2016 that her suddenly plump pout was indeed due to lip filler and not over-lining like she long claimed (and hawked Lip Kit products because of), the American Society for Plastic Surgeons reported “a sharp increase in lip procedures.” And a 2018 study found that butt-enhancing procedures like Brazilian Butt Lifts (BBL) had increased by  256 per cent since 2000.

This is a tangible and long-lasting impact, and one that’s causing young people to cosmetically alter their appearances in search of “beauty.” Through this lens, it’s kind of understandable that people would wonder what might be behind a change in their favourite celeb’s appearance, or at least question if the image they’re being sold is authentic.

But we have to be careful what we say

The thing is, as a culture we have become almost obsessive about uncovering the truth behind celebrities’ altered appearances. While Barrionuevo didn’t delve into speculation about what Gomez may or may not have done by way of cosmetics procedures, there are lots of people — both certified professionals and armchair amateurs — who do, breaking down the intricacies of people’s “flaws,” imperfections and, sometimes, insecurities in a way that makes it feel like a “gotcha” sport. Not to mention these videos open up room for everyone on the internet to comment on their appearance, often in a way that dehumanizes the celebs and seemingly forgets that it’s actually a real person they’re picking apart.

And despite how close we may feel we are to celebs like Gomez, at the end of the day we don’t actually know what’s going on with their lives — and health. In 2020, actor Chadwick Boseman became the subject of chatter when photos of him appearing thin started popping up online, with fans commenting that the star looked too skinny. Unbeknownst to almost anyone, Boseman was battling colon cancer. The actor passed away after a four-year battle on August 28 of that year. As Barrionuevo noted in her video about Gomez,  the star has already gone through a lot when it comes to her health. “I think she’s been through so much in her life, especially medically-related, so I don’ think it’s fair to speculate whether or not she’s gotten cosmetic things done,” Barrionuevo said — because, it’s literally out of her hands.

If anything, Gomez’s recent comments are a reminder that, when it comes to commenting on celeb — or anyone’s appearance — the best thing to do is probably zip it.