There are 428 million people who track Selena Gomez’s every move on Instagram, a legion of followers larger than those counted by Beyoncé, Taylor Swift or any Kardashian.
For a performer who has been famous since she was a kid — she had a regular gig on the Disney Channel by the time she was 15 — such incessant scrutiny has taken its toll as cutting comments about her romantic life or her looks hurt her mental health. She has taken numerous social media breaks to focus “on what really matters.” But she’s always found her way back online, opting instead to use her massive platform for real talk.
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In her 2022 documentary, “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me,” she opened up about seeking treatment at a psychiatric facility after canceling a world tour in 2016. At the time, she said she needed help dealing with anxiety, panic attacks and depression caused by lupus — but she later revealed she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Since then, Gomez, 31, has launched the Rare Impact Fund, for which she hopes to raise $100 million in the next decade to help young people with their mental health. She also co-founded Wondermind, a digital platform offering mental fitness tips and resources. And in 2022, she met with President Biden to discuss how to erase the stigma for those dealing with their mental well-being.
‘I’m not perfect, I’m human. I have things that I walk through.’
— Selena Gomez
“I’m not perfect, I’m human. I have things that I walk through,” the Texas native said in conversation with the president. “That’s why I feel like people like me, hopefully, can be the other side of the voice and say … I don’t have it all put together, I have had to work through this. I’ve tried everything to escape this feeling.”
Like most celebrities, Gomez uses social media to promote her projects, too. And she has a lot of them. There’s her cosmetics line, Rare Beauty, which made around $300 million in 2023 — and no product costs more than $30. She’s an executive producer and co-star of Hulu’s critically acclaimed “Only Murders in the Building” alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short. She’s still making versions of her at-home cooking show, “Selena + Chef,” through her production company, July Moon. Her fourth studio album is reportedly due out this year.
Oh, and TikTok announced that she was the most popular artist in the U.S. on the video-sharing platform in 2023. But she only has around 58 million followers there. So, like, whatever.