Selena Gomez has taken a break from social media after defending her “best friend” Taylor Swift.
On Thursday, old footage emerged of Swift being mocked by Hailey Bieber, leading Gomez to leap into the TikTok comments to write: “Sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game."
Following her comment, she received backlash from fans asking why she felt the need to throw fuel on an old fire.
Later that day, Gomez took to TikTok Live to reveal she’d be pressing pause on the online platforms as she is “too old for this".
“I’m gonna be taking a second from social media cause this is a little silly and I’m 30," she said. “I’m too old for this.
Selena Gomez announces she’s taking a break from social media:
— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 23, 2023
“I’m gonna be taking a second from social media cause this is a little silly and I’m 30, I’m too old for this.” pic.twitter.com/LxWbSpxThj
“But I love you guys so much and I will see you guys sooner than later. I’m just going to have to take a break from everything.”
Following her Live, Gomez deactivated her TikTok account. However, her Instagram account remains active.
Things kicked off on Thursday when a troll posted an old clip showing fashion model Bieber and rapper Method Man, who used to co-host the show Drop The Mic, taking aim at Swift’s infamous “revenge" songs.
Method Man took a dig at Swift by saying he was going to start a “rap battle [with fellow rappers] full of the meanest lyrics about a celebrity since Taylor Swift’s last album".
Selena Gomez shows support for Taylor Swift under a resurfaced video of Hailey Bieber gagging after Taylor is mentioned. pic.twitter.com/uMl7VsgVq3
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 23, 2023
His mention of Swift prompted Bieber to stick her tongue out pretending to vomit.
A TikTok account posted the video and wrote: “This is REAL Hailey Bieber," denouncing the 26-year-old as a “bully" and a “mean girl".
Rather than ignoring the years-old post, Gomez jumped to Swift’s defence.
This led to a mixed bag of comments, with some praising the star for defending her famous pal to others slamming her for giving the trolling more attention.
There were also many who questioned why Gomez, who has been pals with Swift since 2008, consistently looks for posts like this and comments on them.
Earlier in the week, Gomez also responded to fan speculation that Kylie Jenner and Bieber mocked her eyebrows in a TikTok video.
Gomez got fan attention again for leaving comments on three more TikTok posts about Bieber.
She also commented on a fourth TikTok where a user encouraged fans to leave Gomez alone, pointing out that she would not read the mean comments left on her page.
Gomez replied, “facts”.
Although Gomez’s fans have relentlessly trolled Bieber on social media, the two women have recently denied that there is any bad blood between them.
The singer and actress famously had a longtime on-off romance with pop-star Justin Bieber, who just months after they split in 2018 went on to marry Hailey.
A month after the marriage, Gomez reportedly suffered a breakdown connected to her lupus and entered treatment for her mental health.
Fans have routinely blamed Hailey for Gomez and Bieber’s split, something the model has always denied.
