Mental Health

Selena Gomez Taking a Break from Social Media After Deciding She's “Too Old for This”

The pop star made the announcement shortly after surpassing Kylie Jenner as the most followed person on Instagram.
Selena Gomez Taking a Break from Social Media After Deciding She's “Too Old for This”
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

The same week that she surpassed Kylie Jenner to become the most followed person on Instagram, Selena Gomez has decided it's once again time for her to step away from social media for the sake of her mental health.

The pop star announced during her TikTok Live on Thursday, “I'm going to be taking a second from social media, because this is a little silly. I'm 30, I'm too old for this. But I love you guys so much and I will see you guys sooner than later.” She added, “I'm just gonna take a break from everything,” reassuring her fans that she's “very happy” and “so blessed.” She continued, “I have the best friends, the best fans in the whole world, and I just couldn't be happier. I'm good, I love the way I am, I don't care. I'm big, I'm not, I don't care. I love who I am.”

This hiatus comes shortly after Gomez responded to two TikTok videos featuring Hailey Bieber, who is married to the singer's ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber. Last week, the Only Murders in the Building star commented on a fan-made video that featured a since-deleted TikTok the model had originally posted in January that the fan implied was a dig at Gomez. However, the musician commented on the clip, “It's ok! I don't let these things get me down! Be nice to everyone! x.” Hailey also took the time to set the record straight, writing, “I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls night and did a random tik tok sound for fun. It's not directed at anyone.” Earlier that week, the singer also commented on a viral TikTok of a clip from the show Drop the Mic, in which Bieber made a gagging gesture when Taylor Swift's name was mentioned. “So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game,” Gomez wrote in a comment.

In an interview with Vanity Fair this month, the Selena + Chef creator also addressed her complicated relationship with social media and why she ultimately decided to outsource it to her assistant. “I never got the chance to go to an actual high school. The world was my high school for the longest time, and I started getting inundated with information that I didn’t want. I went through a hard time in a breakup and I didn’t want to see any of the [feedback]—not necessarily about the relationship, but the opinions of me versus [someone] else. There’d be thousands of really nice comments, but my mind goes straight to the mean one,” Gomez explained. “People can call me ugly or stupid and I’m like, Whatever. But these people get detailed. They write paragraphs that are so specific and mean. I would constantly be crying. I constantly had anxiety…I couldn’t do it anymore. It was a waste of my time.” These days, she continued, “The only thing I have on my phone is TikTok because I find it to be a little less hostile. There are wonderful things about social media—connecting with fans, seeing how happy and excited they are and their stories. But usually that’s filtered through [for me now]. I created a system. Everything I do I send to my assistant who posts them. As far as comments, my team will put together a few things that are encouraging.”