Selena Gomez opened up about suffering from emotional abuse while dating Justin Bieber.
“I’ve found the strength in it,” the “Lose You to Love Me” singer, 27, told NPR on Sunday, January 26, when asked if her March 2018 breakup with the Grammy winner, 25, was one of the “harder parts” of her life. “It’s dangerous to stay in a victim mentality. And I’m not being disrespectful, I do feel I was a victim to certain abuse.”
When the reporter asked if she had experienced “emotional abuse” specifically, the Wizards of Waverly Place alum said, “Yes, and I think that it’s something that — I had to find a way to understand it as an adult. And I had to understand the choices I was making.”
The actress added, “As much as I definitely don’t want to spend the rest of my life talking about this, I am really proud that I can say I feel the strongest I’ve ever felt and I’ve found a way to just walk through it with as much grace as possible.”
She and the “Yummy” singer dated on and off between 2011 to 2018. After their split, Bieber quickly moved on with Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin), who he’d previously dated in 2015. The pair tied the knot in September 2018, followed by a second ceremony in September 2019 with friends and family.
“Selena is in a good place,” a source told Us Weekly exclusively at the time. “She has been hanging out with old friends and family and keeping herself out of the limelight and away from public places where she might feel bombarded or overwhelmed. Selena has an amazing support system and couldn’t be more grateful.”
While the former Disney Channel star is currently “open” to dating, she is “solely focused on herself and enjoying life to the best of her ability and getting back to being the Selena that she and all of her close ones knew prior to dating Justin.”
The insider went on to say, “Selena knows she’s better off without Justin, and that it’s the healthiest decision for her.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Bieber’s rep for comment on Gomez’s statement.
