Taylor Swift, Flavor Flav, Selena Gomez. Getty Images(3)
Flavor Flav is in Selena Gomez’s corner.
“I don’t know her personally,,, but Selena Gomez is one of the STRONGEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL people inside and out,” Flav, 65, wrote via X on Monday, November 4. “I applaud her for being so open about her health and mental health. And I applaud her even more for clapping back at haterz,,, but she shouldn’t have to.”
He concluded his message with three clapping hands emojis, alongside a picture of Gomez, 32, posing on a red carpet.
The post was seemingly a reaction to Gomez’s recent response to body-shaming comments. “This makes me sick. I have SEBO [sic] in my small intestine,” she wrote via TikTok in a since-deleted comment, referring to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. “It flares up. I don’t care that I don’t look like a stick figure. I don’t have that body. End of story. No I am NOT a victim. I’m just human.”
Flav — who has been outspoken about his love for Gomez’s BFF Taylor Swift, even exclusively telling Us Weekly in September that he wants to marry Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce — uploaded a separate GIF of Gomez talking with the Eras Tour performer.
In the video, Swift appeared shocked by what Gomez was saying. “Me finding out Taylor and Selena are best friends,” he captioned the clip.
Gomez has been candid about her mental health battle through the years. After she was diagnosed with lupus, Gomez pursued treatment in 2014. Since then, she has attended various voluntary programs for anxiety, panic attacks and depression.
Gomez shared in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Two years later, she released her documentary, My Mind & Me, where she detailed experiencing suicidal thoughts that led her to cancel a tour.
Starting a dialogue. Selena Gomez has spoken candidly about her struggles with mental health over the years. The singer first sought treatment in 2014 after she was diagnosed with lupus. She has since attended various voluntary programs to manage anxiety, panic attacks and depression. Nine months after she completed treatment in January 2018, Us Weekly […]
Now, when she rewatched the film, Gomez said it makes her “sick” to hear what she was saying about herself.
“It bums me out,” she said during a panel called “Mindfulness Over Perfection: Getting Real on Mental Health” at SXSW in March. “But I think everybody can relate to that feeling. It’s important to speak to yourself with kindness, but I don’t think I really understood that [at the start of the film] … It’s weird being able to see myself so long ago saying those things that I would never say to myself now.”
The Only Murders in the Building star said she was “terrified” to release the documentary. “I went back and forth of whether I’d do it or not,” she admitted. “I think the moment I did that, I felt this insane amount of release because there wasn’t any hiding anymore. There wasn’t just this image that people could see and think, ‘Oh, it looks nice.’ It’s probably one of the hardest moments of my life.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
