From Wizards Of Waverly Place to The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, Selena Gomez has navigated the jungle of success and fame since her teen years. But it now appears Selena wasn’t comfortable with every decision made for her during her career.
‘I actually did an album cover and I was really ashamed after I did it,’ Selena admitted in a roundtable interview for The Hollywood Reporter. ‘I had to work through those feelings because I realised it was attached to something deeper that was going on.’
The shame Selena felt stemmed from an album cover she shot for her 2015 record: Revival. In the photo, a 23-year-old Selena sits topless with her legs crossed in black shorts while staring down the lens of the camera. Shortly after the album was released, Selena took a break from the entertainment industry and cancelled all of her tour dates to focus on her mental health.
‘It was a choice that I wasn't necessarily happy that I made but I think I've done my best at least’ Selena says now of the album cover, ‘I've tried to be myself. And myself is, I'm not an overly sexual person, sometimes I like to feel sexy but that doesn't mean it's for somebody else, it's for me.’
Many tabloids reported that Selena was ‘ashamed’ by her choice to do the album cover. But fans on Twitter were quick to point out that the singer had feelings of shame which she’d later confronted and overcome—an important differentiation. When you’re sexualised from an early age, it can become hard to distinguish discomfort at being objectified from genuine emotions about your own sexuality.
‘I took control of the narrative of my life once I started becoming older because, growing up, I didn’t really have a choice,’ Selena said of her growth over the past seven years since Revival was released. ‘Now I understand that there are certain boundaries that I need to set for myself, and I respect and adore so many people, but I’ve got to do what’s best for me.’