Feb. 18 (UPI) — Selena Gomez shared a message with her fans this week to address online criticism of recent changes in her appearance. The star of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building says that her weight gain is due to medication for lupus.
Gomez announced her diagnosis in 2015. She ultimately had a kidney transplant in 2017 and she’s undergone chemotherapy as well.
On a TikTok livestream on Thursday, Gomez explained how the medication necessary to control her condition can impact her.
“I tend to hold a lot of water weight, and that happens very normally. When I’m off of it, I tend to lose weight,” Gomez said. “I just wanted to say and encourage anyone out there who feels any sort of shame for exactly what they’re going through, and no one knows the real story.”
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, lupus is a “chronic (long-term) disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. It’s an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system — the body system that usually fights infections — attacks healthy tissue instead.”
Gomez, the former Disney Channel star, has had to respond to critics before. Last year, she shared a fast food order on TikTok to show that despite critics she was going to sometimes eat whatever she wanted, regardless of their comments.
“So I be trying to stay skinny, but I went to Jack in the Box and I got four tacos, three egg rolls, onion rings and a spicy chicken sandwich,” she said, per E! “But honestly, I don’t care about my weight because people bitch about it anyway. ‘You’re too small,’ ‘you’re too big,” that doesn’t fit.’ ‘Meh meh meh meh.'”
She added, “[Expletive], I am perfect the way I am.”
Lupus is a disease that affects 1.5 million Americans. Nine out of 10 people with lupus are women who can develop the disorder between 15 and 44, per the Lupus Foundation. It is manageable but not curable. African American, Hispanic, and Native American women are particularly susceptible.
“It’s the medication I have to take for the rest of my life — it depends on even the month, to be honest,” Gomez said on the Giving Back Generation podcast in 2019. “So for me, I really noticed when people started attacking me for that. And in reality, that’s just my truth. I fluctuate. It depends on what’s happening in my life.”
Gomez was one of the actors and actresses on the cover of the annual Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair along with Jonathan Majors, Ana de Armas, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh. It was released this week.
She closed the video by thanking her supporters and those who’ve shared positive messages with her through her health challenges.
“I just want people to know that you’re beautiful, and you’re wonderful. Yeah, we have days where maybe we feel like s—, but I would rather be healthy and take care of myself. My medications are important, and I believe that they’re what helps me.”
She added, “Not a model, never will be. And I think they’re awesome mind you, but I’m definitely not that.”
