On March 1, 2018, Selena Gomez posted her very last Instagram of Justin Bieber, making their renewed relationship as Instagram official as it got before it faded out later in the month. Their break became a breakup as winter became spring, and in June, Bieber started his whirlwind romance with Hailey Baldwin. Those two are married now, of course. But Gomez is doing great too, Us Weekly reports. She’s over the on-off Bieber drama that consumed her life for most of her late teens and early to mid-twenties. And she’s thrilled that she can put that chapter behind her musically too.
“Selena feels extremely relieved that she could finally share her side of the story and be at peace with finally closing that chapter of her life with Justin,” a source told the outlet. “She loved being able to tell her truth through her own art and her own way. It took a lot of discipline, obedience and strength to get her mental and emotional health back in a good place.”
That source added that Gomez isn’t actively looking for a boyfriend right now, but she’s open to the possibility. She’s focused on her music and mental health. “[She] isn’t actively looking or going out of her way to be in a relationship right now,” the source said. “She is still healing, but now knows what kind of guy she would want to date and what qualities he would need to have in order for her and her future boyfriend to be in a healthy, thriving, loving and supportive relationship.”
Gomez shared the most about her relationship with Bieber during her NPR interview in January. She confirmed her song “Lose You to Love Me” was about him and described him as being emotionally abusive to her at points.
“I had something beautiful and I would never deny that it wasn’t that,” Gomez started. “It was very difficult and I’m happy it’s over. And I felt like this was a great way to just say, you know, it’s done, and I understand that, and I respect that, and now here I am stepping into a whole other chapter.”
“Saying goodbye to Justin Bieber, who I’m assuming you’re speaking about,” NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro said.
“You had to get the name in, I get it,” Gomez conceded.
Garcia-Navarro asked if getting over Bieber and that relationship was one of the harder parts of her life she had gone through.
“No, because I’ve found the strength in it,” Gomez said. “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—”
“You mean emotional abuse?” Garcia-Navarro asked.
“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. 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.”