As the most followed woman on Instagram with a staggering 429 million followers, Selena Gomez has never been much concerned with social media success.
“I’ve never really cared about that stuff,” Gomez said at Universal Music Group and Thrive Global’s Music & Health Conference on Tuesday afternoon. “I suppose I’m grateful for the platform, and I would love to continue to use it for what I’m able to do, but numbers are just numbers.”
Rather, she’s well aware of the responsibility that comes with such a far-reaching platform. In her position, Gomez has heard from several fans about how her work has helped them through extremely difficult times. “It can be a little heavy,” she continued. “I feel for people, and I think that’s what kind of keeps me in check, to be honest. I think I can be a little reckless with my emotions and having conversations with young people, women who are going through divorces or going through chemo — it’s not just about me, and I’m fully aware of that. I will just always cherish it. It’s a big responsibility, though. It’s a little scary.”
In a conversation with Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge and Thrive Global CEO Arianna Huffington to close out the day-long West Hollywood event, Gomez spoke on all aspects of her own mental health journey, in addition to what’s next for the Only Murders in the Building star. And while the multihyphenate makes music, stars in an acclaimed comedy series and owns her own cosmetics brand Rare Beauty, writing a book isn’t on the docket for Gomez anytime soon.
“Oh no, I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not wise enough. I don’t think I can do that. But does it mean that one day I wouldn’t be interested? I have fun things I would like to say but not right now.”
Last year, Gomez was the subject of Apple TV+ documentary My Mind and Me, which chronicled the star’s six-year journey battling autoimmune disease, mental illness and the pressures of being thrust into the limelight.
“I was very against it,” Gomez said about her initial thoughts on My Mind and Me. “There was a very long period of time where I just didn’t know if it was a good idea. I knew, eventually, one day I wanted to maybe just be an actress for a while, and I didn’t know if it would jeopardize things in my life. I don’t know what I’m doing, letting people into my life. And then the moment it was released…I had no choice at that point. And I was relieved. I felt like a huge weight was lifted.”
She added, “I felt like I got to say things that I’ve been keeping in for years. It’s very hard for me to watch. I will never watch it again, but I’m very proud of it. I couldn’t have been luckier to have the people that worked on it with me.”
The conversation also touched on the issue of AI, which continues to be a prevalent concern throughout Hollywood amid the double strike negotiations. As for Gomez’s thoughts on how it will affect the music industry, the VMA winner remains hopeful for the future. “I don’t think anybody in my field wants to feel like they need to lean on a computer in order to translate their story or what they’re trying to say,” she said. “It terrifies me, to be honest, the whole AI thing, but I don’t think you could ever replace what a human being can write… Lil Wayne said it really well, and he was basically saying that there’s no other human like who you are. And that’s all it should be.”
Coming off her newest single “Single Soon,” Gomez is expected to announce the release date of her third studio album SG3 in the near future. Next month, the former Disney Channel star’s nonprofit organization Rare Impact Fund is also hosting its first-ever benefit gala to raise money in support of mental health resources and fighting against stigma in the space.
Gomez’s sitdown followed a full day of programing at the Music and Health conference, which started with a keynote conversation between Grainge and Huffington, and Willow Bay — dean of the USC Annenberg School For Communication and Journalism and wife of Bob Iger — as the day’s emcee.
The event brought together leading experts from across the fields of music, science, health and well-being, fitness and technology, including Rick Rubin (via Zoom) in conversation with Bay and panel discussions featured prominent voices from science and medicine including Dr. Lisa Miller, Dr. Daniel Levitin, Dr. Assal Habibi, Jaron Lanier and neurosurgeon and scholar Dr. Ali Rezai. The day also featured a performance and chat with Republic Records’ artist Chelsea Cutler, along with breathing session and performance from Decca Records’ pianist and composer Chad Lawson.
