Selena Gomez: "Master" of attracting attention and reminiscing about 14 years with Justin Bieber. (ct)

Many fans have wondered: Will Selena Gomez ever let go of the story related to Justin Bieber?

The romance of Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin has been a particularly noteworthy topic in recent days due to its happy ending. The couple finally had good news, preparing to welcome their first child. And despite garnering over 15 million likes, thousands of congratulatory comments from both fans and A-list celebrities, the famous singer couple still had to “share” the spotlight with… Justin Bieber’s ex, Selena Gomez. It could be said that Selena Gomez is a lasting memory for audiences in Justin Bieber’s life.

Despite dating many other famous celebrities in the past, the relationship between these two stars has always been the most talked about by the general public and… repeatedly mentioned throughout the past 14 years. The couple, known as Jelena (a combination of Justin and Selena), began their relationship in 2010, breaking up multiple times to the point where it became the most complicated romance in Hollywood history and officially ended in March 2018. Interestingly, Justin Bieber married Hailey Baldwin in September of the same year. Previously, a significant portion of the public always believed that Hailey was the “third party,” the replacement for Selena in Justin Bieber’s life, and haunted by her husband’s ex. However, several details contribute to making audiences question: is it actually Selena Gomez who holds the memory for Justin Bieber and Hailey?

“The Master” of Attention-Grabbing

Selena Gomez is dubbed the Instagram queen, the woman with the largest following on this social media platform with a milestone of 428 million followers. She has also achieved tremendous success in the business realm with her $2 billion cosmetics empire named Rare Beauty. Just a brief overview is enough for us to grasp a general understanding of her impressive level of promotion and marketing skills in the public eye.

With limited singing and acting talents compared to her peers, to achieve fame in today’s highly competitive showbiz industry, she undoubtedly must possess a sophisticated mindset when it comes to PR and self-promotion. Selena Gomez is considered a “marketing master,” a “queen of stratagems” in both her personal relationships and her life. Let’s discuss some of the strategies this renowned singer uses to maintain her relevance across all social media platforms despite fluctuating artistic activities over the years. And because she employs these methods too frequently, the general public can easily discern them, and many openly mock or feel disgusted by the antics of the famous singer.

This algorithm follows the following pattern:

Selena Gomez gets involved in drama with a certain celebrity.
The drama concludes with reconciliation or confrontation between the two parties.
1-2 months or 1-2 years later, the singer comments/reacts on social media regarding any posts related to the drama or condemns the characters involved in the drama, once again igniting debate.
The controversy ends, and Selena Gomez declares she will deactivate her social media account, claiming she can no longer tolerate the negativity.
Selena Gomez returns to social media shortly thereafter as if nothing happened.

The most typical example of this “algorithm” used by the queen of stratagems is the eyebrow-raising controversy involving Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner in 2023. Since marrying Justin Bieber, Hailey has always been scrutinized, criticized, and even accused of copying her husband’s ex. Things seemed to have calmed down when Hailey and Selena took friendly photos together at the gala event of the Film Museum Institute in Los Angeles in October 2022, until Selena Gomez once again stirred up tensions.

Selena reacted to a fan’s TikTok video about Hailey pretending to gag when Taylor Swift was mentioned while hosting Drop the Mic years ago. “Sorry, but my best friend was and is one of the winners of this game,” Selena commented below the fan’s video. Fans and netizens alike rallied behind Selena and Taylor, seeing Selena as a hero for standing up to defend her friend, even though… this controversy had passed years ago.

The incident escalated further because of the subsequent controversy. Selena Gomez posted a video sharing her eyebrow mishap. Just a few hours later, Kylie Jenner posted a screenshot of a FaceTime call between her and Hailey Bieber, accompanied by a caption implying: “Was that really an accident?” Accused of “throwing shade,” Kylie had to clarify that she had no ill intentions, and even Selena agreed. The aftermath of the “shade-throwing” drama resulted in Kylie losing over 450 thousand followers on Instagram, Hailey Bieber losing over 300 thousand followers, and Hailey even having to reach out to Selena Gomez for help due to death threats following the “eyebrow” drama. Selena Gomez demonstrated her power and influence by gaining 1 million followers within 9 hours of the controversy. Interestingly, Selena declared she would deactivate her social media due to this controversy but returned just a week later.

A similar tactic was previously used by Selena in the notable story involving her close friend, kidney donor, Francia Raisa. From 2022 to 2023, Selena Gomez was embroiled in controversy with her allegedly ungrateful behavior toward her friend Francia who donated a kidney to her. After about a year of tension, things quieted down. The singer suddenly reignited the drama by posting a birthday wish to her friend and directly tagging Francia Raisa’s account to draw attention.

Notably, Francia did not react in any way, not even liking the post, despite continuously reposting birthday wishes from dozens of other close friends on her story. Francia Raisa completely ignored Selena’s gesture, further fueling heated debates about their friendship.

Previously, Selena Gomez had repeatedly deactivated and reactivated her Instagram account. In 2019, the singer announced she had deleted the app due to the overwhelming negative comments under her posts causing her depression. And shortly after, the singer returned to the platform with three bathroom selfies.

She has always claimed disinterest in social media, feeling it to be a waste of time because sometimes she would cry or worry after reading something online. To this day, Selena Gomez remains active on Instagram. Most recently, the singer was embroiled in controversy when she posted a provocative photo congratulating her boyfriend, Benny Blanco.

Memories of Justin Bieber

From the early days of their public relationship, Selena Gomez has always been overshadowed by Justin Bieber. Despite being famous a few years before Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez was always eclipsed by her boyfriend’s shadow. She was always labeled as “Justin Bieber’s girlfriend.” Just their love story alone was enough to keep Selena’s name constantly in the headlines, even though she didn’t achieve any outstanding success in both the film and music industries.

Therefore, for many years, Selena has been assumed by many to be “famous because she’s Justin’s girlfriend.” In an interview with Vogue Australia, the singer herself admitted that despite her continuous efforts in her art, her relationship with Justin still remains a much-discussed topic. She has affirmed that she is tired and nauseated by it. However, Selena’s actions tell a different story.

Things came to a head when Justin broke up with Selena and got together with Sofia Richie. Justin had to step up and comment threatening to make his Instagram account private if fans didn’t stop attacking his new girlfriend, Sofia Richie. Selena unexpectedly criticized Justin, suggesting he should stop posting about his new girlfriend instead of threatening