Selena Gomez shuts down body-shamers; reveals reason behind weight gain

American singer and actor Selena Gomez recently responded to online body shamers and got candid about her weight gain. On Thursday, the international icon spoke at length about her lupus diagnosis, an autoimmune disease, and how her medications play a vital role in her weight gain. The singer, who is no stranger to judgments, has earlier too, addressed the trolls in an Instagram Live.

• With more than six albums and over 35 singles, Gomez enjoys a huge fan following globally.
• Notably, in 2015, the actor revealed her lupus diagnosis and since then has spoken about how the condition affected her physical and mental well-being several times.
• In an attempt to address the trolls, she even came up with the Revival album to turn hateful messages into songs.

In a candid talk, Gomez revealed the cause behind her weight gain. She shared that because of her lupus medications, she holds lots of water weight which causes weight gain in her body. Gomez, who has been an advocate of body positivity for a long time, clapped back at haters and elaborated that she does not believe in shaming other people for their bodies.

Time and again, the singer has tried to shut down trolls and encouraged fans to practice self-love. This time too, Gomez spoke about practicing body positivity and stated that "minor side effects like weight gain do not matter" as long as her fans are helping her. Notably, Gomez underwent chemotherapy to manage the condition. Also, she underwent a kidney transplant in 2017.

In January, during her appearance at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, she donned a beautiful Valentino gown. Even though she looked stunning, her evening look did not sit well with some netizens, who commented and bashed the singer on her weight gain and flooded social media with negative comments. Shortly after the ceremony, Gomez took the initiative to address the hateful comments.

In medical terms, lupus is a long-term autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks its own healthy tissues, and commonly affects the skin, joints, and kidneys. The symptoms of lupus do not immediately show, rather there are episodes called flares when symptoms worsen.