Selena Gomez has condemned speculation that her decision to cancel a US tour in 2013 could be linked to substance abuse or personal issues after revealing she was actually undergoing chemotherapy for lupus at the time.
The 23-year-old finally responded to spurious reports in an interview with Billboard this week, telling the magazine: “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re a**holes’.”
As a former Disney child star who grew up in front of the camera, Gomez has constantly faced public scrutiny. Social media has only served to magnify her exposure to negative comments as an adult. But instead of being censored by her critics, she is upfront about a number of issues, giving frank and forthright responses in interviews (along with the odd take down).
People news in pictures
People news in pictures
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1/30 14 January 2016
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio poses as he arrives for the British premiere of "The Revenant", in London
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2/30 13 January 2016
Cast member and executive producer Eva Longoria smiles at a panel for the NBC series "Telenovela" during the Television Critics Association (TCA) Cable Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, California
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3/30 12 January 2016
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the audience during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey. Erdogan said that Russia was preparing the ground to create a 'boutique' Syrian state around the northern province of Latakia and that it has been carrying out attacks against Turkmens there. In a speech to Turkish ambassadors in Ankara, Erdogan also slammed Iran, saying Tehran was using developments in countries like Syria, Iraq and Yemen to expand its sphere of influence and that it was trying to spark a dangerous process with a stance turning sectarian differences into conflict
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4/30 11 January 2016
Newly-elected President of the New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, is cheered by supporters outside his office in Athens. Greece's conservative opposition New Democracy party has elected the reformist as its new leader. Former administrative reform minister Mitsotakis has defeated party stalwart Evangelos Meimarakis in a leadership contest open to all party members
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5/30 10 January 2016
Sean Penn shakes hands with Mexican drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman in Mexico, in the photograph shot for the Rolling Stone magazine. Sean Penn has been mocked for Rolling Stone magazine article detailing his meeting with drug lord El Chapo
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6/30 10 January 2016
Presenters Amy Schumer and Jennifer Lawrence onstage at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills, California. Jennifer Lawrence appeared to have a stern word with a journalist who was using his phone during her winner's press conference at the Golden Globes. The actress - who won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for David O. Russell film Joy - was speaking to a crowded room of reporters backstage when the moment occurred. As he began to ask his question, Lawrence interrupted, wagging her finger at him, saying, "You can't just live your life behind your phone, bro. You can't do that - you've got to live in the now"
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7/30 9 January 2016
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde dances with some of the orphan children from the La Main Dans La Main charity in Douala, Cameroon
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8/30 8 January 2016
French President Francois Hollande (C), Gilbert Mitterrand (L) and Mazarine Pingeot arrive at the cemetery to attend a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the death of former French President Francois Mitterrand in Jarnac, France
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9/30 7 January 2016
British Prime Minister David Cameron gives a statement after his visit at a meeting of the German conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party in Wildbad Kreuth, southern Germany. Cameron drove home his call for EU reforms to protect European welfare systems, saying what is good for Britain is also good for Europe, as he held talks with the Christian Social Union, sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU
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10/30 6 January 2016
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un signing a document of a hydrogen bomb test in Pyongyang. North Korea announced it had successfully carried out its first hydrogen bomb test, a development that, if confirmed, would marking a stunning step forward in its nuclear development
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11/30 5 January 2016
Audience member Robin Roy (C) reacts as U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets her at a campaign rally in Lowell, Massachusetts
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12/30 5 January 2016
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (R) shakes hands with Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari (L) as Nigeria Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele (Far Right) and Nigeria Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (Far L) look on after their meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria
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13/30 5 January 2016
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is surrounded by star singers at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It is customary for star singers from across Germany to pay a visit to the German chancellor
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14/30 4 January 2016
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (L) receives a Ferrari's Formula One replica from FCA Chief Executive and Ferrari Chairman Sergio Marchionne during Ferrari's sport car maker debut at the Milan's stock exchange, downtown Milan
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15/30 3 January 2016
Malia Obama smiles as she walks with her father, President Barack Obama, followed by first lady Michelle Obama as the family exits Marine One upon return to the White House in Washington, after their family vacation in Hawaii
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16/30 2 January 2016
Desert Palm Achievement Award recipient actor Johnny Depp and wife actress Amber Heard pose at the 27th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala in Palm Springs, California
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17/30 1 January 2016
Pope Francis kisses a statue of baby Jesus as he arrives to celebrate a New Year mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican
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18/30 31 December 2015
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacts as he pays his last respects to Kim Yang Gon in Pyongyang. Kim Yang Gon, a senior North Korean official and a top aide to leader Kim Jong Un died in a car accident, state news agency reported, the latest dramatic death or disappearance in the close circle of deputies to the country's leader
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19/30 30 December 2015
US comedian Bill Cosby arrives at the Court House in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania to face charges of aggravated indecent assault
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20/30 29 December 2015
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert is seen in the court room as he waits for the judges at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem. Israel's top court slashed Olmert's prison sentence to 18 months from six years after overturning the main count in his 2014 bribery conviction. Olmert, 70, will begin serving his term on 15 February 2016, according to live reports from the Jerusalem courtroom, making him the first former head of government in Israel to go to prison
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21/30 28 December 2015
U.S. President Barack Obama waves to onlookers after his putt at the 18th green as he finishes a round of golf with friends at the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Kailua, Hawaii
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22/30 22 December 2015
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (C) and his wife Maryna (front, 2nd L) visit Yad Vashem's Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem
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23/30 21 December 2015
FIFA's suspended president Sepp Blatter holds a news conference in Zurich, Switzerland. Blatter will appeal against his eight-year ban by the world soccer body's ethics committee imposed on Monday, he told reporters. "I will fight for me and I will fight for FIFA," Blatter said, adding he would take his objections to FIFA's appeals body, go before the Lausanne-based sports arbitration panel, or take legal action under Swiss law if needed.
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24/30 21 December 2015
Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (L) sings happy birthday to actor and event emcee Samuel L. Jackson before the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California,
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25/30 20 December 2015
Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez (L) stands by as Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega places the sash on Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach during the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. Miss Colombia was originally announced as the winner but the host Steve Harvey made a mistake, show officials said.
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26/30 20 December 2015
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders appears on television screens in the media work-room during the Democratic presidential candidates debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire
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27/30 20 December 2015
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) visits the January 18 General Machinery Plant in a photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang
KCNA/Reuters
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28/30 20 December 2015
British TV personality Christine Bleakley and former Chelsea and England soccer player, Frank Lampard kiss as they leave church after they married in London, Britain
Reuters
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29/30 19 December 2015
U.S. President Barack Obama arrives to deliver remarks on the recent shootings in San Bernardino, after meeting with victims' families at Indian Springs High School in San Bernardino,
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30/30 18 December 2015
Britain's Prince William, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and their two children Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Kensington Palace in London. Prince George will start attending nursery in Britain from early next year, royal officials announced. The two-year-old son of Prince William and wife Kate is set to attend Westacre Montessori School Nursery in Norfolk, eastern England, near the family's home at Anmer Hall
On whether her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber’s current success has inspired her:
“No. This is my time. I’ve deserved this. I earned it. This is all me.”
On hurtful comments:
“I'm so f**king nice to everybody, and everyone is so vile to me. I’ve been working since I was 7. I’ve been a UNICEF ambassador since I was 17.”
On social media:
“I hate Twitter. I love fries.”
After responding to body shaming with a picture of herself in a swimsuit on Instagram:
“I'd land at the airport and people would yell out, 'You're fat!' It was awful. I've been working in therapy. Even if I did gain weight, I'm fine. That's what the picture represents.”
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On criticism for taking her purity ring off:
“I'm not embarrassed to say that [I wore a purity ring]. I'm also not embarrassed to say that the ring has come off. I got it when I was 13 and I respect so much what it represented, but it isn't for everyone.”
On expectations from the public:
“I'm human, I'm not perfect. I make mistakes all the time, but I guess my job is to keep those mistakes to myself, which I'm already fine doing and just try to be the best I can be for those kids."
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