Selena Gomez at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty)
Selena Gomez currently has the most Instagram followers in the world, at a whopping 113 million and counting. This mass exposure has taken its toll, however, as the singer admits in a new interview with Vogue Magazine.
Gomez revealed that she had a social media addiction for a short time, and the upkeep of her public image subsequently dominated her life. “As soon as I became the most followed person on Instagram, I sort of freaked out,” says Gomez, “It had become so consuming to me. It’s what I woke up to and went to sleep to. I was an addict.”
Thrilled to share my first American @voguemagazine cover with you! Read the story and see the full spread: t.co/BoChyUoPmL.
Gomez went on to admit that this addiction parlayed into her professional career, and was a factor in the cancellation of her “Revival” world tour in 2016. “My self-esteem was shot. I was depressed, anxious. I started to have panic attacks right before getting onstage or right after leaving the stage. Basically I felt I wasn’t good enough, wasn’t capable. I felt I wasn’t giving my fans anything, and they could see it — which, I think, was a complete distortion,” she said.
