Her post came a few weeks after she officially hit that milestone and dethroned the woman to previously hold the top spot: Kylie Jenner. (Her follower count stands at 382 million.) And Gomez is the third most followed person on the platform after soccer players Lionel Messi (482 million followers) and Cristiano Ronaldo (562 million followers.)
In spite of her immense popularity, Gomez has been open about the complicated relationship she has with social media. She announced she was taking a break from social media shortly after passing Jenner as the most followed woman on Instagram. And she opened up to Vanity Fair in a recent interview that she no longer personally uses Instagram on her phone, instead letting her team post for her. She told the outlet her break was followed by mean comments that caused her anxiety.
“People can call me ugly or stupid and I’m like, Whatever. But these people get detailed. They write paragraphs that are so specific and mean,” Gomez told the outlet. “I would constantly be crying. I constantly had anxiety…I couldn’t do it anymore. It was a waste of my time.”
Since that interview was published, Gomez has only ended up in the middle of more social media drama, with fans analyzing TikTok and Instagram posts involving her, Jenner, Hailey Bieber, and others associated with them.
