Coincidentally, while facing sometimes intense online backlash, Stevens was gearing up to release her debut book, coauthored with her friend Tanya Rad, who is cohost of KIIS FM’s On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
Their book, The Sunshine Mind: 100 Days to Finding the Hope and Joy You Want, which is out now, is all about finding faith, hope, strength, and peace in the face of adversity. Stevens learned a thing or two about adversity after the documentary was released.
“I processed it all the same way that I would process anything else, any sort of criticism,” Stevens said of the backlash. “By being grounded and strong, and knowing that I’m a great friend and Selena is also a great friend to me, and it’s real and raw and it’s lasted a decade because of that reason.”
Being decidedly matter-of-fact about the situation, Stevens said: “Anytime you do anything public, you’re subject to others’ opinions and I understand that. I think that, when millions of people are watching something, you’re gonna have people take things a certain way.”
With the backlash behind her, Stevens is focused on her new book with Rad. They began writing the guide in the middle of the pandemic, and Stevens wrote in an essay for Newsweek earlier this month that the title stems from both Rad and herself sharing the nickname, “Sunshine.”
