Selena Gomez’s mom, Mandy Teefey, has come to her defense following the backlash she’s received for taking frequent breaks from social media.
“It’s just whatever she needs for that time period,” Teefey told Elite Daily Thursday about what length of time her daughter prefers to step away from social media.
“I can go a week without looking at any social media, and then I’ll get on there and I’ll try to catch up,” she added.
“But it’s just whatever time Selena needs, she gives herself.”
Teefey, 47, commented on the matter while discussing Wondermind, the mental health network she co-founded with the “Single Soon” singer in 2022, which is meant to destigmatize mental health and provide easy access to resources to those who need it.
Gomez, 31, has been open about how her mental health suffers when she engages with social media too frequently.
“It’s just whatever she needs for that time period,” she told Elite Daily regarding the length of time Gomez prefers for her social media hiatuses.Instagram/mandyteefey
“It’s just whatever time Selena needs, she gives herself,” she clarified.Instagram/mandyteefey
She even told “Good Morning America” in 2022 that she felt the best she ever had mentally after taking a nearly five-year break from being online.
“It has changed my life completely. I am happier, I am more present, I connect more with people. I understand how powerful the internet is, and in so many ways it’s done the best things for the world,” she explained.
“But for me, I get to my news that is actually important I get through people in my life.”
Gomez has been open about how social media negatively affects her mental health for years.Instagram/selenagomez
She previously went four and a half years without personally using Instagram and said she felt “happier” because of it.Instagram/selenagomez
The “Only Murders in the Building’” star has taken several social media breaks over the years — most recently after she went viral for having a lively gossip session with Taylor Swift and Miles Teller’s wife, Keleigh Sperry, at the 2024 Golden Globes.
Fans theorized that she was speaking about an awkward interaction with her “A Rainy Day in New York” co-star Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, which was then confirmed to Page Six by a lip reader.
“He didn’t want a picture with me. He said no,” lip-reading expert Jeremy Freeman told Page Six Gomez said in the viral video.
“Timothée?” a seemingly stunned Sperry asked, to which Gomez nodded her head.
Gomez last quit social media after her animated conversation with Taylor Swift and Keleigh Sperry at the 2024 Golden Globes went viral.Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images
A lip reader confirmed to Page Six she was relaying an unpleasant experience with Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner.Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images
However, a source close to the former Disney star said she never even laid eyes upon Chalamet or Jenner at the event.
Regardless, Gomez hopped on her Instagram Story days after the conversation happened to say she was ditching social media to focus on “what really matters.”
She has since returned to the ‘gram.
Nearly one year ago, she took a social media break after drama ignited with Jenner, 26, and Hailey Bieber, 27.
Gomez went offline in February 2023 as well for drama involving Jenner and Hailey Bieber.selenagomez/InstagramWhat do you think? Be the first to comment.
“I’m gonna be taking a second from social media ’cause this is a little silly and I’m 30. I’m too old for this,” she quipped before logging off.
A few weeks later, she commented on one of her TikTok makeup tutorials to ask her fans to “please be kinder” online.
“My heart has been heavy and I only want good for everyone,” she added in the since-deleted comment.
