Selena Gomez released her new album, I Said I Love You First, on Friday and it took fans only a few hours to start looking for hidden messages behind the lyrics, not about her and fiancé Benny Blanco, but about the singer’s ex.
Some believe the track, How Does It Feel to be Forgotten, was targeted toward her former flame Justin Bieber, 31, who seems to be dealing with some emotional issues.
Lyrics from the song go ‘You’re so embarrassing / Go cry when no one’s watchin’ / I can’t imagine it / How does it feel to be forgotten (Ah), forgotten? (Ah-ah).’
In another phrase the Emilia Perez actress, 32, sings, ‘Cause you walked in, big-a** grin / Talkin’ like we’re friends, honey, what were you thinkin’? / He loves me, I love him / Look at you, just look at you now.’
According to the website Genius.com, which breaks down lyrics, one contributor found the words ‘Look at you, just look at you now,’ are very similar to her 2020 track Look at Her Now, which were believed to be about her 2018 breakup with Bieber.
After listening to another song, You Said You Were Sorry, fans seem to believe could be aimed at Bieber as well.
Selena Gomez released her new album, I Said I Love Your First on Friday and fans have been looking for hidden messages in the lyrics; Pictured in New York City Wednesday
‘Don’t think about you/Happy without you/More now than I ever was’ the former Disney star sang about an unnamed ex.
“But I had a dream/You said you were sorry, said you were sorry/Sorry for everything/That you put on me, that you put on me,’ she said in the chorus.
‘Our eyes were bawling rain/We finally both forgave ya/I had a dream, that’s all it was/Yeah, that was enough for me.’
Others believe she referenced the roller coaster ride in her song Don’t Wanna Cry.
‘Left the door wide open for the whole wide world to see you / Then you kiss her right in front of me like I’m not even there / I should cause a scene for s–t you’ve done to me / The saddest part is we both know that I would never leave.’
The Yummy singer infamously married his wife Hailey, 28, shortly after he and Gomez went their separate ways in 2018 after years of an on-off relationship.
Justin and Hailey welcomed their son Jack, in August 2024.
Gomez’s fans have had a difficult time dealing with that and have accused the model of stealing Justin away from the Only Murders in the Building star.
On Friday, Hailey’s social media was inundated with comments about her being a stalker amid GIFs of Gomez uploaded to Instagram.
The songs on I Said I Love Your First were written by Gomez and her fiancé Benny Blanco, 37, with help from others, but many fans seem to believe some of the lyrics throw shade at Gomez’s ex
Gomez dated Justin Bieber, 31, for several years before they split in 2018. Some fans seem to believe the songs How Does It Feel to be Forgotten, You Said You Were Sorry and Don’t Wanna Cry were directed to him: Pictured in Los Angeles in April 2012
Bieber married model Hailey Baldwin in 2018, shortly after his breakup with Gomez. Both were targeted by negative comments about Hailey on social media Friday; Pictured in Las Vegas in April 2022
Gomez has said the songs are based on her and Blanco’s experiences, but ‘It’s up for whatever people want but, to me, it was about both of our pasts and our history and also just inspired by friends and relationships’; Pictured in New York City on Thursday
The Rhode Skin founder has reportedly been talking with attorney Lisa Moore, who represented Cardi B in a defamation case, about pushing back against some of the negative comments about her on social media, according to Yahoo Entertainment.
On Instagram on Friday, Gomez, who is engaged to music producer Benny Blanco, wrote that ‘These songs represent our past, present and future… something I can’t wait to experience with you from now until forever.’
In an interview on Spotify promoting the new collections of songs, the hitmaker said the words were up for interpretation. ‘It’s up for whatever people want but, to me, it was about both of our pasts and our history and also just inspired by friends and relationships.’
‘Some songs were actually meant [to be] about friendships in my life, ‘she asserted. ‘I think that’s what to me the album was about, and I just wanted to get that out there because that’s very important to me.’