Selena Gomez a 'victim to certain abuse' while dating Justin Bieber

Selena Gomez has opened up in an emotional interview, revealing she felt she was 'victim to certain abuse' while dating Justin Bieber.

In an extremely candid chat with NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Selena Gomez spoke about her new album Rare and her mental health.

She also made a shock revelation about the relationship she was in with Justin Bieber, the duo’s on-again-off-again relationship endured for years but ultimately ended in 2018.

Now for the first time she has publicly discussed how that relationship left her feeling emotionally abused.

The singer confirmed what fans have long speculated: that her number-one hit ‘Lose You to Love Me’, is about Bieber. She also went deeper into the dynamic with her ex.

“I do feel I was a victim to certain abuse,” she shared.

“You mean emotional abuse?” Lulu asked, to which Selena replied, “Yes, and I think that it's something that — I had to find a way to understand it as an adult. And I had to understand the choices I was making. As much as I definitely don't want to spend the rest of my life talking about this, I am really proud that I can say I feel the strongest I've ever felt and I've found a way to just walk through it with as much grace as possible.”

Last September, Bieber wrote an Instagram essay in which he spoke about how he “abused” relationships, particularly with the women in his life.

“I started doing pretty heavy drugs at 19 and abused all of my relationships,” he wrote, referring to a time when he was on-and-off with Selena. “I became resentful, disrespectful to women and angry. I became distant to everyone who loved me.”

Of ‘Lose You to Love Me’, Selena stressed that “it's not a hateful song”.

“It's a song that is saying — I had something beautiful and I would never deny that it wasn't that. It was very difficult and I'm happy it's over. And I felt like this was a great way to just say, you know, it's done, and I understand that, and I respect that, and now here I am stepping into a whole other chapter.”

With additional reporting by Elena Sheppard.

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