Selena Gomez Says She Was a Victim of Emotional Abuse on NPR

Through her soul-baring third studio album Rare, Selena Gomez has gained closure on a painful chapter in her life. In a recent interview with NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro, the singer shared the inspiration behind several songs on the album and opened up about the emotional abuse she endured during her tumultuous relationship with Justin Bieber.

While speaking about “Lose You to Love Me” (which could be considered the album’s most emotional song), Selena said, “I’m very proud of it. It has a different meaning to me now from when I wrote it. I felt I didn’t get a respectful closure, and I had accepted that, but I know I needed some way to just say a few things that I wish I had said.”

Selena wouldn’t, however, classify it as a “hateful” breakup song. “It’s a song that is saying — I had something beautiful and I would never deny that it wasn’t that,” she explained. “It was very difficult and I’m happy it’s over.” When explicitly asked if she is “saying goodbye” to Justin in the song, Selena simply replied, “You had to get the name in, I get it.”

Though it might have been difficult to reflect on the past while working on her new album, Selena instead “found strength in it.” “It’s dangerous to stay in a victim mentality. And I’m not being disrespectful, I do feel I was a victim to certain abuse,” she added. When asked if she was referring to emotional abuse, Selena said, “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.”