Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato's Reunion After a Decade: Why Now?
Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez—known frenemies—reunited on April 13th for the first night of Demi’s show on the It’s Not That Deep tour.
Selena posted several things about Demi on her Instagram story:
They also followed each other on Instagram:
This is big because Demi and Selena have had a rocky friendship over the years and the last time they were spotted was in 2017 at the InStyle awards.
For an entire inside tea special recap about everythingggg that went wrong in Demi and Selena’s friendship: from shading each other, to petty unfollowing, to being mean in childhood, to Taylor Swift, drugs, Bieber, ODs, and so much more, check out my deep dive:
First, I’ll spill the tea about their reunion and then second, I will recap their most recent fallout that played a part in why they didn’t speak for nearly a decade.
The Shocking Reunion… why now?
Forgiveness.
Believe it or not, Demi and Selena led very similar lives.
Held down by a toxic relationship and insecurity
Drug abuse ruling their 20s
Industry competition
What happens when you literally remove all 3 barriers? You have no beef anymore. It’s not that simple, but it plays a role in it all.
“When Demi and Selena saw that they both got married in the same year and ended up beating all the odds, it made them both nostalgic. They’re the same in the sense that their 20s were rough and yet everyone romanticizes it now. They never saw the good at the time, so it’s like they’re appreciating their respective pasts now.” — my source
Selena hurt Demi a lot because she always excluded her and left her when Demi needed her the most. Demi felt like she always had to fend for herself, and Selena was never there for her the way she was for Selena.
Demi is also very hard-headed. She doesn’t believe in faking it for the cameras and is quick to cut someone off. And was it deserved when Demi cut off Selena? Yeah. But Demi had this habit where she couldn’t have “casual” friends.
Everything had to be serious.
Whether it was life, lyrics, or the industry.
And this is something she reflects about now and it’s essentially the premise behind her “It’s Not That Deep” era. It’s her motto now.
Selena left me for Taylor as a teenager? Eh, it’s not that deep.
She wasn’t there for me when I was for her? Okay it hurt, but it’s not that deep.
It’s not that Selena didn’t hurt Demi, it’s that Demi is choosing to forgive whoever did her dirty so she could enjoy life now.
It’s the same exact thing with the Jonas Brothers. They dipped on her when she needed them too after she sponsored their reunion and awkwardly crushed on Nick.
“It’s more about not letting the bad things overshadow the past. It’s also why she accepted the Jonas invitation to perform with them.” — my source
I think for a very long time, Demi let herself be left out of the conversation in the name of “justice” as opposed to faking it for a good time. Selena and Miley hated each other in the past and look at them now.
I actually spoke about this over 2 years ago in my post about the 3 of them:
“Demi understands that Selena also went through a lot and that even though Selena took the initiative in not being there for Demi, it also continued on Demi’s part. That whole thing with Selena being hospitalized after Justin got married, the OD, the psychosis episodes, it’s not like Selena had it easy either.” — my source
There was also a lot of competition between Demi and Selena. They were both very competitive. Selena was jealous of Demi’s talent and Demi was jealous of Selena’s credibility. It felt like things were coming easier for her.
And Selena liked how “effortless” things seemed for her and that really inflamed her ego. Yeah, I’m besties with Taylor, the world’s hottest pop star is obsessed with me; I’m that girl who keeps getting hits.
It was very much “I don’t give one fck about anyone else” attitude.
Even when Demi signed with Scooter Braun, Selena was jealous and angry for no reason. My source exposed at the time that she sent Demi a petty “congrats!” text.
Selena was very territorial of the Bieber world.
So she hated when anyone got close to Justin or his circle. She fumed seeing Justin and Demi during those years. Anything Bieber-related is a big trigger point for Selena… as we know.
And I don’t know if Selena felt like Demi should owe her some sort of loyalty and not sign with Scooter on behalf of her beef with Justin or his beef with Taylor, but she was out of line when she texted Demi.
Here’s an excerpt from that post:
My source told me that, after learning that Demi signed with Scooter, Selena “sent Demi this passive aggressive text message trying to ‘congratulate’ her. See the thing is, Selena is upset, but still wants inside information on Justin’s life.”
And thanks to Selena’s very public track record of fuming when it came to anything Bieber-related, I don’t think that’s hard to believe.
I wonder if she healed that part since Demi is still good friends with Hailey and Justin. Not like close, but they’re supportive of each other.
But Demi and Selena’s friendship was often for nostalgic-good-for-business reasons, even when they supported each other when Sorry Not Sorry and Fetish were released.
And then posing at the InStyle awards.
Look at it as running into your ex-bff from high school at an event. That’s kind of how it was for them, but they were very competitive.
It also didn’t help that they were constantly pitted against each other back in the Stone Ages when they were signed to Hollywood Records and they notoriously always gave Selena the gig over Demi.
Selena experienced a lot of favoritism because of her relationship to Justin, so it was a big foot in the door experience for her.
Demi never did anything good for business and wouldn’t even entertain Niall Horan’s crush on her back when 1D was huge… but I’m getting off topic!
Now that the music industry has weaned them out, they’re both married to people they didn’t think they’d be with ten years ago, and they kicked their bad habits, it makes it easier to reconcile.
Selena was that girl who vented about her ex 24/7 and exhausted everyone around her. We all know someone like that. And it affected a lot of her relationships. Taylor fell out with her several times over that and it was one factor in her issues with Demi in 2014 too.
Demi is like a freedom fighter, so once she heard Selena’s version of how dirty Justin did her, she was ready to hate on Justin, too. But then Selena got back together with him and for her friends, they felt like: girl what???
That led to some sort of unfollowing drama with them in the past and Demi tweeted something like “swimming away from your BS".”
It’s all explained in the posts I’m linking because I’m writing this based on #memory.
Anyway, she got close to Justin and Hailey at a different time and I guess heard their pov and was like “Oh there’s 2 very different sides here.”
Demi was also in a toxic relationship with someone 12 years her senior (Grandpa Wilmer), so it’s not like she didn’t know hardship. The difference is… her relationship didn’t define her.
The difference between Selena and Demi is that their identities were opposite, despite going through the same thing.
Selena let being a heart-broken-girl-done-dirty-by-boy become her identity, while for Demi it was here’s-my-struggle-with-drugs-again-and-again-and-I-went-to-rehab.
Demi will now tell you there’s no reason to voice every thought or problem. And when she was self-sabotaging… who do you think called her out? Yours truly.
“Demi and Selena can both relate to making up for the past. They were ungrateful and used to complain about everything. They would complain about fame, life, and people. Being in their 30s now, they had a rude awakening that the things that used to come easily for them, are pretty hard now.” — my source
When I asked my source to define their friendship now, she said:
“They’re not close. They reconciled over nostalgia, but they lead separate lives. In the past, their relationship was based on personal things; whether it was trying to help the other reach sobriety or being there for each other, there was substance behind it. There is no substance behind their relationship now. It’s just fun vibes and it’s good press promo.” — my source
Someone asked me on Instagram if their friendship is “real.”
It’s not like they signed a good old-fashioned PR contract, but my source tells me it’s more about good vibes and good for business. Two things can be true at the same time.
“Demi is not used to the “mean girls” supporting her. She was always excluded by Taylor and Selena, whose personalities just clashed with Demi’s. There’s a power balance that works for Taylor and Selena, and Demi doesn’t fit there. It’s been practically 2 decades now where Taylor & Selena have remained closer, so there’s more substance there and baggage, of course.” — my source
Check out this old SM post #ancient #scripture
“Demi is just happy to be supported. Even when Taylor was singing along and supporting her when Demi performed at the VMAs, Demi couldn’t believe it because for a long time, it was passive between them. It’s like they withheld support that Demi was so ready to give.” — my source
Taylor Swift singing “Heart Attack” by Demi Lovato at the 2023 VMAs
— Taylor Swift Fan Archive (@Taylors_Archive) March 25, 2026
pic.twitter.com/owa3i41mXv
Demi was so touched that Taylor supported her, she mentioned it THREE TIMES. Twice on social media and once in this video.
This led me to ask… “well is this support authentic?”
My source said:
“It’s in good fun. I don’t think Selena has some sort of malicious agenda behind supporting Demi and is suddenly using her. They’re both in a lighter ‘lets let bygones be bygones’ era. For the first time ever, they’re focusing on the good rather than the bad.”
Well, there you have it!
Think of them as casual friends. Maybe they’ll pose together on a red carpet or so, support each other for time to time, but I wouldn’t expect a full blown personal relationship.
Or maybe they’ll surprise us. What do you think?
My opinion:
If Demi held off on reuniting with the Jonas Brothers and Selena in the name of justice and doing her dirty in the past, she wouldn’t get the nostalgia promo and just the dopamine hit of hanging out with the same people who saw you in the trenches, finally seeing you at your peak.
And Demi being happy with where she is in life and how she looks, makes her happier, and overall she exudes that energy outward.
Because when she wasn’t happy… we all knew. And that energy translated.
I sat in the crowd at the TMYLM tour and thought to myself, “Oh shit is about to hit the fan.”
Same exact thing with Selena.
When she let herself soak in her bitterness, she almost lost her life. She exuded that same negative energy she felt inside and it manifested on her face.
This brings me to…
Used and Discarded: The Last Fallout
Demi and Selena fell apart and reconnected multiple times during the years, but the most recent one came after Demi’s OD in 2018.
Despite Selena’s fans’ efforts at organizing a viral lie that Selena was seen in tears when she got the news of Demi’s OD (Selena was actually celebrating her birthday in Disneyland)… sources tell me that Selena was NOT there for Demi.
So not only was the Internet giving Selena their praises for something that wasn’t true… Selena’s bestie publicly mocked Demi’s OD.
Theresa took to her Instagram story to post a tweet that says, “Where I see Demi I should see Nia…” in which Theresa replied back with “Big facts” and proceeded to liking a bunch of comments from Selena’s deluded fans that praise her for saying so and agreeing with her.
Nia Wilson is a girl that got murdered on July 22, 2018 (2 days before Demi’s overdose); in what was a hate crime. It’s a very gruesome and upsetting story that does not correlate Demi at all.
I spoke to someone from Demi’s circle about this and they were shocked. They had no clue this happened, so I don’t know if it ever got back to Demi.
Aside from the fact that it was such a cruel comment to make… Selena herself was notorious for struggling with drug abuse, with a source alleging that Selena actually had an overdose at the end of 2019.
2020 was a very difficult year for Selena and a Scandalous Media source exposed that Selena was not living at home, but at a sober rehab facility for 8 months since she allegedly attempted suicide.
This was practically confirmed if you paid attention to the order of events that we laid out for you in this post.
While we’re at it, check out this post about what Selena went through in 2020.
Point of the story is… Selena herself went through a lot… so as to why her circle was hating on Demi (and Hailey during this time), sure was a choice.
Now back to Demi and 2018.
When news of Demi’s OD was public, practically half of Hollywood publicly posted about her support. Selena didn’t; instead, she had her publicist speak on her behalf to E! News.
Selena claimed that she reached out to Demi’s family privately, and she’s very upset, but that they are not close.
Weird fact to say after your childhood bestie almost died, but okay.
And the media ate it up and Selena played into that narrative.
To my knowledge, Selena didn’t reach out to Demi after her recovery or in the following years.
“The next time Demi heard from Selena was when Demi performed at the Grammys. Demi felt like ‘oh now you want to mention me during my comeback performance, but didn’t care to reach out before?’ Demi felt used and that’s essentially what she said in that other interview.” — my source
This is the missing piece when it comes to their fallout.
Stans branded Demi as bitter when she refused to acknowledge Selena's post about her Grammy performance… but if that’s the first time I’m hearing from my friend and not when I almost died, I’d be annoyed too.
And that’s exactly what Demi meant by that interview in April 2020… she held her tongue from saying that Selena’s IG post was performative.
It hurt Demi a lot because Demi was there for Selena when she was struggling with drug abuse for the better half of a decade.
Most people don’t know this, but Demi took Selena out to dinner the night before Selena first checked into rehab and took her out again AFTER rehab.
Selena wasn’t out of rehab for more than 4 days without Demi already going to see her.
It was very much “I know exactly what you’re going through and I want to help you.”
Yes, that’s Francia in the first picture. That’s another person burned by Selena, but that’s a different story.
Anyway… Francia and Demi took Selena out to dinner on January 4th, 2014 and Selena checked into rehab on January 5th 2014.
Selena’s rehab trip was first exposed by us before the media found out the following month in February 2014.
13 years later and we’re still here lmaooooo crazy
Reports even said Demi was part of the intervention team to make Selena go to rehab.
This is all explained and more in the deep dive I linked earlier.
Now if this is shocking information for you… You must be new here.
In 2014, Selena Gomez secretly entered rehab (those with a functional brain know it was for substance abuse).
— A. (@ScandalousMedia) July 7, 2020
January 2014 - we posted and tweeted about her secret 2 week rehab stay BEFORE ANYONE ELSE.
February 2014 - it was confirmed that she was secretly in rehab for 2 weeks. pic.twitter.com/8Qm1RF5aop
Selena Gomez being on coke and doing drugs was my old tagline. In #esmg we remember ✊🏼
That was my one-liner.
Happy birthday! Selena Gomez is on coke.
How old are you? Selena Gomez is on coke.
Hey where’s the bathroom? Selena Gomez is on coke.
Happy Friday! Selena Gomez is on coke.
When are we going out? Btw… Selena Gomez is on coke.
This was crazy info at the time. It was groundbreaking. America’s sweetheart secretly being a menace and doing drugs around the clock?
It was unheard of.
Read more here.
Nowadays… it’s not that shocking. I’m sure if I had started this blog today, I would’ve flopped within 2.4 seconds. If the craziest tea I had for you today is… hmmm idk… Sabrina Carpenter on cocaine, I don’t think it would be that shocking.
But in Selena’s life… it was defining.
So yeah… that’s the story behind Selena and Demi’s reunion as well as a recap of their last fallout.
What do you guys think? Drop your questions down below and I’ll spill whatever I know.
Stay tuned for the rest of Scandalous Media’s spring tea spill 😉
Scandalous Media's Spring Tea Spill 🌱☕️📸
— A. (@ScandalousMedia) April 14, 2026
- Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato's Reunion After a Decade
- The Next Chapter for Justin Bieber After Coachella
- The Truth About Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney not getting along
- What happened between Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff?… pic.twitter.com/B0EW1Xe5Gi
