The holidays are famous for bringing the family drama, and apparently, Selena Gomez‘s family is no exception.
The “Wolves” singer and Netflix producer’s mother Mandy Teefey is no longer among her daughter’s 131 million Instagram followers, and what’s more, Gomez isn’t following her mom, either. It’s unclear who did the unfollowing first, but fans made the discovery by cross-checking the pair’s follower lists Tuesday. In other words: If you search Gomez’s followers for her mom’s handle, @kicked2thecurbproductions, you’ll find nothing. And same if you check Teefey’s followers for @selenagomez.
The mutual decision to not subscribe to each other’s Insta posts isn’t too suggestive on its own—people unfollow each other online every day—but the timing hints at some larger family beef brewing. Namely, an issue with Gomez’s on-again boyfriend Justin Bieber.
A TMZ report Tuesday revealed that Teefey had been voluntarily hospitalized last week (and released the same day) after having a “heated conversation” with Gomez about her relationship with Bieber. Gomez allegedly told her mother that she and Bieber are in couples’ therapy, and Teefey “flipped… realizing the relationship was going to be more long-term than she thought.”
After the pair broke up in 2014, Gomez’s relatives apparently aren’t huge fans of the Canadian pop star. According to TMZ, some of Selena’s family have said they will “never forgive [Justin] or accept him” for the complicated split. And according to Elle, Gomez and Bieber recently went on their first vacation since reconciling, and reportedly have plans to spend New Year’s Eve together—sounds tense.
So when news broke of Teefey’s hospitalization Tuesday, fans sprinted to the pair’s follower lists only to discover the mother and daughter are apparently no longer mutuals. It could be a coincidence, but there’s definitely a good amount of evidence to suggest otherwise.
The universality of little unavoidable things that mortals like us have to deal with too—like public-facing follower lists on your photo-sharing app—can inadvertently give us a glimpse of the humanity behind this particular brand of tight-lipped, press release-loving celebrity. Suddenly, the status of Selena’s new relationship is as easy to investigate with basic sleuthing as your crush’s is.
Gomez is the most-followed person on Instagram, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ariana Grande, and Beyoncé.
