Selena Gomez Loses Over 130,000 Instagram Followers After ‘Emilia Pérez' Backlash Despite Leading 2025 Oscar Nominations

Yahoo

31-01-2025

Although the foreign film Emilia Pérez won over The Academy and has garnered the most Oscar nominations for the March 2025 awards ceremony, actress Selena Gomez is receiving some serious scrutiny over her role in the movie.
The backlash and her tearful video about the United States immigration policies under President Donald Trump's administration have prompted over 130,000 of her fans to unfollow her on Instagram — a significant comedown given she's held the title of the most followed woman on the platform.
Let us break down the criticism that caused Gomez's drastic social media fall.
Gomez portrays Jessi Del Monte in the musical/thriller Emilia Pérez, and her performance has been applauded by Americans, especially those in the film industry, delving out the awards. Her co-stars have also received high praise, including Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldana, who are pegged to be the ones to beat for Best Actress and Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the Oscars.
However, the movie didn't elicit the same positive attention in Mexico and Latin America as a whole as it did in the U.S. Many took issue with the film's portrayal of the country's struggles with drug violence and widely excluding Mexican actors from leading roles.
Gomez herself has also been criticized for what some called her 'indefensible' Spanish-speaking in the film. The Texas native clapped back, saying she did her best with the time allotted, but it didn't turn around her haters as her Instagram follower count declined.
If there weren't enough side eyes on Gomez this awards season, she also rubbed her followers the wrong way when she posted and deleted an Instagram video on January 27 of her sobbing over the deportation of Mexican immigrants.
'All my people are being attacked,' the former Disney Channel star said through tears. However, she immediately was hit with fiery comments from Trump supporters, accusing her of being overly 'politically correct.'
The overwhelming responses led Gomez to post and delete another video on January 28, saying, 'Apparently it's not ok to show empathy for people.'
Gomez's drop in Instagram followers appears to be a reflection of the negativity that's come her way over Emilia Pérez and her blubbering video condemning the deportation of Mexican immigrants. Experts at CritiqueJeu analyzed Gomez's abrupt decrease in social media followers via Social Blade and shared their findings in a press release.
The shocking numbers show:
January 28 was the singer's biggest single-day drop in Instagram followers, with 44,151 fans hitting the unfollow button.
The Wizards of Waverly Place alum lost 59,694 since January 27, when her distressed video went viral.
In total, Gomez lost 132,625 followers after her apparent career-wrenching posts.
Gomez's follower count took a hit long before her latest social media posts, as CritiqueJeu calculated she'd lost 808,500 followers in the last 30 days.
Cofounder of CritiqueJeu, Paul Lenglet, commented on the ordeal in a statement.
'Selena Gomez had a great end to 2024, but the start of 2025 has not been so gentle on her. The star has been facing many criticisms over her participation and performance on Emilia Pérez, a film directed and filmed in Paris, but with a story that takes place in Mexico.'
He continued: 'The film's backlash, especially from Mexican audiences, is now combined with backlash from her video condemning the deportation of Mexican immigrants by ICE. Gomez has been known for publicly speaking out, but this can alienate different segments of her fanbase — and potential Rare Beauty, her makeup brand, customers.'