Selena Gomez has brought comfort to many by opening up about her mental health struggles and by rallying to normalize these sensitive conversations.  But what caused the singer and Only Murders in the Building star to become an advocate in the first place? 

Speaking to Vogue UK, Selena said breaking her silence about her mental health was not of her own volition.  She said she felt forced into sharing her experiences once the rumor mill caught wind of her diagnoses.

“In a way, I didn’t have a choice,” she shared. “There were so many stories being told about me during that time that I wondered how anyone would know the truth. So it really stemmed from me wanting to be honest, wanting to say: ‘All this stuff that you’re hearing? It isn’t right. Here’s what happened.'”‘

Selena continued, “I do have bipolar [disorder] and I had to learn a bunch of things about myself, and it wasn’t easy. And, you know, some days it’s still not. But I just knew that if I didn’t say anything, someone else was going to. It wasn’t fair.”

The Grammy nominee also shared how her makeup brand, Rare Beauty, earned its moniker.  She said she named her beauty line after her anthemic single, “Rare” because “it basically says that I don’t have everything figured out, but I know that I’m worth it and I know that I deserve good things.”

“When we started talking about how to enter the beauty space, I knew I needed to be different. I wanted to stand out and show people that I care beyond just the products, so that’s how it began. I named the product Rare – it was pretty challenging to get, but it was well worth it, and now it represents so much more to me,” Selena said.