- Selena Gomez spoke about going viral over her reactions at the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday.
- After the ceremony, she wrote on Instagram: "I'd rather sit still than be dragged for being myself."
Selena Gomez is not here for the memes.
After the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday, the "Only Murders in the Building" star an Instagram story declaring that she "will never be a meme again" after going viral for her reactions.
"I'd rather sit still than be dragged for being myself. Much love," she added.
During Tuesday's ceremony, at which she and Rema received the award for best afrobeats video for their collaboration "Calm Down," Gomez was caught on camera several times making what fans dubbed meme-worthy reactions.
The most notable came when Chris Brown was announced as one of the nominees in the best R&B video category. When his name was read out, the camera cut to Gomez, who stopped clapping and appeared to scrunch up her face.
—Pop Base (@PopBase) September 13, 2023
Brown has been repeatedly accused of violence against women, and famously assaulted his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna, in 2009.
Elsewhere in the show, the "Single Soon" singer drew further attention for her reaction to Rodrigo's performance.
Rodrigo performed a mash-up of songs from her just-released album "Guts," and while she was belting out "Vampire," the set began to collapse around her, mimicking the music video for the song. Gomez was seen watching on and looked rather confused.
—annoyed (@cyberbei) September 13, 2023
Some users on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, thought that Gomez was "covering her ears" to block out Rodrigo's singing, but others defended her reaction and suggested that Gomez was "thinking something was wrong on stage," as one user said.
Another user wrote: "This is completely unfair and out of context: Olivia pretended to have her set break down and semi-explode as she was fake rushed off stage, and Selena was reacting to that."
Gomez has been the subject of quite a few memes.
In August, she went viral after her friend Dominic J West posted a photo of her wrapped in a blanket and staring pensively off into the distance.
However, the Rare Beauty founder took kindly to the ribbing she received over the picture, resharing a few of the funniest memes on her Instagram.