Selena Gomez sparks body image debate after deleting racy Instagram photos

Selena Gomez posted images of herself on Instagram but has since deleted them and it's caused an online debate around body image.

The 31-year-old singer and actor has previously been candid about her relationship with social media and her mental health, as she often takes breaks from the apps.

Though when active, she often updates fans about her work, shares loved-up photos with her boyfriend Benny Blanco, as well as posting fun TikTok challenges. She also loves a good selfie.

Gomez recently posted two photos of herself to her Instagram story at the weekend where she sported a black strapless bralette, posing by holding her hair in the first snap, and then taking a selfie in the second.

But these photos were then deleted by Only Murders in the Building star after they garnered attention and mixed reactions on social media.

Some of the negative comments were about her body and ageing asking "what happened to her," and saying they "couldn't recognize her," as a few even picked on her weight.

The 5'Lose You To Love Me' singer has explained in the past that her lupus diagnosis means that her weight fluctuates.

"I experienced body image [issues] with my weight fluctuation for the first time," Selena said on the Giving Back Generation vodcast in 2019.

"I have lupus and deal with kidney issues and high blood pressure, so I deal with a lot of health issues. For me, that's when I really started noticing more of the body image stuff. It's the medication I have to take for the rest of my life. It depends on the month, to be honest. I really noticed when people started attacking me for that."

Gomez's fans came to her defence, calling out those who fail to recognise that celebrities don't always look the same as they did when they started as a child or teen in the business like Gomez did.

One person said: "You would think people would learn after what happened to Chadwick Boseman not to pick on someone else who literally has Lupus."

"Y'all are too comfortable calling ppl ugly.. she has medications to take bc of her disease which affects her weight and everyone calling her ugly and fat when she’s just taking care of herself," another person wrote.

Someone else added: "God why is it SO impossible to be a woman? Selena is not obligated to look like what you want her to look like. according to the internet, women need to remain youthful and pretty or fear that men won’t like us. All these beauty standards are ridiculously fake and intoxicating."

"The response to these photos is genuinely APPALLING," a fourth person commented. "People really need to stop bullying and harassing this woman (and women in general) for just existing…"

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