Selena Gomez Recalls Being A 'Victim' Of Emotional Abuse During Her Relationship With Justin Bieber

Selena Gomez is bravely opening up about a painful part of her past.

The singer has been praised for the emotional lyrics on her new album Rare, where she dives deep into past relationships with Justin Bieber and The Weeknd.

In a new interview with NPR‘s Lulu Garcia-Navarro for Weekend Edition Sunday, the 27-year-old discussed the meaning behind the lyrics of her emotional ballad Lose You to Love Me:

“I felt I didn’t get a respectful closure, and I had accepted that, but I know I needed some way to just say a few things that I wish I had said. It’s not a hateful song; it’s a song that is saying — I had something beautiful and I would never deny that it wasn’t that. It was very difficult and I’m happy it’s over. And I felt like this was a great way to just say, you know, it’s done, and I understand that, and I respect that, and now here I am stepping into a whole other chapter.”

The songstress didn’t name names, so Garcia-Navarro inquired:

“Saying goodbye to Justin Bieber, who I’m assuming you’re speaking about.”

Gomez said in reply:

“You had to get the name in, I get it.”

Despite the difficult time she’s gone through, Gomez has come out stronger because of it, she shared:

“I’ve found the strength in it. It’s dangerous to stay in a victim mentality. And I’m not being disrespectful, I do feel I was a victim to certain abuse —”

Garcia-Navarro interjected:

“You mean emotional abuse?”

Selena further explained (below):

“Yes, and I think that it’s something that — I had to find a way to understand it as an adult. And I had to understand the choices I was making. As much as I definitely don’t want to spend the rest of my life talking about this, I am really proud that I can say I feel the strongest I’ve ever felt and I’ve found a way to just walk through it with as much grace as possible.”

Her difficult relationship with Justin isn’t the only thing the former Disney Channel star has been public about. She vocalized why she’s been so open about other hardships she has endured:

“The reason why I’ve become so vocal about the trials and tribulations of my life is because people were already going to narrate that for me. I wasn’t going to have a choice because of how fast everything moves now. And most of the time, yes, it’s not true, or it’s an embellished version of what the truth is. I want to be able to tell my story the way that I want to tell it. And all of these things happened, and I wasn’t going to deny that, I wasn’t going to pretend to put a smile on when it actually was awful — a few of the worst moments of my life. And I don’t know if I would have made it. And that’s medical reasons, obviously, and emotional reasons. I just had to find a way to claim my story.”

NPR reached out to Bieber’s team following the interview but has not received a response. Listen to more from Selena HERE.

What do U think about what she had to say, Perezcious readers?! Any thoughts? Share ’em with us (below) in the comments!!

[Image via WENN/Avalon & Ian Wilson/WENN.]