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Taylor Lautner came to the defence of Selena Gomez after the Emila Pérez star was targeted by trolls following her appearance at the SAG Awards on Sunday (23 February).
Gomez won the gong for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, for Only Murders in the Building, at the awards show but was once again the victim of online abuse because of her appearance.
Trolls noticed that, compared to 12 months ago, the 32-year-old actor and singer was noticeably slimmer, with some accusing her of using Ozempic.
Although Gomez has yet to respond to the comments, Lautner took it upon himself to address the trolls.
In an Instagram story post, the Twilight actor shared a side-by-side image of Gomez at the 2024 SAG Awards and one at the same awards show in 2025. He also included screenshots of the mean and contradictory things said about Gomez online.
“It’s a cruel world full of hate out there,” Lautner wrote on the image. “You can never please everyone nor should you have to. In my experience, it doesn’t make the words sting less, it just refocuses you onto what matters.
“And it sure isn’t the shape, colour, or appearance of your body,” he added. “Daily reminder to all of us to not forget how beautiful you are inside and out…and to be a little nicer.”
He soundtracked the post with Gomez’s 2011 song “Who Says” which contains the lyrics: “I’m no beauty queen, I’m just beautiful me,” and “Who says, who says you’re not perfect?”
Lautner, 33, has previously been open about the trouble he has had with body shamers and his own mental health after he stopped playing Jacob Black in the Twilight movies.
Speaking on The Squeeze podcast in February 2023, he said: “Don’t think just because you lose the 20 lbs or put on the muscle, you’re going to wake up and look in the mirror and all of a sudden be happy. That’s not where you should be finding value.”
In March 2023, Gomez said on the Apple TV+ docuseries, Dear…, that her weight “would constantly fluctuate,” due to the different medications she was using for her lupus, an inflammatory disease that affects the immune system.
She then noted that as those changes were going on, people were quick to make comments about her body.
“People just ran with it,” Gomez said. “It was like they couldn’t wait to find a thing to bring me down. I was being shamed for gaining weight because of my lupus.”
The “Rare” singer then confessed that while she said online that the body-shaming remarks didn’t bother her, it was actually the opposite.
“I lied, I would go online and I would post a picture of myself and I would say, ‘It doesn’t matter, I’m not accepting what you’re saying,” she explained, in response to the criticism. “All the while being in the room posting that, crying my eyes out, because nobody deserves to hear those things.”
“I was posting these things, saying it doesn’t bother me because I didn’t want it to bother other people who are experiencing the same thing, getting shamed for what they look like, who they are, who they love. I just think it’s so unfair. I don’t think that anybody deserves to feel less than.”
