Selena Gomez is officially setting the record straight after internet sleuths accused her of throwing shade at her longtime friend Taylor Swift. The intense social media scrutiny kicked off after Swift made a highly publicized courtside appearance at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, June 10, watching the New York Knicks pull off a thrilling 107-106 comeback victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Gomez, a Texas native and devoted Spurs fan watching the game from London, caught immediate backlash after dropping a seemingly sarcastic comment on an MTV Instagram post featuring Swift. Fans immediately assumed the “Only Murders in the Building” star was mocking Swift’s newfound basketball fandom. Waking up to a barrage of texts on Friday morning, Gomez quickly hopped on Instagram Stories to kill the rumor entirely.
“I would never insult my friends, nor was it an insult,” Gomez wrote in her story, explaining that her initial comment was simply a reaction to a different slide on MTV’s page. The singer detailed in her Instagram Story clarification that her deleted remarks about “all the sudden fans” were part of an inside joke with friends she had placed bets with over the Finals matchup.
“I lost but was poking fun at my opponents, my friends,” Gomez wrote. “Believe it or not, I do have other friends in my life. But quickly forget that most assume otherwise.”
She ended the post with a final dose of reality to the over-analyzing internet: “Also.. it’s a basketball game.”
The intense spotlight surrounding the Knicks’ VIP row has reached a fever pitch this postseason. Swift’s frequent courtside appearances have magnified every interaction, even catching flak from NBA broadcaster Monica McNutt, who questioned Swift’s Knicks loyalty on air before later issuing an apology. For Gomez and Swift, who first crossed paths back in 2008 while respectively dating Nick and Joe Jonas, the latest social media frenzy is just another day of fans reading way too much into a simple comment.