Selena Gomez's best friend is finally breaking her silence on the backlash surrounding her appearance in My Mind & Me.
Back in November, the Only Murders in the Building star released the revealing documentary, which gave fans an intimate and unvarnished look into some of the most difficult moments of her life. That said, while Gomez was praised for her candor and vulnerability, there were also a number of folks who were less than impressed by her close friend Raquelle Stevens, with many accusing the Sunshine Mind author of being "toxic, dismissive, controlling and passive aggressive towards selena" based on her on-screen behavior.
Watching the Selena Gomez documentary and she really needs to drop that “friend” Raquelle
— Alo🪬 (@alolims) November 4, 2022
just because raquelle has been through everything with selena, it doesn’t take away that she can be so toxic, dismissive, controlling, and passive aggressive towards selena #MyMindAndMe
— jas 🇬🇹 (@jasminneees) November 4, 2022
However, Stevens has now decided to respond to her critics by telling her side of the story in a recent episode of the Chicks in the Office podcast, where she talked about facing this kind of online scrutiny, as well as how she was willing to deal with it in order to support her longtime friend of 10 years.
"Anytime you do anything public in life, you're subject to opinions of other people," she said before acknowledging that "you just don't even go there if you're not willing to be able to take the heat." So even though she was aware of the risks, Stevens explained it was ultimately a positive thing, as "the biggest thing for me was that the documentary was a beautiful, beautiful piece of work that Selena so vulnerably shared with the world."
"It was her life story, and part of what was included in that documentary was our friendship, which is special and it's honest," she continued. "And it's real."
Not only that, but Stevens also went on to point out that her bond with Gomez is much more than just what was depicted on-screen, noting that people should remember that when they're "scrolling through Instagram or they're scrolling through TikTok, or you're watching a documentary, you're getting a small glimpse into someone's life, you're not seeing the full picture."
"The truth is we've had a friendship for the last decade because it's real, it's honest and I'm so grateful for that," she said, prior to adding that she isn't bothered by the negative comments, as she knows she lives with "integrity" and a "strong" inner life. Rather, she was just happy to be there for her friend through this process, saying that "Selena welcomes honesty in her friendships and I welcome that in my life too."
Watch everything Raquelle has to say about the backlash for yourself below.
.
Photo via Getty / Daniele Venturelli