Selena Gomez said that Taylor Swift's song "Dorothea" was written about her, confirming long-standing speculation among fans about the inspiration behind the track.
Gomez made the remark while appearing on her husband and music producer Benny Blanco's podcast "Friends Keep Secrets," where she discussed her longtime friendship with Swift.
"Well, 'Dorothea' is about me, one of her songs. And I feel like a lot of moments — huge moments that were self-defining from relationships to family to love to hate, all of it in between, we were figuring it out because I was 15 and she was 18, and we didn't really know what was going on," she said. "And so we've never seen each other any differently. So when I listen to it, I'm so impressed how it's eloquently put."
The song appears on "Evermore," which Swift previously described as the "sister album" to her 2020 album "Folklore." At the time, Swift said the album blended fiction with real-life elements, describing its tracks as "imaginary/not imaginary tales," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Speaking specifically about "Dorothea," Swift has said it tells the story of a "girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams."
She has never publicly identified the song's subject.
However, listeners have long speculated that the lyrics referenced Gomez.
Lines in the song include "You're a queen sellin' dreams, sellin' makeup and magazines" and "Your mom and her pageant schemes."
Gomez's mother entered her in beauty pageants when she was younger, a detail fans have pointed to as a possible connection.
During the podcast appearance, Gomez said Swift had also written another song inspired by their relationship.
She revealed that more than a decade ago Swift penned an unreleased track titled "Family," which reflected on their friendship and their ambitions at the time.
Gomez said the song referenced her hopes of acting in films and Swift's own musical aspirations.
According to Gomez, the lyrics described her having "these amazing dreams" of working in movies, while Swift wrote that "in every crowd, I still see you."
"Then her part was, you believe in my stupid dreams, like playing stadiums," Gomez added. "Now, when I listen to those songs, both of those things have happened for us. And that's really sweet because back then, she was just like, ‘I wrote this song about us and it was just our story,' and it was the sweetest thing."
Gomez and Swift have been friends since they were teenagers.
Gomez previously said their friendship began after each went through separate breakups with members of the Jonas Brothers in the late 2000s.
"We all know and love each other now, and it's so cute," she told Jake Shane on the "Therapuss" podcast.
"We didn't know what we were doing. She and I like to say the best thing we got out of those relationships was each other."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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