Selena Gomez is no longer managed by her parents, who have been the starlet’s managers since her Wizards of Waverly Place Disney days. While the move reportedly only became official last month it has been in progress for months, yet some gossip reports are blaming on-again boyfriend Justin Bieber as the cause.
This is despite E! News reporting:
“Gomez and her mom Mandy and stepdad Brian Teefey first started talking about parting ways late last year. ‘This has been going on for awhile,’ a source tells [ the outlet]. ‘This didn’t just happen yesterday.’”
Bolstering TMZ’s report that Gomez’s parents’ reported disapproval of Bieber isn’t a reason behind Selena dropping them as managers , E! added that Mandy and Brian weren’t happy about their daughter’s shake-up at first, but “Everything is fine now,” and “They’re all good.”
Sources told both outlets that there is zero drama between Gomez and her parents.
It’s claimed the 21-year-old’s move is her outgrowing her parents and wanting to have the kind of power representation that other A-list clients command.
Both TMZ and E! said Gomez remains close to her folks and differences about the direction of her career and Bieber are not causes of the split.
“They decided it’s better to focus on being a family than talking about business all the time. Listen, it makes sense because someone doesn’t want their parents managing them for their whole career ,” a source told E!
“It wasn’t about her parents doing something wrong or bad feelings it was more about Selena getting older and being more independent,” the insider explains.
While we all know stars change managers all the time, reading between the lines has Gomez been hinting all wasn’t well behind the scenes for some time?
Tying up with the timeline that she and her parents first started talking about separating late last year, it was last December that Selena announced she was pulling out of the Australian and Asia legs of her Stars Dance tour. At that time, Bieber and Gomez weren’t talking — as Justin revealed during a Power 106 radio interview on December 17 — and therefore could have little to no influence in Selena’s business affairs.
Gomez checked into the Dawn At The Meadows recovery facility in Arizona on January 5, reportedly at her parents’ urging over concerns regarding her spending time with Bieber that same month.
Selena’s rep subsequently stressed her 14-day stay wasn’t for substance issues. Sources later told E! that Gomez needed helping “letting go” of her relationship with the “ Baby ” singer.
Fast forward to Gomez’s revealing speech at the We Day event in California on March 26 when she admitted: “I’m surrounded by people who are supposed to guide me and some of them have and others haven’t. They pressure me; there’s so much pressure:
“‘You gotta be sexy; you gotta be cute; you gotta be nice.’ You gotta be all these things.”
“Until recently, I had given in to that pressure, I lost sight of who I was . I listened to opinions of people, and I try to change who I am because I thought others would accept me for it and I realized I don’t know how to be anything but myself,” she added.
Given that Gomez was seen in Texas with Bieber last month amid two comeback concerts in her home state over a weekend capped with an intimate dance video with him, has recorded a duet with Justin, and was seen meeting him outside Miami’s Hit Factory recording studio Tuesday night; it sounds as if past pressures came from her parents.
Currently looking for new management, Gomez’s four-album deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records has now ended, making the starlet a doubly attractive package from an investment perspective.
HitsDailyDouble reported Tuesday:
“Pop siren Selena Gomez is out of contract with Disney and though she may ultimately stay with her current label, she has been meeting with other record suitors.”
“She’s also seeing potential new managers, including Jeff Kwatinetz and Martin Kirkup. Attorney David Lande and her WME agent will be at her elbow throughout the process. ”
Most outlets are reporting Gomez hasn’t inked any new deals as yet. E! News added Katy Perry’s manager Bradford Cobb is in the running as possible management.
Industry observers note Gomez’s hit singles “ Come & Get It ” and “ Slow Down, ” a No.1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart last July with her Stars Dance LP, a well-received performance in Spring Breakers and an anticipated turn in William H. Macy’s Rudderless — have given her a perfect jump-off point to new management and a new record deal.
Why some gossip media insist on blaming Bieber for what appear to be logical, expansive moves in Gomez’s career, seems to be down to a knee-jerk reaction to his name and very little to do with the reality of the situation.