In an interview with ABC News, Gomez explained that she decided to appear in Playboy to take control of her own image and to show her fans that she was more than just a Disney star. She stated, "I just wanted to do something for me. I wanted to take ownership of my body and my career." Gomez also expressed her admiration for women who had appeared in Playboy before her, citing them as inspirations.
Far from posing for adult magazines, March 2013 was one of the busiest media months of Gomez's life. She was heavily promoting projects that separated her from her Wizards of Waverly Place past while still protecting her personal boundaries. 1. The Premiere of Spring Breakers
This fact alone definitively debunks the rumors: the March 2013 issue had already been printed and distributed weeks prior to the fake cover's viral explosion. It was not a last-minute replacement or a special edition; it was a standard issue with its own designated model and content. Selena Gomez Playboy Magazine March 2013
The public was fascinated because 2013 marked the definitive end of Selena's "squeaky-clean" Disney era. Around this same period, she appeared in a mature shoot for Flaunt Magazine and released the artwork for her album Stars Dance , which featured her in more provocative styling than fans were used to seeing. The Legacy of the 2013 Pivot
cover was fake, Selena has been candid about the pressure she felt to "show skin" during her transition to adult stardom. Album (2015) In an interview with ABC News, Gomez explained
While she never modeled for them, the magazine's official channels have occasionally interacted with her public image: The "Open Invitation": In April 2013, the official Playboy Twitter
The timing of the fake Playboy cover was not coincidental. It occurred right as Selena Gomez was actively trying to redefine her public image. For years, she had been known as Alex Russo, the lovable wizard from the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place . By 2013, at the age of 20, she was determined to shed her "good girl" persona and be seen as a mature adult artist. Far from posing for adult magazines, March 2013
Ultimately, Selena Gomez never posed for Playboy . In later years, she even expressed that she felt "ashamed" at times when she felt pressured to look overly sexualized on album covers earlier in her career.