Selena Gomez brands herself as self-love advocate: ‘I fought for it’

Selena Gomez has promoted self-love throughout her career, particularly since the debut of her song Who Says when she was just 19 years old.

The inspiring 2011 song almost went to another artist, according to the singer/actress, and she “fought” to preserve it and record it with her act Selena Gomez and the Scene.

At Twilio’s SIGNAL conference on Wednesday, the Only Murders in the Building star discussed her struggle to convince Disney to let her sing the iconic song.

“It’s actually a funny story: I was working with Disney at the time, and they were actually giving the song to another artist,” the Love You to Love Me singer said.

The Calm Down singer remembers how moved she was to make “Who Says” her own and share it with her audience.

“And I cried — I remember, I was with my mom — because I loved the song so much. I basically said to my label, ‘I feel like my fans are young and they need it.’ That’s all I kept saying because I was 16 at the time. I was like, ‘I think my fans really need it; tell [them] my fans really need the song.’”

Gomez described the song, which was co-written by Emanuel Kiriakou and Priscilla Hamilton, as “a gift” that she “did not know [she] needed.”

“And I love, love that song, and it has carried with me through my whole career, and I fought for it,” the Rare Beauty entrepreneur continued.

The Come and Get it singer also shared that she feels like she often still needs to hear the message behind the song, which she repeats, “Who says you’re not perfect / Who says you’re not worth it.”

Who Says was the lead single from Gomez and her then-band The Scene’s third album, When the Sun Goes Down. The uplifting pop song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 and was ultimately certified Platinum by the RIAA.