Selena Gomez appears to be one of those celebrities that either other famous people love or just want nothing to do with. In fact, there are a lot of celebrities who appeared to have feuded with the "Wolves" and "Can't Keep My Hands To Myself singer. This includes Bella Hadid, Demi Lovato (due to something between her and Demi's ex-fiance), Ariana Grande, Jake Paul, and even Chris Rock. But where does Joey King fall?
Joey King has had a truly epic career for someone who just turned 21. While she earned bit parts in various projects, her first major role was in Ramona and Beezus, a feature film adapted from the Beverly Cleary novel. In the film she co-starred with Selena Gomez and the two went on a major press tour with one another. While there was an age difference between them (seven years) the two truly seemed to get along.
But what was their relationship actually like and what is it like now that both Joey and Selena are grown women?
They Were Once Absolutely "Inseparable"
According to MTV, Selena Gomez was "inseparable" from Joey King, who played her younger sister in Ramona and Beezus. This was back when Selena was 16 and Joey was just nine-years-old. After releasing the 2010 movie, the two apparently didn't quite part ways.
If you watch them in various interviews promoting the movie back-in-the-day, it's clear to see that there was chemistry between them. It was also apparent on the set...
"Even when they stopped, when they would say 'cut,' we would still just be as loud and talking," Selena told MTV News.
As Joey aged and built her filmography with roles in The Dark Knight Rises, Battle Los Angeles, and Crazy, Stupid, Love the two remained close.
"She's like my sister, and I never had a sibling, so she's as close as I've got," Selena admitted.
But still, there was an age difference... And Selena was going through a lot of more adult problems that Joey simply wasn't...
Joey's Sister Hunter Was Closer In Age To Selena
Judging by their age difference when they filmed Ramona and Beezus, it's really no surprise that Selena Gomez and Joey King couldn't connect in every area of their lives. While they are certainly closer in age nowadays, especially in terms of maturity, when you're young, seven years is quite substantial. Serious, Joey was just a little kid when she was starring alongside Justin Bieber's ex-girlfriend.
Joey's older sister, Hunter King is a lot closer in age to Selena. In fact, Hunter is only two years younger than the now-28-year-old. Perhaps this is why Hunter and Selena were spotted hanging around quite a bit not long after Ramona and Beezus.
Since Joey is exceptionally close to her biological sister Hunter, we doubt that there was any competition for Selena's affection. But while Joey and Selena worked together, spoke on the phone, and did a lot of press with each other, Hunter was the one who would socialize with her.
But that all changed...
Joey's Relationship With Selena Gomez Today
Recently, Joey King went on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. During the October 2020 interview, Joey revealed what her relationship with Selena is nowadays.
"Are you two still in touch from [Ramona and Beezus]" Andy Cohen asked.
Joey sort of gave a slightly awkward shake of the head and said, "No. I mean, I think--she's amazing and I love her but, you know, but we just kind of... She's super busy. And I'm busy, kind of, ish, so you know... We don't really keep in contact much."
Joey and Hunter both still follow Selena on Instagram, but Selena doesn't follow either of them back. Neither Joey nor Hunter King have been spotted with Selena for years... But people do grow apart.
Even still, Joey has said some pretty nice things about Selena Gomez in the last few years, especially when she was promoting The Kissing Booth.
In an Entertainment Weekly article from February 2019, Joey claimed that she still looks up to Selena Gomez even though Joey's career is either on-par or exceeding that of Selena's.
"From the time we worked together until now, I've always really looked up to her. I'm really proud of everything she's done," Joey said. “Everything she's been doing lately with speaking out about mental health, I think it's so beautiful and inspiring,"
Joey then added, "She just shows everyone every day that no matter what your Instagram follower count says, no matter how much you may or may not edit your pictures, no matter how many photo shoots you do, no matter what your life is like, it's okay to not be okay. I really love that she puts it out there for everyone to see. It's very vulnerable for her. She's a big inspiration to people, whether she realizes it or not."
Selena's relationship with Joey may not be the same as it once was, but there does appear to be some respect there... At least from Joey's perspective.