Celeb Selena Gomez came into this world in Grand Prairie, Texas in July of 1992, the daughter of Ricardo Joes Gomez and Amanda Dawn "Mandy" Cornett. Selena has always been proud of her Mexican-American heritage. Sadly, her parents split when she was only 5-years-old and Selena remained with Mandy.
Mandy and Selena struggled. Mandy was only 16-years-old when Selena was born and 21 when she and Ricardo divorced. Financially, it was tough for Mandy and Selena. And they formed a very close bond.
Apparently, Mandy did stage acting in Dallas and Selena hit upon the idea of becoming an actress.
So she auditioned, together with her on-again, off-again chum Demi Lovato, for Barney & Friends in 2002. Both girls landed roles on the show. She played the character of Gianna from 2002-2004.
Then came the Disney scene, with appearances on Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana. But Selena really hit the big time when she was chosen to play Alex Russo in Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place. Mandy was, after a fashion, managing Selena and her career. And when she got the role of Alex Russo in Wizards in 2007, the decision was made for the two to move to Los Angeles.
Since then Mandy and Selena Gomez have had their ups and downs. Let's have a look at where they stand today.
Selena Fired Her Mom And Stepdad
By the time Selena landed the role of Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place, Mandy had married Brian Teefey and together they managed Selena's career. They had a vision of how Selena's career should progress, emphasizing both singing and acting.
Apparently, the older Selena got, the more she disagreed with her parents' advice. It was a "who's making the money here" kind of thing. And both Brian and Mandy strongly objected to Selena's on-again, off-again relationship with bad boy Justin Bieber. They thought he was a bad influence and objected very strongly to his presence in Selena's life.
And, for whatever reason, Selena began to have emotional problems, entering rehab once or twice. Some even claimed that substance abuse was to blame. This was vehemently denied by Selena's camp.
The older Selena got, the more she and her mom Mandy and stepdad Brian disagreed on the direction her career should take.
By the time she turned 21-years-old, Selena had just had enough. She felt she and her career had "outgrown" her mother and stepdad's abilities and she fired them and engaged what she called "professional" management.
And even worse for Brian and Mandy, they really didn't see it coming. Selena blindsided them with her public announcement. And that was tough for both Brian and Mandy to take.
Of course, there was some tension, but both Mandy and Selena assured her fans that the move was purely professional and that they remained a close family. We're not so certain about that one. Read on.
A Complicated Relationship
They may have had their ups and downs over the Justin Bieber thing and the direction of Selena's career, but the bond between Selena and Mandy has proved an enduring one.
When Selena had her kidney transplant in 2017, Mandy was there at her bedside. There were complications and Mandy didn't take it all well.
She has said: "I think I'm banned from Cedars [Medical Centre]. [I was watching] "every little thing, I was monitoring, like, yelling and freaking out." The operation was necessitated by Selena's Lupus, an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack healthy cells.
Mandy has come clean to say that she had a "really hard time" after Selena gave her her marching orders. And she has also said that she and Selena have endured "a lot of ups and downs", including an "entire year" of not speaking in the wake of Selena giving her mom the boot. Selena wasn't even allowed to talk to Mandy and Brian's daughter Gracie Teefey.
At the time she was fired, Mandy was working as a producer on the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why. It was a tough few years for Mandy.
Then, in 2017 the show premiered on Netflix. And, even better, it was a big hit. Next things you know Mandy and Selena are "happily [posing] for photos together on the red carpet." There's nothing like success to bring people together again.
By then things were more or less off with Justin Bieber. And that made the mother-daughter relationship a less contentious place. And mom totally approved when, in 2017, Selena hooked up with Canadian singer/songwriter The Weeknd.
And since being given the boot by her own daughter, Mandy has forged a bit of a career as a producer, TV show Rising having been announced in 2020. Together, Mandy and Brian still run LH7 Management, representing country-pop duo Seaforth and British singer/songwriter Katy Tiz, amongst others.
And Selena? At 28, Selena has moved on into her own life. The pandemic has brought her family closer, as Selena has been spending time in lockdown with Mandy and her family. It's a happy ending for everybody.