Selena Gomez deletes sobbing video amid backlash

Selena Gomez has hastily deleted an emotional video she shared to her Instagram account, after it sparked fierce debate on social media.

Selena Gomez breaks down on Instagram.

Singer and actress Selena Gomez has hastily deleted an emotional video she shared to her Instagram account, showing her sobbing about the deportation of Mexican people in the US.

Texas-born Gomez, who has described herself in the past as a “proud third-generation American-Mexican,” wept as she told her 422 million followers she felt powerless over the situation.

Overcome with emotion, Gomez was barely audible as said: “I just want to say that I’m sorry. All my people are getting attacked, the children. I don’t understand. I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something but I can’t. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.”

But the star soon deleted the video from her account – and a follow-up post suggested she hadn’t been pleased with the reaction.

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“Apparently it’s not OK to show empathy for people,” she wrote.

Broadcaster Piers Morgan was among those who reacted negatively to the video, tweeting that “posting yourself weeping over illegal immigrant criminals being deported is a new level of absurd celebrity narcissism.”

Others on X accused Gomez of “making things about herself” and labelled her an “out of touch celebrity with zero understanding of how dangerous our country has become.”

Gomez appeared overcome with emotion in the video.

But others defended the star – one fan pointed out that Gomez had produced a 2019 Netflix documentary chronicling the lives of undocumented immigrant families in the US, showing that she had history on speaking out about the issues.

Another argued that “for people who shame celebs for not speaking up/using their platform, y’all seem to have an extreme problem every time selena gomez does it”.

She deleted the video as debate raged on social media. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty

President Donald Trump has already started to deport Mexican people from the US by the plane full. Picture: AP Photo/John Locher

“How can people be mad at someone with Mexican heritage being heart broken by how the US treats Latinos? That’s literally her family,” one fan argued.

Mass deportations are among a range of sweeping orders President Donald Trump has enacted as he begins his second term in office.

The US sent four deportation flights to Mexico last Thursday, the White House press secretary announced, with Mexico’s foreign ministry saying the country would “always accept the arrival of Mexicans to our territory with open arms.”

The flights came as the White House said it had arrested more than 1000 people in two days with hundreds deported by military aircraft, saying that “the largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway”.

Originally published as Selena Gomez deletes sobbing video amid backlash