11 January: Selena & Andy Samberg talks with USA Today, as Selena opens up about social media and music

Selena opens up about her relationships with social media, explains her statement about potential retirement from music and talks about working with  Andy Samberg & HotelT in the new interview for “USA Today”.

Question: The two of you met while promoting the first movie. What did you initially bond over?

Selena Gomez: Andy was really sweet. I was a little pipsqueak back then and he was making me laugh. And when weird questions would come up, he would deflect and it was very nice. I remember feeling very comfortable, like, “This is fun.”

Andy Samberg: It’s interesting doing press with Selena. She gets a whole other variety of questions than I get – it’s been fascinating for me to see. She deals with it very gracefully, but man, I wouldn’t trade.

Q: In “Transformania,” Johnny feels that he needs to change himself in order to be accepted. Is that something either of you could relate to in your own lives?

Gomez: Guilty. Maybe it’s because of social media and the pressure. I definitely have felt like maybe I wasn’t good enough or I should look a certain way. I had a hard time, but it’s actually been four years for me without social media on my phone besides TikTok. So it’s been wonderful. I still post and do what I do, but I’ve learned to have a balance with it and not let it consume me.

Q: Selena, congratulations on your first Grammy nomination (for Spanish-language EP “Revelación,” nominated for best Latin pop album). How did it feel to be recognized for music that is so personal to you?

Gomez: I cried. (Laughs.) I was very excited. It’s wonderful, I did not expect that at all. This is something I worked really hard on – honestly, probably harder than any other album because I wanted to make sure that with it being Spanish that it’s authentic, it sounds real, it’s emotional and beautiful and poetic, which is what I love about Spanish music. I wanted it to be all of that, but it’s really difficult not being completely fluent in the language. So there were times where it was really, really hard and I’m so proud of everyone that got to be a part of it.

Q: You hinted in Vogue last year about potentially retiring from music. Could you still see that happening?

Gomez: I think I just said it wrong. The idea of retirement for me isn’t that I would leave forever, it is that I do see myself taking a significant break from music. Not personally – I think I’ll always be creating and doing music and hopefully maybe even do some side projects with people. I just want to maybe take a step back, but I’m not doing that anytime soon.

Q: You both have food shows streaming right now (“Selena + Chef” on HBO Max, hosted by Gomez, and “Baking It” on Peacock, co-hosted by Samberg). How do you think you’d fare as a “Baking It” contestant, Selena?

Gomez: I’m horrible at baking. I don’t know what to do, I just don’t. The concept is crazy. I love cooking so that I can just throw things together. I’m not a great cook, either, but it’s still fun.

Source: www.usatoday.com