Actor Taylor Lautner defended his ex-girlfriend and Emilia Pérez star, Selena Gomez, after she was subjected to body shaming on social media after her SAG Awards appearance.
Lautner dated Gomez in 2009 at the height of his popularity, playing thearianthropic character Jacob Black in the first film from The Twilight Saga movies.
Gomez, who was filming Ramona and Beezus at the time, explained to Seventeen magazine she and Lautner were forced to call it quits after intense paparazzi stalking and the media frenzy got out of hand.
She is currently happily engaged to record producer Benny Blanco. When the pair showed up at the SAG Awards on February 23, 2025, haters fixated on her weight after seeing images of her on the red carpet.
Before coming to his ex's defense, Lautner shared a post of influencer Alex Light commenting on the contradictory reporting of Gomez's physical appearance at the SAG Awards compared to last year's event.
Light wrote in part:
"Selena was mocked last year at the SAG Awards for putting on weight, told to go on Ozempic."
"At this year’s SAG Awards, she’s slammed for losing weight, mocked for allegedly being on Ozempic."
"No matter what we do, someone will have an opinion," Light said about the "impossible standards" imposed on all women, adding that women's bodies were "not up for public discussion."
The post included juxtaposed images of Gomez at the 2025 SAG Awards and at the same ceremony last year.
The red carpet photo from 2024 had overlaying shady comments like, “Really not to be mean, but it’s [time] for Ozempic,” and "She's an absolut [sic] unit," while this year's photo prompted users to quip, “She looked better thicc," and "Skinnier isn't prettier, and here's the proof. Keep your curves."
Lautner has been very outspoken about his mental health resulting from body issues after the final Twilight film, Breaking Dawn–Part 2, was released in 2012.
He weighed in on the discussion regarding the public's scrutiny of Gomez's body on his Instagram story and asked people to "be a little nicer."
"It’s a cruel world full of hate out there," wrote the Tracers star underneath the screenshot of Light's post.
He continued:
“You can never please everyone nor should you have to. In my experience it doesn’t make the words sting less, it just refocuses you onto what matters."
"And it sure isn’t the shape, color or appearance of your body."
"Daily reminder to all of us to not forget how beautiful you are inside and out…and be a little bit nicer.”
@taylorlautner/Instagram
His post was accompanied with the 2011 song "Who Says" by Gomez and The Scene, to remind fans about the importance of loving yourself.
Fans gave Lautner props for showing up for his ex and agreed that people should keep their opinions about one's body image to themselves.
Last year, Gomez fired back at body shamers who accused her of "hiding her body" at the American French Film Festival.
In her clapback to a deleted TikTok video criticizing her body, the Only Murders in the Building star opened up about her Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), a condition that often leads to bloating, abdominal pain, and changes in body shape.
"This makes me sick," she said, adding, " I have SIBO in my small intestine. It flares up. I don’t care that I don’t look like a sick figure...I don’t have that body. End of story. No, I am NOT a victim. I’m just human."
Gomez's openness about her mental health struggles and body image inspired rapper Flavor Flav to praise her social media, saying, "I don't know her personally... but Selena Gomez is one of the STRONGEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL people inside and out."
"I applaud her for being so open about her health and mental health," he added.
Flav also defended Gomez after she sobbed over the mass deportations of Mexican immigrants in a viral video that prompted conservatives to taunt her for the Hispanic actor's emotional distress that hit too close to home.
