In recent times, we’ve seen how social media has taken a toll on the mental well-being of various artists, including singers, writers, actors, directors, and even some politicians who’ve found themselves overwhelmed by the endless stream of comments and opinions. This is a phenomenon that has affected Disney actresses from a very young age.
In response to the backlash and online drama, Selena Gomez decided to take a break from social media once again. In recent months, she has made several attempts to step away from social media, though she hasn’t managed to stay away for long. Her struggle with managing her social media presence isn’t a recent issue, as she has faced challenges in this matter throughout her career.
One of the most notable online feuds involving Selena Gomez dates back to 2008. At that time, she became embroiled in an online conflict with fellow artist Demi Lovato, and both found themselves at odds with Miley Cyrus, all through the medium of YouTube videos.
To get a clearer picture of this, we need to go back to the mid-2000s. During that era, Miley Cyrus was one of the world’s most famous individuals, thanks to her role as Hannah Montana. She had a massive teenage fanbase who idolized her, from her fashion choices to her talent and fame. Consequently, anything she did became headline news, including her friendships, her latest tech purchases, and, most importantly, her dating life.
The Background: Miley & Nick Jonas’ Relationship
It all started on June 11, 2006, when Nick Jonas and Miley crossed paths at a charity event. Their meeting marked the beginning of an inseparable connection. Just a year later, she invited the Jonas Brothers to join her as the opening act for her ‘Best of Both Worlds’ tour. During this period, life seemed perfect for the young artist, who was embarking on a flourishing career while experiencing the joys of young love.
Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, Miley Cyrus and Kevin Jonas in 2007 / Mathew Imaging.
Miley’s debut album, Meet Miley Cyrus, featured several songs she had written when she was 13 years old, and many of these were inspired by her romance with the youngest Jonas Brother. A prime example is «See You Again.» Nick reciprocated by creating songs like «Inseparable,» a heartfelt tribute to Miley, which found its place in the brothers’ self-titled album.
In the following months, like any teenage couple, their relationship had its ups and downs. Amidst these moments, they channeled their emotions into creating songs about love and heartbreak. Meanwhile, they had to contend with persistent rumors of breakups.
The Breakup & Miley Vs. Selena
In later years, Miley revealed in an interview that on December 19, 2007, just moments before taking the stage, Nick decided to end their relationship. She asked for a farewell hug, but he declined, leaving her emotionally shattered. In response, she put on her character’s wig and bravely stepped onto the stage with a smile.
It’s important to note that during that period, both artists continued to tour together, sharing the stage until January 2008. In that year, Miley made a bold statement by dyeing her hair black, a change from her signature blonde highlights that Nick loved.
Parallel to this story, there’s another one involving Selena Gomez and Miley. The two met when Selena appeared in an episode of Hannah Montana a year earlier. Interestingly, in that particular episode, their on-screen characters engaged in a heated exchange over their shared affection for the same boy. Shortly after news broke of Miley’s breakup with Nick, headlines buzzed with reports of Selena’s budding romance with the same Jonas Brother.
The YouTube Feud Begins
In February 2008, the ‘YouTuber battle’ started when Miley Cyrus and her friend Mandy began posting videos featuring them in typical antics and sharing humorous exchanges. In their first video, they playfully referred to Nick Jonas as ‘irresistible’ and expressed their gratitude to the Jonas Brothers for allowing them to use their music in their videos.
February 24, 2008: Miley and Mandy Show, first episode calling Nick irresistible pic.twitter.com/yOOIeIqul9
During that period, being active on the internet was trendy, leading Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, longtime friends, to create their own YouTube channel, which led to a friendly competition between the Disney stars.
Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. X.
While many of these early clips have disappeared from the internet, some from that era are still available. In one of those videos, Gomez talked about her Power Rangers t-shirt and engaged in a light-hearted debate with Lovato about which Power Ranger each looked like. They also shared makeup tips and engaged in more fun pranks.Towards the end, they humorously noted that ‘the people watching this are cool’.
A Few Days Later…
Miley and Mandy released another video, humorously parodying the one created by Selena and Demi. They covered similar topics as the actresses but added their unique twist. For instance, Miley wore a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt while taking on Gomez’s role, and Mandy portrayed Lovato. They even encouraged their viewers to check out their ‘friends’ channel.’ Following this, the four young women made a habit of uploading various videos with similar playful content.
During this period, Miley’s MySpace account was hacked. On the platform, she had shared photos of herself with friends, and some private content was leaked. Although most of these photos showed nothing more than her navel or featured her in a bikini, the public response was mixed. Concerned parents believed her images were not suitable for their children.
Consequently, the media began to pit the Disney stars against each other. Selena, often viewed as ‘Disney’s good girl,’ became a central figure in this emerging narrative, and her relationship with Nick only fueled the growing tension between the young stars.
Hitting Through Music
On June 20th, 2008, the Jonas Brothers made a double splash in the entertainment world. First, they unveiled the music video for «Burning Up,» a song that hinted at a connection with the actress from Hannah Montana, with Selena Gomez portraying the love interest of the youngest Jonas brother in the video.
Simultaneously, the brothers marked their silver screen debut with Camp Rock, a Disney Channel movie that catapulted their careers to new heights. Their co-star in the film? None other than Demi Lovato.
For Miley Cyrus, the reigning queen of Disney at the time, this situation couldn’t go unaddressed. Shortly after these events, Cyrus released her second album, Breakout, which included one of her most iconic songs and one that fit seamlessly into this unfolding story: «7 Things.» In case you weren’t aware, this song is about her relationship with the Jonas Brothers’ singer.
The song remains as one of Cyrus’s most recognized songs, with fans continuing to request it at her concerts. In the music video for this song, Miley displays a photo of herself with Nick, though his face is ‘deliberately’ covered.
A Pop Culture Milestone to Remember
A few days later, during the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, Miley performed at the event and took advantage of the fact that the Jonas Brothers had just left backstage —supposedly to avoid her. She approached Selena, who was dating Nick at the time, and sang the song Miley had written for him. This unexpected moment stirred quite a buzz in pop culture.
when miley cyrus came off stage to sing with selena gomez the part of ‘7 things’ that says about nick jonas «the seventh thing i hate the most that you do, you make me love you» while selena was dating nick! that’s history. pic.twitter.com/T3bSBigQsS
In response to the rumors and to quell any speculation of discord between its stars, Disney arranged for Miley, Demi and Selena to take a photo together, given that they were the company’s top talent. However, the photograph didn’t have the intended effect, as the actresses continued to exchange stinging comments on social media.By this point, everyone had an opinion on the matter, and Kevin Jonas even made a public appearance wearing a T-shirt that read ‘Team Demi, Team Selena.’
en agosto 11 2008, Kevin uso una playera con la leyenda «Team Demi and Selena» 🤡🤡 pic.twitter.com/9oqcFq9qs8
As 2009 was beginning, the singer of «Single Soon» and the singer of «Sucker» ended their relationship, and the actor began his pursuit of Miley once more. During this period, the reconciliation among Disney’s leading ladies seemed possible. They even had dinner with Taylor Swift. However, as mentioned above, Nick’s efforts to woo the actress were resuming and they were increasingly seen together. Gomez was not happy.
Selena released her song «I Won’t Apologize,» confessing that the youngest Jonas brother had used her to get closer to his ex, attempted to change her to resemble Miley, and vowed never to make the mistake of getting back together with him (spoiler alert: it didn’t end well).
Disney Gets Involved
In April 2009, Disney decided to step in and try to fix the ongoing conflicts among its young stars, or at least minimize the rumors. The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato came together to release «Send It On» and film the music video as a group. The song was about the significance of friendship, love, and the potential for people to make a positive impact on the world.
It would have been a perfect theme if not for the fact that the stars featured in the music video were entangled in a media feud. The tension on the set during filming was noticeable.
In June of the same year, Joe Jonas was asked whether his girlfriend was more famous than Nick’s, and he unintentionally let slip, ‘nobody is as famous as Miley Cyrus,’ confirming that the couple had reunited. In fact, both artists co-wrote a beautiful song called «Before The Storm» and even performed it live together.
However, their reunion was short-lived. A few months later, Miley began filming «The Last Song,» where she met Liam Hemsworth… and fell in love with him. The singer announced on Twitter that she was single, so we can assure that she had begun her breakup with the youngest of the Jonas Brother. Nevertheless, they spent months dedicating songs to each other during their respective tours.
But the Drama Didn’t End there
Nick and Selena rekindled their relationship after the second breakup with Miley. They were seen together in public for a while, but the relationship still wasn’t working. They lasted only a few months, and Selena confessed that they broke up due to work commitments. Years later, the youngest of the brothers confirmed that he kept Selena away from the paparazzi, which led to their final separation.
Both Miley and Nick continued to exchange lyrical jabs in their songs, but nothing noteworthy happened. That is until 2012 when Miley and Liam announced their engagement. At that moment, Nick once again attempted to re-enter the artist’s life. The Jonas Brothers members released a song called «Wedding Bells» as a final attempt to prevent Miley from getting married, hoping she would forgive him and return to him. Since then, he has not stopped talking about her in interviews, showering her with praise. In 2017, he even confirmed that this song was written for Cyrus.
The Relationship They Currently Share
This pop culture drama is now a thing of the past for its main actors. In December 2018, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth got married, and Nick Jonas followed suit by marrying Priyanka Chopra. We already know what happened with Miley’s marriage. She and Liam Hemsworth divorced just eight months after their wedding, with their relationship having its ups and downs along the way. On the other hand, Nick Jonas and Chopra are still happily married and have recently celebrated their daughter Malti’s second birthday.
As of today, Miley and Nick maintain a good working relationship. In fact, they can now look back and laugh about their history. On the 13th anniversary of «7 Things,» Miley tagged the songwriter in an Instagram post to celebrate the song’s milestone.
Miley Cyrus etiquetando a Nick Jonas y Selena Gomez por el
13º aniversario de “7 Things” es mi nuevo momento favorito en la historia del internet pic.twitter.com/L2eoP3F9m6
Among the Disney former stars, there’s currently a sense of harmony. While they may not publicly display a close friendship, there is certainly mutual respect. During the quarantine, Miley went live with Demi, and they chatted like old friends. She also had a live session with Selena, during which the star of Wizards of Waverly Placeconfessed that she had always admired Miley as an artist.
Even Demi commented on her past friendships. “When you grow up with someone, you will always have love for them,” Lovato said in an interview.It’s entirely possible that the rivalry among these three former Disney stars has long since faded, especially considering they were consistently compared and placed under the media spotlight from a very young age.
Do you believe Disney will manage to bring all six of them together for a collaboration?
PRISA MEDIA USA, INC, expressly reserves the right to reproduce and use the works and other services accessible from this website by machine-readable media or other suitable means.
USA
ES
MX
CO
CH
PA
ARG
CR
GUA
EC
RD
