Hollywood is full of "blink and you’ll miss it" moments, but the saga of Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez is a weirdly sticky one. It’s been years. We’ve all moved on to other eras—Selena is literally married to Benny Blanco now—and yet, every time that tropical house beat of "We Don’t Talk Anymore" hits the radio, people start squinting. Was it a real relationship? Was it just a PR stunt that went sideways? Honestly, it depends on who you ask, and the answers are awkward.
Basically, you have two very different stories living in the same space.
On one side, you’ve got Charlie. He’s been pretty vocal, maybe a little too vocal, about how much this brief 2016 situation "messed him up." On the other side, you have Selena’s camp, which basically hit him with a "I don't know her" vibe. It’s the ultimate celebrity "he-said, she-said," and it all started in a literal closet.
The Closet Sessions and a 15-Minute Hit
Let’s go back to late 2015. Charlie Puth was the new kid on the block with perfect pitch and a massive hit from Furious 7. He wrote "We Don’t Talk Anymore" on a trip to Japan, but it felt empty. It needed a female perspective. He met Selena at an MTV VMA afterparty, and they clicked.
The recording of that song wasn't some high-glamour studio session.
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Charlie actually had Selena record her vocals in his guest room closet. He’s joked about it in interviews, saying she was such a pro that she knocked it out in about 15 minutes. At the time, they seemed like the new "it" friendship. They were posting grainy Snapchats, teasing the track, and looking very cozy. Fans immediately did what fans do: they started shipping "Chlena."
Charlie Puth Goes Off Script
The real messiness didn't actually peak until 2018. Two years after the song came out, Charlie sat down for a cover story with Billboard. That’s where he dropped the bomb. He called the relationship "very short-lived, very small, but very impactful."
"It really messed me up," he told the magazine. "It wasn't like I was the only person on her mind. And I think I knew that going in—what I was getting myself into."
That was a huge, unsubtle dig at Selena’s on-again, off-again history with Justin Bieber. Charlie was essentially claiming they were a thing, but she was still hung up on her ex. He even hinted that the "shady things" mentioned in his lyrics were based on real life.
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It was a bold move. It also backfired.
Immediately after that interview dropped, a source close to Selena told People magazine that the two "never dated." Talk about a public shut-down. It made Charlie look like he had imagined a whole romance that Selena viewed as just a work friendship. Or, perhaps more likely, they had a "situationship" that she didn't want to validate as a real relationship.
Why the "Attention" Rumors Won't Die
Then came "Attention." If "We Don’t Talk Anymore" was the breakup song, "Attention" was the "I’m bitter about it" song. Charlie has never officially confirmed that "Attention" is about Selena, but the timing was suspicious.
- The lyrics describe someone who just wants "attention" but doesn't want his heart.
- The music video features a girl who bears a striking resemblance to Selena (at least according to the 2017 internet).
- The "perfume" line.
Fans spent months dissecting the lyrics, comparing the "dress you're wearing tonight" line to Selena’s red carpet looks. Whether it was actually about her or just a composite of his experiences in LA, it cemented the idea that Charlie and Selena were on bad terms.
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The 2026 Perspective: Where Are They Now?
Fast forward to today. The landscape has shifted completely. Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s marriage in 2025/2026 has officially closed the book on the old "Jelena" and "Chlena" rumors. Selena is in her mogul era, running Rare Beauty and winning Emmys. She hasn't mentioned Charlie in years.
Charlie Puth, for his part, has also moved on. He’s married to Brooke Sansone, and he’s focused more on his technical production TikToks than celebrity drama. But the internet never forgets. Even recently, when Charlie performs that 2016 hit, you’ll see the comments section light up with "Is he still thinking about her?"
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It was likely an intense, messy "almost-relationship" between two young stars in the pressure cooker of Hollywood. Charlie felt it deeply; Selena moved on quickly.
How to Handle Your Own "Charlie and Selena" Situation
If you find yourself in a "we don't talk anymore" scenario where one person thinks you were dating and the other thinks you were just hanging out, here’s the expert play:
- Audit your digital footprint. Don't be the person posting cryptic song lyrics or doing "tell-all" interviews years later. It rarely ages well.
- Acknowledge the "Situationship." Sometimes the lack of a label is what causes the most pain. Be clear about what you are—and what you aren't—before you collaborate on a multi-platinum hit.
- Focus on the output. If you got a great song or a growth experience out of a messy fling, take the win and leave the drama in the past.
For those looking to revisit the music, you can find the original 2016 live performance from the Revival Tour on YouTube. It’s a time capsule of a moment before things got complicated. You can also track Selena’s current projects through her official social channels to see how far she's moved from that 2016 "closet" recording session.