If you were scrolling through Instagram in 2017, you probably remember the photo that stopped everyone's thumb mid-flick. It was Selena Gomez and Abel Tesfaye—better known as The Weeknd—sharing a very public, very PDA-heavy dinner in Santa Monica. People went wild.
So, did Selena Gomez date The Weeknd? Yeah, she definitely did. It wasn’t just some PR stunt or a quick fling for a music video. They were together for a solid ten months, and for a minute there, it honestly looked like they might be the real deal. They traveled the world, moved in together in New York, and even navigated a major health crisis as a team.
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But like most high-profile Hollywood romances, it crashed as quickly as it started.
The Timeline: How It All Went Down
It all kicked off in January 2017. Paparazzi caught them kissing outside Giorgio Baldi, and the internet basically melted. You have to remember the context here: Abel had just split from supermodel Bella Hadid only two months prior. The timeline was tight. Bella famously unfollowed Selena on Instagram almost immediately after those photos dropped. Drama? Absolutely.
By February, Selena was spotted backstage at his shows in Europe. She was basically his biggest fan, traveling to Amsterdam and Paris just to watch him perform. It felt like a whirlwind. They weren't hiding anymore.
The Met Gala Hard Launch
In May 2017, they made it "official" official. They showed up to the Met Gala together, and they weren't just standing near each other—they were all over each other. Gomez was wearing a custom cream Coach gown, and at one point, she was caught on camera whispering "I love you" into his ear on the red carpet. It was the kind of public declaration you don't usually see from Selena, who tends to keep her private life a bit more guarded.
- January 2017: First spotted at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica.
- March 2017: Romantic trip to Italy (Florence and Venice).
- May 2017: The Met Gala red carpet debut.
- September 2017: They reportedly moved into a luxury apartment in Greenwich Village while Selena was filming in NYC.
- October 2017: News of the breakup hits the headlines.
Why Did They Break Up?
The official story is the classic "distance and schedules." Abel was on his Starboy: Legend of the Fall world tour, and Selena was in New York filming a project with Woody Allen. Long-distance is a killer, even when you have private jets. Insiders told People magazine at the time that they had been "going back and forth" for months trying to make it work.
But let’s be real—the timing of the split was suspicious.
Literally days before the breakup was announced, Selena was spotted grabbing breakfast and going to church with her ex, Justin Bieber. Now, sources claimed the breakup with Abel had already happened and Justin wasn't the "reason," but the optics weren't great. Abel also started purging his Instagram of Selena photos pretty quickly, which usually suggests things didn't end on a "let's just be friends" note.
The Surgery That Changed Everything
One of the most intense parts of their relationship happened behind closed doors. In the summer of 2017, Selena underwent a kidney transplant due to her battle with Lupus.
While her friend Francia Raisa was the donor, The Weeknd was reportedly right there by her side. He allegedly scheduled his tour dates around her surgery and recovery. It’s one of those heavy life moments that either bonds a couple forever or puts a massive strain on a relatively new relationship. Honestly, it's pretty heavy stuff for a couple that had been dating for less than a year.
The Aftermath: Lyrics and Shade
If you want to know how a celebrity really feels about a breakup, you don't look at the PR statements. You look at the lyrics.
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The Weeknd released an EP called My Dear Melancholy in 2018, and it was... dark. The song "Call Out My Name" has a line where he says, "I almost cut a piece of myself for your life," which many fans took as a reference to him being willing to donate a kidney to her. He also sang about being a "pit stop" until she made up her mind, which definitely sounds like a dig at her running back to Bieber.
Selena has been a bit more quiet about him in her music, but she did tell Billboard shortly after the split that they ended as "best friends" and that she had never experienced anything like the "genuine" bond they had.
What We Can Learn From "Abelena"
Looking back at the Selena and The Weeknd era, it’s a masterclass in how fast-paced "rebound" relationships can get complicated when real-life problems—like health issues and intense careers—enter the chat.
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Practical Takeaways:
- Check the timing: Starting a new relationship weeks after a long-term breakup (like Abel did with Bella) often leads to a "burn bright, burn fast" scenario.
- Shared trauma isn't always a bond: Supporting someone through a health crisis is noble, but it doesn't always mean the romantic foundation is strong enough to last.
- Social media isn't reality: They looked perfect at the Met Gala, but behind the scenes, they were struggling with distance for months.
Today, both have moved on. Selena is famously happy with producer Benny Blanco, and Abel has continued his streak as one of the biggest artists on the planet. Their ten-month stint remains a strange, high-fashion fever dream in the middle of the 2010s celebrity landscape.
If you’re tracking the history of these two, keep an eye on their upcoming projects. Songwriters like these rarely let a good heartbreak go to waste, and as we've seen with their past albums, the best details are usually hidden in the second verse.
Next Steps for You:
If you want to understand the musical impact of this relationship, listen to The Weeknd’s My Dear Melancholy and Selena’s Rare album back-to-back. You'll hear two very different versions of the same story. You can also look up the 2017 Met Gala photography to see the exact moment they went public—it’s a stark contrast to how they both present themselves in their current relationships.