charlie puth songland episode
“Songland” featured Charlie Puth in this week’s episode. Trae Patton/NBC

KEY POINTS

  • Charlie Puth addressed the dating rumors between him and Selena Gomez in 2016
  • Puth seemingly confirmed in a since-deleted tweet that "Attention" was about Gomez
  • Puth and Gomez never officially confirmed that they were dating

Charlie Puth recently made waves on the internet after seemingly confirming that his song "Attention" was about his rumored ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez.

The 31-year-old "One Call Away" hitmaker and 30-year-old Rare Beauty founder sparked romance rumors while working on the collaboration track, titled "We Don't Talk Anymore," back in 2016, which was part of Puth's debut album, "Nine Track Mind."

Gomez had just ended her highly publicized relationship with ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber at the time.

Since then, the pair actively posted videos together on Snapchat, teasing fans with their then-unreleased track while jamming in the car. But it was their live performance of the Billboard chart-topping single during the "Same Old Love" singer's "Revival" tour in July of the same year that fueled the dating rumors even more because of their undeniable "chemistry," according to BuzzFeed News.

Though the pair never officially confirmed their relationship, the rumors resurfaced again in 2017 after Puth released his song "Attention" — a song about not wanting his "heart" only his undivided attention — which fans believed seemingly targeted Gomez.

The track was released months before the business mogul and her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Bieber, got back together.

Puth did not confirm that "Attention," which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, was about Gomez at the time. But in an interview with Billboard, he described the song as "mean" and said that it was about him "s—t talking."

Elsewhere in the same interview, the "Light Switch" singer also hinted at having a "very short-lived" but "very impactful" relationship with Gomez that didn't end well.

"It really messed me up. I'm trying to put this [in] the best way possible. 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," Puth said in 2018. While an unnamed source close to Gomez told People that the pair "never dated."

Five years later, Puth seemingly broke his silence as he made a shocking revelation on Twitter, saying, "'Attention' is about what you think it's about."

Although he did not directly mention Gomez in the since-deleted tweet, social media users assumed that he was talking about the "extensive" rumors in the past and that his post was in pair with the recent controversy between Gomez and Hailey Bieber in recent weeks, BuzzFeed News reported.

But Puth did not receive the "attention" he expected. He instead faced huge backlash as some social media users accused him of throwing shade at his rumored ex-fling.

"Charlie Puth shading Selena to try and stay relevant [you] can't make this s—t up. [Leave] the woman alone," one user said.

Another commented, "Charlie Puth comes online shading Selena, trying to get hit tweet, his smelly hairy a—s dragged on the quotes and replies then he deleted the tweet what a loser."

Following the tweet, an old interview of Puth talking about the lyrics behind "Attention" with American media outlet Genius resurfaced on the internet. There, he said that it was about a woman trying to "get something" out of him but still refused to get in bed with him.

"When I came up with the song originally, I was on this hotel bed in this really cool room in the Philippines. I think back about the time when I was in that hotel room, and she was literally crying to me about how mistreated she was by her ex, [and] had me thinking that I could be the guy who could fix her," he said.

Toward the end of the interview, he said, "We would be talking in the hotel, she'd be like, 'You wanna sleep over?'"

"I'd be like, 'Yes, I'm gonna get it in!' And then nothing would happen — which is totally fine, but after like the fifth time of that happening, I knew what she was doing," he added.

Social media users also took to Twitter to express their disbelief over Puth's comments and defended Gomez.

"Charlie Puth is the perfect example of how most men act when a woman denies them access to her body. The nerve to say, 'she wasn't gonna give me what I wanted,' and then going on to say that to you that meant she was manipulating you is sick. 8 years later, the ego is still bruised," one user wrote.

Another said, "CharliePuth is so f—king weird. This comment about Selena Gomez is literally borderline sexual harassment. Saying she owes him something [because] she wanted him to sleep over. Men are gross."

"So, it's about a girl not giving you her body and taking things slow, and you getting increasingly frustrated about it," a third user commented.

The "Heart Wants What It Wants" singer has yet to release her statement regarding the issue. But it seemed that it won't be happening anytime soon.

Gomez announced late last month that she was "taking a break" from social media during a TikTok live following the drama involving her and her ex-boyfriend's wife, Hailey, earlier this year.

"I'm going to be taking a second from social media because this is a little silly. I'm 30 and am too old for this. But I love you so much, and I'll see you guys sooner than later," she said. "I'm just gonna take a break from everything."

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27. Selena Gomez - An American singer, actress, and producer, Selena Gomez actually started her career by appearing on the television series Barney & Friends, before eventually pursuing a musical and film career. Additionally, she’s the first ever person to hit 100 million followers on her Instagram account. Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images