Did Selena Gomez post a selfie with the Israeli flag a year after calling out ICE? New pic sparks outrage online — here's the truth

Selena Gomez is no stranger to controversy. While the singer-actress usually avoids diving deep into political debates, she did make headlines last year when she spoke out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), becoming one of the first major celebrities to do so.

Now, she’s back in the spotlight again. A selfie allegedly showing Gomez posing casually, with what appears to be an Israeli flag in the background, has begun circulating online. Given the current political climate, the image has quickly sparked speculation and chatter across social media platforms.

But did this viral moment actually happen the way it’s being described? Let’s take a closer look.



If you know Gomez, you know she can practically break the internet with a single selfie. And that’s exactly what’s happening again. A new close-up photo of the Only Murders in the Building star is making the rounds online. No makeup, no fancy outfit, just a simple, casual shot. Yet somehow, it’s everywhere on X.

But here’s where things get complicated. In the background of the image, an Israeli flag can reportedly be seen, and given the current political climate, that detail hasn’t gone unnoticed. The photo was shared by an X account with the caption "Selena Gomez in a deleted Instagram story.”As the image spread, so did the backlash. Some social media users began accusing her of being a Zionist.

Actually, no. Gone are the days when we could confidently say, “pics or it didn’t happen.” In the age of artificial intelligence, a photo doesn’t automatically equal proof anymore. With AI tools becoming more advanced by the day, it’s entirely possible to generate an image of anyone, anywhere, with virtually anything in the background, and make it look convincingly real.

In this particular case, the photo is real. Selena posted the selfie back in 2024. However, the background has been altered. There was no Israeli flag in the original photo. You can check the original photo below.



Additionally, the account, Pop Bace, operates as a parody page for Pop Base on X and is notorious for making such fake edits.

Yes, she has addressed the Israel-Gaza/Israel-Hamas conflict before, but not in the polarising way some social posts imply. In late 2023, Gomez posted on Instagram that she was taking a break from social media because the “violence, terror, horror, and hate” in the world, including that conflict—"breaks my heart,” and she urged protection for all innocent people, especially children, without explicitly siding with either party.

Around the same time, her cosmetics brand Rare Beauty released a statement condemning the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, highlighting civilian suffering, and promising donations to relief organisations, though it still acknowledged the terror attacks against Israeli civilians as well.