Selena Gomez speaks out about her reunion with Hailey Bieber for the first time

Selena Gomez has publicly spoken out for the first time about her viral photo with Hailey Bieber and denied allegations of their rumoured feud.

The 30-year-old actor addressed her reunion with her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber’s wife during a recent interview withVulture. Her comments come after the two women made headlines last month when they were photographed hugging at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures 2nd Annual Gala.

When asked about what the “story” behind her reunion with Bieber was, Gomez told the publication that there wasn’t any drama between her and the model.

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal,” she said. “It’s not even a thing.”

After the photo of the pair was released last month, a source claimed to Entertainment Tonight that the image was meant to “show the world that there’s no beef or bad feelings” between them.

The photo still sent shockwaves through the internet, with many celebrities sharing their responses to it -- including 13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman.

“Love watching the reverse of global warming and everybody’s skin clearing from this pic,” the actor jokingly wrote in the comments of photographer Tyrell Hampton’s Instagram post, which featured Gomez and Bieber.

The photo was also posted a month after Bieber made an appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast. In the episode, the model denied any allegations that she was “romantically involved” with her now-husband while he was dating the “Lose You to Love Me” singer.

“When he and I ever started hooking up or anything of that sort, he was not ever in a relationship, ever, at any point,” she explained. “It’s not my character to mess with someone’s relationship. I would just never do that, I was raised better than that.”

Bieber also told Cooper that since marrying the “Stay” singer, she’s spoken to Gomez and that there’s nothing but “respect” and “love” between them.

“She doesn’t owe me anything. Neither of us owe anybody anything except respect. I respect her a lot and I think there’s no expectations,” Bieber said. “I respect her, there’s no drama personally.”

Following the release of Bieber’s podcast episode, Gomez seemingly addressed some of the online rage directed towards the Rhode Beauty founder at the time. While she didn’t mention Bieber by name, Gomez still criticised some of the “vile” comments that she had seen online.

“I think some of the things that I don’t even need to be aware of are just vile and disgusting,” the Rare Beauty founder said. “And it’s not fair and no one ever should be spoken to in the manner that I’ve seen. All I have to say is it’s incredibly ironic that I would release something that is all about kind words ‘cause that’s exactly what I want. That’s it.”