CULTURE

The Weeknd Appeared to Get Pretty Emotional Over Selena Gomez at Coachella This Weekend

Was that a tear?


The Weeknd
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

The first night of Coachella culminated in a 23-song set from the Weeknd, the musician who, these days, is probably best known for his very candid, very emo lyrics that are not-even-veiled allusions to his recent relationships with Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez. It was the first time the Weeknd performed the new music from his six-song EP My Dear Melancholy, which was released just over two weeks ago, including the EP’s opening track, “Call Out My Name.”

With lyrics like “I almost cut a piece of myself for your life” and “We found each other / I helped you out of a broken place,” “Call Out My Name” seems pretty overtly directed at Gomez. Their relationship came to an official end last November, when they unfollowed each other on Instagram. Shortly after, Gomez started going to church/brunch/bike riding with her then ex-boyfriend, now maybe-ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber, and Abel Tesfaye was spotted leaving Hadid’s apartment, though not much more seems to have come of that.

But despite time passing and all parties moving on, Tesfaye’s Coachella performance seemed to indicate that he’s still not over Gomez. It was, after all, at last year’s Coachella that he and Gomez made their relationship Instagram official, so it’s an especially meaningful anniversary. As he made his way through “Call Out My Name,” some fans noted, he appeared to even squeeze out a tear or two and, at one point, became so overcome with emotion that he stifled a few particularly resonant lyrics. (Other observers disagreed: “Twitter thinks he’s crying. Maybe it’s a drop of sweat from one man’s marathon performance,” Eve Barlow wrote in a tepid review of the show for The Guardian.)

While Gomez herself doesn’t seem to be in Indio for this year’s festival (given that, during a weekend that is apparently all about special guest appearances, Rita Ora subbed in for her during Kygo’s performance of “It Ain’t Me”), Bieber and Hadid both are—and Hadid was even rumored to be in the crowd during Tesfaye’s headlining set. Not to worry: Before he got to “Call Out My Name,” Tesfaye also played the apparently Hadid-inspired “Wasted Times,” in which he croons, “I hope you know this dick is still an option…You were equestrian, so ride it like a champion.”

Related: My Dear Melancholy: A Breakdown of The Weeknd’s Most Emo Lyrics About Selena Gomez and Bella Hadid

In Memoriam of 2018’s Most Devastating Celebrity Breakups, So Far

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Robert DeNiro and his wife Grace Hightower recently announced their split after 20 years of marriage.

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Paris Hilton and the actor-artist Chris Zylka reportedly called off their engagement in November, bringing their two-year relationship to an end. After meeting at Art Basel Miami and keeping in touch via text, the pair went on their first date—the actual first time around, since, as Zylka told W earlier this year, “I got so nervous that I cancelled and said I was sick.” According to him, at least as of this past March, they hadn’t spent more than four hours apart from each other since that first date, making it only natural that Zylka proposed to Hilton with a $2 million ring earlier this year. Having called things off, things are reportedly back to usual for the pair: “Paris will be focusing on her brand, like deejaying and fragrances, while Chris will get back into acting and art, like his gallery pop-ups with Banksy during Art Basel.”

Michael Beckert

Antoni Porowski had been dating Joey Krietemeyer for about seven years before he became an overnight celebrity thanks to Netflix’s Queer Eye, and the show’s designated food expert even said that the pair were “basically married.” Though, in recent months Krietemeyer didn’t appear with Poroski in public nor on his popular social media channels. Us Weekly now reports that the two broke up two months ago, but that they remain friends.

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Brandon and Leah Jenner announced via Instagram that they would be separating as of September 2018, after six years of marriage and 14 years together in total.

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Shortly after Noah Cyrus and the rapper Lil Xan made their red-carpet couple debut, at the 2018 MTV VMAs, cheating rumors reportedly put an end to the relationship in September 2018.

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The short summer fling between Camila Mendes and her boyfriend Victor Houston reportedly ended with some deleted Instagrams in August 2018, about a month and a half after the two were spotted celebrating the Riverdale star’s birthday in Montauk.

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The endless iced coffee dates could not keep Ben Affleck and Lindsay Shookus together after their yearlong relationship reportedly fizzled out in August 2018.

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Comedians Rhea Butcher and Cameron Esposito announced via Twitter that they were “separating to live individual lives for a time” in August 2018, after nearly three years of marriage.

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Josh Duhamel and Eiza González reportedly split after just five months of dating, in July 2018.

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G-Eazy and Halsey split in July 2018, just a year after the couple officially began dating.

Rachel Murray

The day after the singer Cheryl celebrated her 35th birthday, and a little over a year after she gave birth to a son named Bear with her partner of two years, Liam Payne, she and the former One Directioner posted identical tweets saying that they were “sad to announce that [they] are going [their] separate ways.”

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Sam Smith and the 13 Reasons Why star Brandon Flynn reportedly ended their relationship in June 2018, after nine months of dating.

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Christian Siriano and Brad Walsh were together for 11 years and married for nearly two of those, before Walsh announced via Instagram Stories that the couple is officially over as of June 2018.

Taylor Hill

After just a few short months of dating, Emma Watson and Chord Overstreet reportedly called it quits in May 2018.

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“After much thought and consideration we have mutually decided to separate as a couple,” Usher and his wife Grace Miguel shared in a statement announcing their divorce.

Tiffany Rose

The Preacher costars quietly dated for eight years before splitting in April—just in time for people to realize they were even a couple.

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After famously dating Nick Jonas, Olivia Culpo moved on to the New England Patriots player Danny Amendola, but the pair called it off post–Super Bowl.

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Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani were together for nine years before breaking up in March.

Theo Wargo

The pair met on the set of Step Up and have one daughter together, but called it quits in early April. Their love lives on in DVD form and countless ABC Family re-runs.

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After two years and many front-row fashion show appearances, Tiffany Trump and the dubiously named Ross Mechanic officially split in early 2018.

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Though they never officially confirmed their courtship, it was reported that the rappers had broken up in the winter after seven months of dating.

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Rebecca Gayheart filed for divorce from Eric Dane after 13 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

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Sarah Silverman released a statement announcing that she’d broken up with boyfriend Michael Sheen, stating, “We just live in different countries & it got hard.”

The Crown star and her husband announced their separation in February, stating that they haven’t been together “for some time.”

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The Girls creator and her musician boyfriend broke up after five years of dating, with many speculating Antonoff had moved on to mutual friend Lorde.

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In February, after six years together, two and half of which were as husband and wife, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux revealed they broke up late last year.

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