Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” was not originally conceived for him: Ed Sheeran said he first imagined Rihanna singing it. But the available reporting does not establish whether Selena Gomez was the song’s subject. The documented story is about how the track took shape and reached Bieber—not a confirmed account of whom its lyrics targeted.
Was “Love Yourself” about Selena Gomez?
The available interviews and reports do not confirm that “Love Yourself” was about Selena Gomez, and they do not include a direct statement from Bieber ruling her out. The song’s timing and listeners’ interpretations are not enough to establish a private inspiration. The most accurate answer is that the Selena theory is unconfirmed by the accounts of the song’s creation cited here.
Who was the song first written for?
Ed Sheeran said he initially pictured Rihanna singing the song. In a March 7, 2017 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, he recalled, “Originally, I was like hearing Rihanna kind of coming in with a bit of that swag.” He also said the early chorus was much more explicit: “Baby, you should go and fuck yourself.” The lyric was later changed to “Baby, you should go and love yourself.” The Howard Stern Show / SiriusXM interview describes Sheeran’s account of that evolution.
Rihanna was Sheeran’s first imagined singer, not necessarily the recipient of a finalized song or a confirmed offer. Sheeran later considered Bieber and worked on the track with him; it appeared on Bieber’s album Purpose.
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Why did Ed Sheeran give it to Justin Bieber?
Sheeran said he did not feel a personal connection to “Love Yourself” and preferred to sing songs he felt close to. Explaining why he was comfortable with Bieber recording it, he said, “It’s his song, it’s not my song.” His account frames the handoff as a matter of fit: Bieber made the track his own, while Sheeran did not feel it belonged on his record.
Sheeran also said he had written the song for his album ÷ (Divide), but that it “just wouldn’t have made it.” In a January 16, 2017 report, The Irish Times quoted him saying Bieber took the song, did his thing with it, and released it as a single. That account indicates Sheeran considered it for Divide; it does not establish that the song had one fixed destination before Bieber recorded it. Read the Irish Times report.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the song begin?
Producer and songwriter Benny Blanco later recalled that the session started with a song that was not working. He said he asked Sheeran what was going on in his life; when Sheeran did not want to write about that, Blanco suggested writing about not wanting to write a song. Blanco recounted the exchange in an August 24, 2022 iHeartRadio interview.
That recollection offers context for the writing session, but it does not prove the finished lyrics have no autobiographical meaning. A 2017 Guardian profile similarly described the track as a jokey Rihanna-oriented idea that, after its lyric was cleaned up, went to Bieber and became “Love Yourself.” The Guardian profile supports the broad origin story, not a definitive identification of a real-life subject.
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What the origin story does—and does not—show
- It does show: Sheeran first imagined Rihanna performing the song, revised its explicit early chorus, considered it for Divide, and later worked on it with Bieber.
- It does not show: that Selena Gomez was the song’s subject, or that Bieber definitively said she was not.
- It does not settle: whether any part of the finished song drew on personal experience. The accounts describe the writing and recording history, not a confirmed private target.
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