Selena Gomez confirmed for the first time that she was diagnosed with lupus.<br />In the new cover story with Billboard, she speaks about the autoimmune disease and how it forced her to cancel part of her Stars Dance tour in 2013 and 2014.<br />“I was diagnosed with lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy.<br />That’s what my break was really about.<br />I could’ve had a stroke,” Gomez said.<br />Around the same time, reports that she had been diagnosed with lupus began to circulate, but neither Gomez nor her reps would confirm or deny the news.<br />At the time, her tour cancelation prompted rumors that Gomez had gone to rehab.<br />“I’ve lived such a public life that I understand that I’m under a microscope,” she said.<br />“That has taken me into so many different phases.<br />"It’s made me depressed and it’s made me happy and it’s made me grateful and humble—but [I’ve learned] it’s okay to let down my walls with my music, to feel sexy and good.”<br />Said Gomez.
