What really ended Selena Gomez and The Weeknd?
It wasn’t one dramatic scandal, it was distance, clashing schedules, and a medical crisis that turned a fast-burning romance into something fragile.
They dated almost ten months in 2017, from a paparazzi kiss in Italy to a quiet split on October 30.
This timeline walks through the key moments, Coachella, the Met Gala, Selena’s transplant and Abel rearranging his tour, to show how public life and private pressure pushed them apart and what to watch next.
High-Level Summary of the Selena Gomez & The Weeknd Relationship Timeline
Selena Gomez and The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) dated for almost 10 months, kicking off in January 2017 and wrapping up on October 30, 2017. Their relationship came with a passport full of stamps, red carpet moments that made headlines, and a serious health scare that put everything to the test. When it ended, the reasons were pretty straightforward: distance wore them down and they couldn’t quite see a long-term future that worked for both.
- January 2017: First spotted kissing in Italy, confirming they were together just two months after Abel’s split from Bella Hadid
- February through April 2017: Selena hit over 10 countries across three continents while following Abel on tour
- April 2017: Made it Instagram official at Coachella
- May 2017: Red carpet debut at the Met Gala, where someone caught Selena saying “I love you”
- Summer 2017: Started having real talks about where this was going. Cracks started showing
- September 2017: Selena went public about her kidney transplant. Abel shifted his tour schedule to be there
- October 12, 2017: Last time they were seen together publicly at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights
- October 30, 2017: Breakup confirmed after Abel unfollowed Selena’s inner circle on Instagram
Early Dating Phase and Key Beginnings in the Selena & Abel Timeline
Things moved fast in January 2017. Paparazzi caught Selena and Abel kissing outside Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, then they flew to Italy together. The timing got people talking because Abel had only broken up with Bella Hadid two months before. Bella unfollowed Selena on Instagram the same day those first photos went public, which pretty much confirmed this new relationship was landing like a bomb in her world.
By February, Selena was going all in. She dropped $30,000 on a Dave & Buster’s birthday party for Abel. Private arcade, custom setup, the works. That’s the kind of move you make when you’re trying to show someone you’re serious, not when you’re casually seeing where things go. Media coverage flipped from “are they together?” to “how deep is this already?” in just a few days after the Italy trip hit the internet.
- First public kiss photographed outside Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica
- Quick jump to an international vacation in Italy
- Bella Hadid unfollowed Selena the day after paparazzi photos dropped
- Selena threw a $30,000 birthday party for Abel at Dave & Buster’s in February 2017
Global Travel & Public Appearances During the Relationship Timeline
From February through April 2017, Selena basically became Abel’s tour companion. She traveled to more than 10 countries: Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, the U.S., Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina. Fans spotted them at after-parties, backstage, in hotel lobbies. For someone who’d just finished her own Revival Tour, Selena was living on someone else’s schedule, crossing three continents to follow his.
April brought the Instagram confirmation. Selena posted a photo of them kissing at Coachella, making it official on social media. Fans noticed they were dressing alike, showing PDA, moving like a couple who’d been together way longer than a few months. The Coachella debut felt like a public announcement after weeks of being photographed but not claiming each other.
May turned things up with their Met Gala appearance. They showed up in coordinated looks and posed together for the first time at a major industry event. Someone standing nearby reportedly heard Selena whisper “I love you” to Abel during the night. That was the moment they stopped being just a hot new couple and became a serious relationship playing out in front of fashion’s biggest crowd.
| Month | Event |
|---|---|
| April 2017 | Instagram official at Coachella with kissing photo |
| May 2017 | Met Gala red carpet debut, “I love you” overheard |
| February–April 2017 | Traveled together to 10+ countries following Abel’s tour |
Summer 2017 Turning Points in the Selena Gomez & The Weeknd Timeline
Summer opened with a big gesture. Selena turned 25 in July and Abel flew 11.5 hours from Paris to Los Angeles just to be there. On the surface it looked romantic. But people close to them said serious conversations about the future had already started. Questions like where is this actually going, can we make this work long-term, do our lives even fit together—those weren’t background noise anymore.
Then came the health crisis. In September, Selena revealed she’d had a kidney transplant that summer because of lupus complications. Abel rearranged his tour dates and kept his schedule open to be with her during recovery. He stayed close, showed up when it mattered, supported her privately. But managing a new relationship while dealing with something that intense added a different kind of pressure to what was already a complicated situation.
- Abel flew 11.5 hours from Paris to spend Selena’s 25th birthday with her in Los Angeles
- Real talks about their future and whether they were actually compatible long-term started during summer
- Selena had a kidney transplant. She announced it publicly in September 2017
- Abel changed his tour schedule to stay available during her recovery
- They were reportedly living together temporarily in a Greenwich Village luxury building while Selena filmed a Woody Allen project in New York
The October 2017 Split: Full Selena Gomez & The Weeknd Breakup Timeline
October began like any other month. On October 12, Selena and Abel were photographed at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, holding hands and looking fine. It turned out to be their last public date. Behind the scenes, things were falling apart. Sources said the relationship had been rough for months and by late October, both were staring down the fact that distance and different life paths were becoming impossible to ignore.
Around the same time, Justin Bieber showed up at Selena’s house. He’d reached out after hearing about her kidney transplant, wanting to check in. Media immediately jumped on the idea that Justin’s return caused the breakup, but sources close to both Selena and Abel said no. The timing looked messy, but insiders insisted the split had been coming for weeks and Justin wasn’t the reason.
On October 30, 2017, the breakup was confirmed. Abel had quietly unfollowed Selena’s mom, her assistant, her kidney donor Francia Raisa, and her cousin Priscilla Deleon on Instagram in the days before the announcement. That digital cleanup signaled it was over before any official statement came out. When the news dropped, reps called it amicable. They were still talking, planning to stay friends, framing it as a mutual decision driven by lifestyle differences and long distance.
- October 12, 2017: Final public date at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights
- Late October: Abel quietly unfollowed Selena’s mom, assistant, kidney donor Francia Raisa, and cousin Priscilla Deleon on Instagram
- Late October: Justin Bieber spotted at Selena’s house after reaching out following news of her transplant
- October 30, 2017: Breakup officially announced after nearly 10 months together
- Distance and difficulty keeping the relationship going cited as the main reasons
- Sources confirmed the split was amicable. Both were still in contact and wanted to stay friends
Post-Breakup Developments Involving Selena Gomez and The Weeknd
Two weeks after the split, Abel was spotted leaving Bella Hadid’s apartment in New York City. People immediately started speculating he and Bella were getting back together. By April 2018, they were officially on again, photographed kissing at Coachella—the same festival where he and Selena had gone Instagram official a year earlier. The visual parallel wasn’t lost on anyone.
Meanwhile, Selena and Justin Bieber rekindled their on-again, off-again thing in late 2017, though that also ended by early 2018. The overlapping timelines gave tabloids endless material, but both Selena and Abel stayed mostly quiet. The real drama happened in smaller, quieter moments online. In May 2019, Bella liked a photo of Selena on makeup artist Hung Vanngo’s Instagram. That November, Selena re-followed Bella, but Bella didn’t follow back. When Selena commented “Stunning” on one of Bella’s Dior posts, Bella deleted the entire post, later reaching out privately to say it was a misunderstanding.
By 2020, things seemed to calm down. In March and April, Selena recommended Abel’s song “Snowchild” twice during quarantine. Then, on July 24, 2020—Selena’s 28th birthday—Abel released the music video for that song. Fans immediately read it as a gesture, whether he meant it that way or not. Bella briefly re-followed Selena on Instagram in May 2020 but unfollowed again the next day. The whole thing felt like a loop of almost-reconciliations that never quite stuck.
- November 2017: Abel spotted leaving Bella Hadid’s NYC apartment about two weeks after the split
- April 2018: Abel and Bella officially back together, kissing at Coachella
- May 2019: Bella liked a photo of Selena on makeup artist Hung Vanngo’s Instagram
- November 2019: Selena re-followed Bella on Instagram. Bella didn’t follow back and deleted a Dior post after Selena commented
- March and April 2020: Selena recommended Abel’s song “Snowchild” twice during quarantine. Music video released on Selena’s 28th birthday
Songs, Lyrics, and Pop Culture Moments Linked to the Selena & Abel Timeline
In spring 2018, Abel released a six-track EP called “My Dear Melancholy,” which he reportedly wrote, recorded, and put out in just two and a half weeks. Fans and critics immediately connected it to his breakup with Selena. The song “Call Out My Name” includes the lyric “I almost cut a piece of myself for your life,” which a lot of people read as a reference to the kidney transplant. Speculation went around that Abel had thought about donating a kidney to Selena, though sources later said he never actually planned to go through with it. The line still landed hard, painting the relationship as one where he felt like he gave more than he got.
November 2019 brought “Heartless,” a track that seemed to reference the emotional fallout from both Selena and Bella. The lyrics described someone stuck between two high-profile relationships, unable to settle into either one. Abel never confirmed which lines were about whom, but the timeline and context made it easy for listeners to connect the dots. “Snowchild,” released later, had a different vibe—more reflective, less bitter—which might be why Selena felt okay recommending it publicly in 2020.
| Song | Year | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| “Call Out My Name” | 2018 | Lyric “I almost cut a piece of myself for your life” sparked kidney donation speculation |
| “Heartless” | 2019 | Referenced relationship drama with both Selena and Bella |
| “Snowchild” | 2020 | Selena recommended it twice. Music video released on her 28th birthday |
Verified Source Timeline and Fact-Checking Notes on Selena Gomez & The Weeknd Events
Most of the confirmed dates and major events here come from reports published by ELLE, People, and E! News between 2017 and 2020. These outlets usually cited sources close to the couple or verified public sightings through paparazzi photos, social media posts, and event attendance records. The October 30, 2017 breakup announcement was reported with direct confirmation from reps, and the final public date on October 12 was documented through widely shared photos from Universal Studios.
Some details are still speculative, especially around private conversations and why people did what they did on social media. The “I love you” whisper at the Met Gala and the kidney donation theory tied to “Call Out My Name” were reported by unnamed sources or interpreted by fans and media, not confirmed by Selena or Abel themselves. Updates kept coming through 2020 as new interactions, song releases, and Instagram follows popped up, keeping the story alive even after the relationship ended. When you’re looking at this timeline, it helps to separate hard facts like dates, public appearances, and official statements from softer interpretations based on lyrics, body language, or anonymous insider claims.
Final Words
Jump right in: their relationship began in January 2017, moved through a globetrotting spring with Coachella and Met Gala moments, and ended with a confirmed split on October 30, 2017.
This piece mapped the early dating phase, the summer turning points, the October fallout, and the post-breakup ripples in songs and social media.
The Selena Gomez and The Weeknd breakup timeline pulls those dates and moments together so fans can see how it all unfolded, and why the music that followed still matters. Both artists keep moving forward, so there’s more to watch and enjoy.
FAQ
Q: Who did The Weeknd date after Selena?
A: The Weeknd dated Bella Hadid after Selena; they rekindled soon after the 2017 split, with reports he left her apartment in November 2017 and kissed her at Coachella 2018.
Q: Who did Selena Gomez unfollow her best friend?
A: Selena Gomez unfollowed her best friend is unclear; public unfollow drama mostly showed Bella Hadid unfollowing Selena after they were first photographed together, not Selena unfollowing Bella.
Q: Are Selena Gomez and The Weeknd still friends?
A: Selena Gomez and The Weeknd aren’t publicly close friends; after their October 2017 split they’ve had limited contact, occasional social-media nods, but no clear ongoing friendship.
Q: Did The Weeknd date Angelina Jolie?
A: The Weeknd did not date Angelina Jolie; there are no credible reports or confirmations linking them romantically. Any mentions were rumor or fan speculation.