Selena Gomez and her producer fiancé, Benny Blanco’s nuptial ceremony, with its celebrity guest list, took place at a venue in Santa Barbara, California, and made it onto the internet. And not everyone is thrilled—specifically not her mother, Mandy Teefey.
The 33-year-old former Disney Channel star has been able to keep a tight grip on her privacy in the months leading up to the Saturday, September 28 event.
Highlights
- Selena Gomez, 33, wed producer Benny Blanco in Santa Barbara on Sept. 28.
- Her mother, Mandy Teefey, did not walk her down the aisle.
- Sources say the choice left Mandy and stepfather Brian “shattered.”
Even though she leaked snaps from her August bachelorette party in Cabo, Mexico, she did so selectively.
Insiders have since wrestled Gomez’s grip on her privacy from her and revealed that the star’s wedding choices may just have caused a deep family rift.
Snubbing her biological mother appeared to be an easy decision, as she made it as soon as she started planning her wedding
Image credits: selenagomez
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, a leaker revealed that Gomez snubbed her mother and chose her grandfather, David Cornett, to give her away instead.
“Selena’s mother and her stepfather, Brian, were shattered she didn’t choose her mother to walk her down the aisle,” the insider told the tabloid.
“In a shock move, she chose her grandfather, David, to give her away to Benny.”
Image credits: Allen Berezovsky/Getty
The source indicated that Cornett and his wife were as thrilled as Gomez’s mother was hurt.
“David and his wife Debbie broke down in tears of joy when she asked him. Selena made the decision as soon as they started planning the wedding.”
Selena Gomez and Mandy Teefey had a relationship of ups and downs
Gomez’s decision did not come in a vacuum. Reports suggest that the star has had a topsy-turvy relationship with her mother.
Image credits: selenagomez
In a 2024 interview with Variety, the actress said: “My mom had me when she was 16.”
She explained that this made her feel like they “grew up together,” which was a “different perspective than someone who would wait until they’re older to have a child.”
“I am so grateful that we were there for each other. It felt very Gilmore Girls,” she gushed.
In another era, she brushed Brian and Mandy Teefey off
Image credits: selenagomez
Six years earlier, however, Gomez went through an episode of mental problems.
“They called me and wanted to know what my daughter was doing in the hospital with a nervous breakdown,” Mandy would recall in an installment of Gomez’s Apple TV+ documentary.
“She didn’t want anything to do with me. I was scared she was going to [pass away].”
The actress later admitted regretting brushing her mother and her stepfather off in 2018.
Image credits: selenagomez
“I shouldn’t have spoken to them the way that I did, and I shouldn’t have treated them the way that I did, sometimes,” Gomez says in retrospect, per US Weekly.
The press credits Mandy Teefey for raising Selena Gomez on her own
Gomez’s most recent snub of her mother and stepfather is seen as painful, particularly because Mandy raised her on her own, and her stepfather, Brian, played a significant role in her meteoric Hollywood rise.
Image credits: RB/Bauer-Griffin/Getty
“Teefey, 49, is known for her sacrifices in encouraging Gomez’s career as an actress and singer — she gave birth to the Rare Beauty founder at 16, and raised her as a single mother,” Page Six reported.
Gomez, however, gives this credit to her grandparents.
The actress saw it as the best way of honoring her grandfather
“Selena lived with [her grandparents] before she moved in with Benny and considers them to have raised her,” the Daily Mail source confirmed.
Image credits: mandyteefey
“She didn’t feel there was any bigger way she could reward and honor her grandfather than to ask him to be such a huge part of her wedding.”
The source went on to say Gomez took the time to explain to her mother and Brian why she chose her grandfather, a month after she made the decision.
“While she loves her mother and Brian, she sat them down and explained why she’d come to her decision and what a privilege it would be for her grandfather,” the leaker elaborated.
Image credits: mandyteefey
“This is something she believes he deserves more than anyone else. Selena didn’t tell her mother for almost a month.”
Social media is swooning over its favorite actress’s wedding
Despite the chatter around the purported family politics, social media appears, for most parts, impressed with the union.
Image credits: selenagomez
“I don’t usually get into celebrity weddings, but this one I am super happy to see. They are great for each other. I truly wish them the best!” wrote one person, summing up the general sentiment.
The internet is critical of Benny Blanco's hair
