When the biggest pop stars release a new song, fans typically waste no time memorizing the lyrics and then reading into them heavily. Often, singer-songwriters (cough Taylor Swiftcough) weave hints about their personal lives into their music, but sometimes, it’s as simple as them having picked up a song penned by someone else and hitting the studio.

Although Justin Bieber has plenty of songwriting credits on his industry resume, he doesn’t always write his own music… and not all of them are about Selena Gomez, either.

Justin Bieber Has Written Many Songs About His Relationships

Justin has penned songs about ex Selena Gomez and now-wife Hailey Bieber

Justin Bieber has written multiple songs about both his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez and his wife Hailey Bieber. However, “Love Yourself” was not one of them.

When the song first came out in 2015, things were rocky with Selena and Justin. They had reportedly split sometime that year, and a timeline of the Jelena relationship hinted that there were problems long before Justin smooched Hailey then-Baldwin in December.

When Justin sang “Love Yourself,” fans might have assumed the track was all about Selena Gomez.

Lyrics like “You think you broke my heart, oh, girl, for goodness’ sake/You think I’m crying on my own, well, I ain’t” and “And I didn’t wanna write a song/’Cause I didn’t want anyone thinkin’ I still care, I don’t, but/You still hit my phone up” did sound like they could be about Gomez.

Yet a few years later, during an interview with Howard Stern, Ed Sheeran spilled the details behind writing “Love Yourself,” and who the song was truly meant for.

Ed Sheeran Wrote “Love Yourself” For Rihanna

Ed Sheeran revealed he wrote the song with harsher lyrics in mind

During a 2023 chat with Howard Stern, Ed Sheeran revealed that he wrote “Love Yourself” hoping to get Rihanna to sing it.

Ed didn’t reveal who he might have written the song about, but he related that the lyrics were originally “you can go and f*** yourself” and meant for Rihanna’s unique style.

Ed remarked, when Howard asked whether Rihanna was his muse, that he thought “if anyone was gonna finish the song, it would be” Rihanna.

Yet once he began talking to Justin, whose music was sounding ‘more grown up,’ Ed changed his mind. He pointed out that when “Love Yourself” came out, Justin was at a point in his career where he was maturing, but he was also a bad guy in the media.

After his ‘comeback song,’ Ed realized that Justin could finish “Love Yourself” and make it something unique. He handed the song off to Justin (who has no writing credits on the track at all) and the rest is history.

Of course, not everyone thought Justin wrote the song about Selena; many commenters on the “Love Yourself” music video pointed out the different sound and how much it was Sheeran-like rather than Bieber-like.

Ed Sheeran And Justin Bieber Later Worked On A Song Together

Justin and Ed co-wrote “I Don’t Care” in 2019

As Justin’s music matured even more, he and Ed did collaborate on a song that Justin has writing credits on. 2019’s “I Don’t Care” seemed as if it could be about both of their wives (Justin got married in 2018 and Ed in 2019).

This time, though, the song was a positive one and not a breakup ballad.

Justin would go on to write more music about Hailey, while Jelena shippers continued to assume most of Selena Gomez’s songs were about her ex.

Selena Gomez Probably Isn’t Writing Songs About Justin Anymore

Selena’s newer music has moved far away from the topic of her most famous ex

Even Selena’s 2021 song “De Una Vez” was assumed to be about Justin Bieber, though most interpreted it as a ‘farewell’ rather than any kind of love song.

Unfortunately for Selena, her career has always been tied to Justin’s since the two started dating as teens, and despite her many attempts to redirect the focus to her music rather than her relationships, it’s apparently been a rough road.

Continued assumed drama between Selena and Hailey has plagued both stars (and Justin) for years when one simple explanation could be that fans are reading far too much into each celebrity’s songs and social media posts.