Selena Gomez Says She’ll ‘Stand by My People’ After Puerto Rico Garbage Joke: ‘One Vote Can Change Everything’

Selena Gomez is speaking up after a comedian at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” over the weekend.

Speaking with Variety at the opening night of the 28th American French Film Festival on Tuesday, Oct. 29, while promoting her movie Emilia Perez, Gomez said she “strongly disagreed with any comments that were made recently,” referring to the disparaging remarks against the island by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe on Sunday, Oct. 27.

“I definitely want to stand by my people,” said the Only Murders in the Building star, 32, who is Mexican-American.

She told Variety that she posted herself dropping her mail-in ballot this week because “people can sometimes forget that the one vote can change everything.”

Gomez is one of many celebrities to rebuke Hinchcliffe and the Trump campaign in recent days after the comedian said, “There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

Separately, Hinchcliffe said that Latinos “love making babies,” following it with a crude remark: “There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country.”

He also made racist jokes about Black people, Jewish people and Palestinians during the set.

A month after appearing at a Trump rally to back the presidential hopeful, reggaeton superstar Nicky Jam rescinded his endorsement on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

“Never in my life did I think that one month later there would be a comedian who would criticize my country and speak poorly of my country,” the 43-year-old said. “And for that I withdraw my support of Donald Trump. Puerto Rico should be respected.”

Aubrey Plaza similarly denounced the offensive remarks. At Wall Street Journal Magazine‘s 2024 Innovator Awards, the actress said, “As a Puerto Rican woman, I just wanted to very quickly respond to the racist joke that was made at that Trump rally about Puerto Rico, where most of my family is from. Thankfully, my sweet abuelita wasn’t here to hear that disgusting remark, but if she was alive today, I think she would say, ‘Tony Hinchcliffe, go f— yourself.'”

And one of Puerto Rico’s biggest stars, Bad Bunny, made a bold statement with an eight-minute Instagram Reel simply captioned “garbage.” The video is the introduction played at the beginning of the 30-year-old reggaeton superstar’s San Juan concerts in 2021 and is full of footage that captures the island’s beauty and culture.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump said he had “no idea” who Hinchcliffe was and alleged he had “done more for Puerto Rico than any president, I think, that’s ever, that’s ever been president,” Newsweek reported.

“I have no idea, they put a comedian in, which everybody does,” the former president added. “You throw comedians in. You don’t vet them and go crazy. It’s nobody’s fault. But somebody said some bad things.”