In a video shared to her Instagram stories, Gomez said, "I'm not going to be able to change my voice. I vaped nicotine a lot," calling nicotine "so hard to quit" and urging anyone trying or considering vaping: "it's just not worth it."

She added, laughing, "So if you guys don't like listening to my voice, that's totally understandable. I don't mind. Just don't listen to it."

She did not specify when or for how long she had been vaping, but said she has stopped and hopes to keep it up: "It's really hard. But I know if you are going through something, you can get through it, too."

Sources: CBC News, MusicRadar, Deseret News

Singers rarely blame their own instrument so bluntly.

MusicRadar notes Gomez is the second female artist this month to confess a vaping habit — Lola Young recently described how "breathing feels like a chore" — but Gomez went further, naming nicotine as the cause of a voice change fans have long dissected.

MusicRadar also points out a fan YouTube video charting her voice's evolution from teen star to something slower and lower, and cautions that voices also change naturally with age.

According to CBC News, a University of Alberta pulmonary medicine professor, Dilini Vethanayagam, said there are no formal large-scale clinical trials on vaping's direct vocal-cord impact, but the chemicals in vape smoke "can affect different parts of our upper and lower airways, vocal cord included."

The development is itself a video: Gomez speaking directly to fans in an Instagram story, which CBC News notes is no longer online, responding to years of discourse about why her voice has changed.

For vocal enthusiasts, the clip matters because a globally followed singer is framing vaping as a direct threat to vocal identity — the very warning many voice teachers give about smoke and aerosols, delivered by someone whose voice listeners know intimately.

She balanced regret with encouragement, telling fans that quitting is possible: "It sucks," but "you can get through it."

Sources: CBC News, MusicRadar

NDTV reports, citing Dr. Aparna H Mahajan of Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, that vaping exposes delicate laryngeal tissues to high-heat aerosols, drying agents and chemical irritants, which can cause hoarseness, a deeper or raspier tone, vocal fatigue and reduced range — and that long-term inflammation may lead to nodules, polyps or scarring that may not be fully reversible.

CBC News reports Health Canada says there are over 1,500 unique chemicals in vaping products and liquids.

The Times of India cautions that evidence does not establish nicotine alone caused Gomez's voice change, and notes her lupus, diagnosed in 2015, may also affect her voice; Gomez herself said last year her throat sometimes swells inside. She also received a kidney transplant in 2017.

According to CBC News, Vethanayagam said Gomez's candor matters because "a lot of people think it's safe and it's not," adding: "bottom line — just like we used to say, don't do it for cigarettes, don't do it for vaping."

Ynetnews reports pulmonologist Dr. Emilia Hardak said vaping creates both nicotine addiction and psychological dependence on the act itself, and that exposure can inflame vocal cords and alter the voice, with some changes irreversible.

The Times of India frames the lesson as support rather than shame: nicotine dependence is genuinely hard to overcome, and seeking help is a practical step.

The Deseret News cites a Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health review of 81 studies linking vaping with wheezing, coughing and poor oral health.

Gomez has stopped vaping and, per Deseret News and CBC News, hopes to stay off it — the open question her own message left. CBC News reports Health Canada and advocacy groups are pushing for stronger regulation, with N.B.

Lung representatives in Ottawa this week to lobby MPs on smoke-free generation legislation, while Canada's promised flavour ban remains delayed.

Ynetnews reports British figures cited by the BBC show roughly 1.1 million vapers there had never smoked, and that quitting outcomes depend on how long and heavily a person vaped.

For singers watching this story, the takeaway circulating across outlets is the one Gomez put plainly: protect the voice before the damage shows.