You may not remember Camila Cabello but she left the girl group Fifth Harmony late last year, there was a lot of drama surrounding her exit and a lot of public back and forth with her statement and the band’s statement that she blindsided them with her announcement. Camila is embarking on a solo career, she seems to be having some success with it and part of that may be her influential friends. She’s one of Taylor Swift’s squad, she name drops Swift a lot in interviews but to be fair she’s asked about her a lot too. In a new interview with Latina magazine, Camila explains that Taylor Swift gives her guy advice, which she’s said before. In this interview she elaborates a little on what that means. She also discusses her reasoning for leaving the band, which incidentally isn’t going to get a new name now that there are only four members. They haven’t replaced her yet either. Here’s some of what she told Latina with more at the source.
You’ve talked publicly about your struggle with anxiety. When did you realize it was an issue for you?
Late 2015 and the beginning of 2016. I had terrible OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder], and it was just totally out of control. I would wake up with a super-accelerated heartbeat and really negative, intrusive, compulsive thoughts. I was so inside my head, and I didn’t know what was happening. I totally understand now, being in it, why there shouldn’t be such a stigma on mental illness, because it’s a pretty common thing for people. But you can get help. If you’re dedicated to making it better, you can — because I’m in a much better place now. I started reading books about it and it really helped a lot when I understood [the illness], and that [the thoughts I was having] weren’t real. Sometimes you have to remind yourself to slow down and take care of yourself.
Speaking of music, you’re friends with Taylor Swift, is she also a mentor?
Our friendship has never been about career or anything professional. I tell her about boys and cry to her about boys. She’ll give me advice like, “No, do not text him back.” But I’m so excited for the day that I get to play her my music because she is seriously one of the reasons I started songwriting. I feel like we have something really cool where we can just be honest with each other, and we can just be girls, talking about stupid crushes. It’s the best.
When you met President Obama you cried and thanked him for everything he’s done for immigration. Now we have a president with a completely opposing view…
At this point he is president, but it’s about making sure our voices are heard and letting him know that we are not going to surrender to his language of hatred against our people, Muslim people, people of color, gay people, people with disabilities — everyone he shut down in order to get where he is right now. We’re going to stand our ground. He needs to be a good president, not just for those who voted for him but for all of us, even the people that he hurt and insulted. Love is gonna trump hate. I never planned on being so politically involved [Camila’s been vocal on social media and marched in anti-Trump protests], but this hit so close to home for me that it wasn’t politics anymore, this was a human issue.
I already said my piece on Taylor Swift giving dating advice. That’s like me trying to teach someone how to cook. I like that Taylor is tight with her friends and she does seem like she cultivates those relationships and is there for people. I really like Camila’s thoughts on politics and how immigration is a human issue. Plus she gets props for so openly speaking about her anxiety. She reminds me a little of Demi Lovato in that way in that it helps reduce the stigma for young people especially when artists talk about their struggle. As for whether Camila is going to make it as a musician on her own – she got a lot of press when she left Fifth Harmony and we’re still talking about her so that counts for something.
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