Selena Gomez Playboy Magazine March 2013 -

Below is an extensive look at how this internet myth was born, what Gomez was actually doing in March 2013, and how the media landscape fueled the rumor. Anatomy of an Internet Myth: How the Rumor Started

The issue primarily focuses on art, photography, and the "Lingerie Guide".

Although the bundle lists a March 2012 cover, she remained a frequent subject for the magazine during this era. InStyle (June 2013):

The cover features model Liza Kei for a "Lingerie Special" theme. Selena Gomez Playboy Magazine March 2013

In March 2013, the highly controversial indie film Spring Breakers hit theaters nationwide across the United States. Directed by auteur Harmony Korine, the R-rated crime drama followed four college girls who fell into a dark underworld of drugs, violence, and theft.

On , the controversial film Spring Breakers expanded to theaters nationwide. Directed by Harmony Korine, the indie crime-drama featured Gomez as Faith, a religious college student who gets caught up in a world of drugs, bikinis, and violence alongside a criminal played by James Franco.

In March 2013, a "raunchy" image appeared online claiming to be the cover of that month’s Below is an extensive look at how this

: The actual March 2013 issue of Playboy featured a different model and had been released weeks prior to the peak of the Gomez rumors.

If you want, I can:

: Around that era, she participated in several edgy editorial shoots to promote her transition to adult roles, including a 2013 feature for Flaunt Magazine and a later controversial "Lolita-style" shoot for V Magazine in 2015. InStyle (June 2013): The cover features model Liza

: In March 2013, the film Spring Breakers hit theaters. The movie featured Gomez and fellow Disney alumna Vanessa Hudgens playing bikini-clad, hard-partying college students. The shocking change in tone prompted the official Playboy social media accounts and editors to publicly extend a tongue-in-cheek "invitation" to the actresses, hinting they would love to host them in the magazine.

In early 2013, a "raunchy" image circulated online claiming to be the cover of Playboy Magazine featuring a topless Gomez.

Gomez, who was just 20 years old at the time, explained in an interview that she decided to do the shoot to promote her album "Stars Dance" and to show her fans that she was growing up. She stated that she wanted to take control of her own image and prove that she was more than just a Disney star.