I GRIEVING FATHER LASHES OUT: Blame Selena for My Daughter's Suicide

Two teens kill themselves after watching Selena Gomez’s Netflix show, 13 Reasons Why

Donna Herndon thought her 15-year-old daughter, Bella, was just looking for something among her clothes. When she walked into the high school sophomore’s bedroom on April 18, “All I could see was that she was on her knees bent over like she was really digging deep in her closet. I thought she was joking around with me or something,” Donna told KTVU, the Fox affiliate near their Livermore, Calif., hometown. “So I laughed and I said, ‘Hey, Bella, what are you doing?’ And then I got closer,” Donna said through tears, “and saw that she’d hung herself.” She died at the hospital 10 days later, having never regained consciousness.

Now her father, John, is blaming the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why — and its executive producer Selena Gomez — for her death. Bella had binge-watched the controversial show that the pop star has called her “passion project” in April, and she wasn’t the only teen to take her life immediately after doing so: San Mateo, Calif., 15-yearold Priscilla Chiu hanged herself on April 22. And now Selena, 24, is under fire from both parents and mental health experts. John accuses Selena of spreading a “hurtful message,” and tells In Touch, “I think this [show] was a trigger for Bella and Priscilla. For someone like Selena Gomez, who admittedly battled her own issues with depression, to do something like this is just beyond comprehension. I would describe it as evil.”

Selena — who went to rehab last fall after admitting to anxiety, panic attacks and depression — has defended the series. “Everybody has gone through this, and more than ever it should be talked about,” the pop star, who says she sees a therapist five days a week, has explained. But both Bella’s dad and Priscilla’s uncle, Peter Chiu, think she’s failed to make it clear to her adoring and easily influenced young fans that suicide is never the answer. “[She has such] a platform, and that’s why I want her to speak up,” says Peter. “She did say, ‘This is everyday life and it needed to be told.’ But she hasn’t said, ‘Hey,

listen you guys, there are other alternatives. Don’t do it.’”

Both girls, who suffered from depression, desperately needed to hear that. Instead, the series, which is based on Jay Asher’s 2007 book about a girl who sends 13 cassette tapes to people explaining why she killed herself, was, for Priscilla, “that little push off the edge,” says Peter, who, like John, is upset that the show seems to almost glamorize suicide. “For someone with a mental illness who is vulnerable, these visuals don’t help.”

Experts confirm that 13 Reasons Why can be dangerous for those who are already struggling. “When you are predisposed because of a mental health issue — depression, anxiety disorder — or when you have a prior suicide attempt or thoughts of suicide, watching a series like this can exacerbate the situation,” explains Dr. Dan Reidenberg, executive director of Minneapolisbased Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE). The Society for

the Prevention of Teen Suicide has called the show “unsafe” and the National Association of School Psychologists issued a warning to parents that “vulnerable” kids should not be allowed to view it. Still, Selena and Netflix have always insisted that the show is meant to help, not hurt. After learning about Bella’s and Priscilla’s suicides, Netflix issued a statement: “Our hearts go out to these families during this difficult time. We have heard from many viewers that 13 Reasons Why has opened up a dialogue among parents, teens, schools and mental health advocates around the difficult topics depicted in the show. We took extra precautions to alert viewers to the nature of the content and created a global website to help people find local mental health resources.”

But the girls’ families say Netflix and Selena should be held accountable for the pain they’ve caused. “I would love to invite [Selena] to my house to show her [Priscilla’s] room,” says Peter. “We still can’t even take down the vent. To see where Priscilla hung herself from will hit you in your gut.”

And Bella’s dad, John, wants Netflix to stop production on Season 2 before more lives are lost. “I think Bella would [still be alive if she hadn’t watched this show]. It’s chilling to me that Selena Gomez, who worked with Disney making movies that families watched, steered her fan base to this,” he tells In Touch, adding that he called Netflix six times, was hung up on once and never got a call back. “Someone has to stand up and say, ‘This is wrong.’” ◼

HEARTBREAKING LOSS “My daughter was my hero,” John says of Bella, who wanted to be a writer. “She was an amazing, intelligent girl.”

VULNERABLE FAN Priscilla called Selena her idol and was an “outgoing and pretty girl,” her uncle, Peter, tells, In Touch. But she suffered from depression and had attempted suicide twice before.