Camila Cabello: The Dangers That Come Into Play When You Mix Business And Friendships At A Young Age – And How The Lack Of Conflict Resolution Skills Lead To More Trouble

Camila Cabello was just one of the many A-list stars who attended Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s wedding on September 27th. At first, it came as a surprise that she was there to begin with, but then I remembered that Gomez and Cabello knew each other since Cabello turned 18 AT LEAST. It was when Taylor Swift threw Cabello a surprise birthday party that they posed together for photos. Otherwise, they weren’t known to be too close; more so publicly, unlike Gomez and Francia Raisa, her once close friend and kidney donor. who wasn’t invited to the wedding.

In other Camila Cabello news, her former Fifth Harmony bandmates recently reunited with her for a performance – without Cabello. The band, often known as 5H, were first formed in 2012 when all five of them auditioned on The X Factor US. The band consisted of Cabello, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane, Normani, and Lauren Jauregui. Cabello, according to the remaining four band members, abruptly left the band in December 2016. She left Fifth Harmony because she felt a creative disconnect and a strong desire to pursue a solo career and write her own music. Cabello herself said she was no longer happy with the group’s vision and felt it didn’t align with her own creative direction. After she departed, Fifth Harmony continued as a four-piece group before later going on an indefinite hiatus. To break it down more thoroughly:

• Creative differences: Cabello felt she was no longer happy with the group’s collective vision and wanted to pursue her own path, which included writing and performing her own songs. 

• Solo ambitions: She had already started collaborating on solo projects, such as her duet with Shawn Mendes, and her passion for songwriting grew to the point where she wanted to sing her own material. 

• A desire for authenticity: Cabello stated that she felt the need to be true to herself, even though it was a scary leap to take. 

• Group’s response: Fifth Harmony released a statement on December 19, 2016, announcing her departure and stating they would continue as a quartet. 

• Modern-day relationship: Despite the split, Cabello has since said that she and her former bandmates are on good terms and have been supportive of each other. 

It’s truly hard for me, or anyone who’s ever been a fan of Cabello, Fifth Harmony, all remaining members of the band individually, and/or all of the above for that matter, that the split was amicable. Fifth Harmony’s statement claimed they were informed of Cabello’s departure via her management in December 2016, which came as a shock to them. On the contrary, Cabello later stated that she had communicated her feelings and plans for a solo career through prior “long, much needed conversations” with the other members, and the band’s public statement wasn’t true. 

At the time of her leaving Fifth Harmony, Cabello was at the helm of promoting her then-newly released single with Machine Gun Kelly, Bad Things. Following the news of her leaving Kelly was asked about his take on the matter in a radio interview conducted by Marco Benitez for iHeartRadio channel 963. He said, ‘I know Camila, there is no like trickery going on. There’s no behind-the-back stuff. It was odd that it happened on the day that we got our gold plaque for ‘Bad Things’. It seems like, the way it played out, it wasn’t great timing…but I know that it was all so genuine. I don’t like to see someone like that almost get picked on. This isn’t something that started in a garage together. This was put together. So be grateful for the years that it was. Be happy for what’s to come.’

Indeed, Fifth Harmony’s time together as a five-member band brought a lot of success. This included two top 10 album releases, Reflection and 7/27, and four Top 40 hits. But this success came at a cost. The girls were overworked, releasing an album every year, and this very fact truly reflected on their relationship. Their contract was a multi-faceted deal with Syco Music and Epic Records that originally included up to five albums. Individual members also had solo deals, which contributed to internal conflict over career paths before Cabello’s departure. Following her departure, the remaining four members re-negotiated their contracts to gain more creative control and ownership of the band’s brand before the group ultimately went on hiatus in 2018. To break things down more thoroughly:

Initial contract and early developments 

• Initial Deal: In January 2013, Fifth Harmony signed a joint deal with Simon Cowell’s Syco Music and L.A. Reid’s Epic Records. 

• Label Structure: The deal with Syco was for the UK, with Epic handling US releases. Both labels are owned by Sony Music Entertainment, giving Sony significant control. 

• Contractual Rights: The contract guaranteed the labels up to five albums, but the decision to produce each album ultimately rested with the label. 

Internal conflict and Cabello’s departure 

• Solo Aspirations: The initial contracts were structured as individual solo deals, allowing for solo work alongside the group. Tensions grew as Cabello focused more on solo projects, even hiring her own manager separately. 

• Contract expiration: The group’s five-year contract was set to expire in December 2016, leading to a push for a new album versus a hiatus. 

• December 2016: Cabello left the group, reportedly over disagreements about a hiatus before the contract’s official end date. 

Post-Cabello and renegotiation 

• Four-member contract: Following Cabello’s departure, the remaining four members renewed their contract with Epic Records as a quartet in January 2017. 

• Increased control: They renegotiated to gain more creative control and input into their music, as confirmed by member Ally Brooke. 

• Brand ownership: The group’s lawyer, Dina LaPolt, helped them gain legal ownership of the Fifth Harmony brand name in 2017 through a lawsuit. 

Final hiatus 

• Indefinite hiatus: In May 2018, the group announced an indefinite hiatus to focus on solo careers. 

Following Fifth Harmony’s 2018 split, all four women went on to release solo work, just like Cabello did before them. But no one could measure up to Cabello’s level of success as a solo artist. Cabello’s 2017 single Havana was a massive success, reaching number one in 95 countries, including the US, UK, and Australia. It was the best-selling digital single of 2018 globally and became Spotify’s most-streamed song by a solo female artist in 2018. The song’s success, featuring a remix with Young Thug, earned it critical acclaim, multiple award nominations, and a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance for a live version.  To break it down more thoroughly:

Key achievements and accolades: 

• Chart Performance: “Havana” topped the charts in numerous countries, including the US, UK, and Australia. 

• Record-breaking streams: It became Spotify’s most-streamed song ever by a solo female artist in 2018, with over a billion streams at the time. 

• Awards and Nominations: The song’s success was recognized with nominations for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance and the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. The music video also won the latter award. 

• Sales: “Havana” was the best-selling digital single of 2018 worldwide and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. 

• Firsts for Cabello: It was her first number-one single as a solo artist and the first number one for featured artist Young Thug. 

When Fifth Harmony was newly formed and competing on The X Factor US, Camilla’s vocals and stage presence always stood out. Demi Lovato, in particular, who was a judge on the singing reality show competition when the group was formed, had predicted Camila Cabello’s solo success back in 2016 after she left the band. And when during the X Factor days, Lovato commented that Cabello outshined the rest of the group members when she made her judgement on one of their performances.

In one of her newest interviews, Cabello further opened up further as to why she left Fifth Harmony all these years ago. She explained to Alex Cooper of Call Her Daddy that her passion for songwriting and her desire to sing her own songs ultimately led her to leave the group, as she felt a disconnect from the group’s vision. In the year that followed her departure from the group, Cabello went on to tour with Taylor Swift on her Reputation tour. It marked to be the period where she also received support from Swift during the difficult transition out of the group.

Cabello’s solo career in the years since her departure from Fifth Harmony has been successful, even in the years since the success of Havana. Her solo work has earned her Grammy nominations and awards, including two Latin Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards. Her debut solo album, Camila, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. She reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with the singles Havana, which featured Young Thug, and Señorita, with Shawn Mendes, who also collaborated with Cabello on their 2015 single, I Know What You Did Last Summer. In 2024, she released C,XOXO, which debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200.

Cabello’s enormous success came with its own set of scrutiny. In 2019, when she was 22, screenshots were posted on Twitter, now known as X, of Cabello using the N-word on an old Tumblr account from when she was 15 years old. The account, now deleted, reportedly shared racist jokes and memes between 2012 and 2013. The singer, who at the time of the screenshots resurfacing had a new album coming out, apologized for the postings she made when she was a teen.

The apology read as follows, ‘I used language I’m deeply ashamed of and will regret forever. I apologised then and I apologise again now. I was uneducated and ignorant and once I became aware of the history and the weight and the true meaning behind this horrible and hurtful language, I was deeply embarrassed I ever used it. I apologised then and I apologise again now. I’m 22 now, I’m an adult and I’ve grown and learned and am conscious and aware of the history and the pain it carries in a way I wasn’t before. My heart has never, even then, had any ounce of hate or divisiveness. The truth is I was embarrassingly ignorant and unaware. I use my platform to speak out about injustice and inequality and I’ll continue doing that. I can’t say enough how deeply sorry and ashamed I feel, and I apologise again from the bottom of my heart.’

The social media in question was aimed at Normani, Cabello’s Fifth Harmony band member. In a statement written to Rolling Stone, she said she’d been the target of discrimination daily, but to have Cabello and Cabello’s fans involved was particularly hurtful. She wrote, ‘It was devastating that this came from a place that was supposed to be a safe haven and a sisterhood. It took days for her to acknowledge what I was dealing with online and then years for her to take responsibility for the offensive tweets that recently resurfaced. Whether or not it was her intention, this made me feel like I was second to the relationship that she had with her fans. To my brown men and women, we are like no other. Our power lies within our culture. We are descendants of an endless line of strong and resilient kings and queens. We have been and will continue to win in all that we do simply because of who we are. We deserve to be celebrated, I deserve to be celebrated and I’m just getting started.’

Romance was a deep failure, especially compared to Cabello’s first solo album. The controversy led to significant public backlash and a period of career disturbance. The controversy affected her public image, even though she issued an apology, stating she was uneducated and ignorant at the time, and that the comments didn’t reflect her current beliefs. Despite the negative impact, Cabello continued to have professional successes, such as a number-one single and continued philanthropic efforts. During the COVID-19 pandemic especially, philanthropy became important to her, donating to the Children’s Health Fund, supporting a homeless immigrant, participating in a COVID-19 benefit concert, and advocating for climate change. Thereafter, she continued to have commercial success, with two number-one singles in the UK after the controversy, which shows that she was still able to achieve professional success despite the public backlash. 

It’d be very hard to defend this type of racist behaviour. Even the fact that Cabello was 15 years old when she published the social media activity in question couldn’t save her from being caught up in a web of judgement. No one’s ever born with type of hate. It’s taught. With more so, it’s accepted by those that one’s surrounded by. Cabello’s apology years later acknowledged the use of offensive language. She expressed regret for her actions and stated her commitment to learning and growing from the experience. But the question still remains: was it even sincere?

Timing and convenience seemed to be the best practice for Cabello’s apology. When Cabello’s old social media activity – one that she probably completely forgot about – resurfaced, she had an album to sell and social media influencing and promotions to uphold. She needed, more than ever, for people to like her. That’s exactly why the sincerity and effectiveness of the apology was under question. There’s also the question of whether she actually took the steps necessary to better herself following the apology. Did she take steps to educate herself? Did she engage with communities affected by her actions? These steps are absolutely crucial, but it was never known whether or not she took the steps seriously.

Normani, in her statement following Cabello’s apology, made it clear that her former bandmate cared more about her reputation and her relationship with her friends than her friendship with her. I believe it’s true. I also believe that Cabello never wanted to be in Fifth Harmony to begin with. She always wanted to be a solo artist. She always wanted to be write her own music and sing her own songs. She always wanted to be in control of her own narrative. Unwillingly, she was put in a situation she had no intention of being in by having to join Fifth Harmony. The girls in the group, now women, did get along with one another and were genuinely friends. But not Cabello. She always seemed to be the odd one out when she was in the band. But she was also the one that stood out the most – both in her vocals and stage presence.

Tension between the band was evident, especially between Cabello and the rest of the girls. She was even seeing initiating a fight during a promotional interview. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, though. Each of the girls were very young when they started their out as Fifth Harmony. Hormones were running high. They were overworked, releasing one album after another. Their lawyer said their contract was the worst she’d ever seen. And to add to all that, Cabello was stuck in a place she never wanted to be in. She was forced into it, and she had no way out.

But no matter what Cabello’s situation might’ve entailed with Fifth Harmony, none of it ever gave her the right, nor the entitlement, to post racist and trajectory social media activity. The racist remarks she made at the time were obviously at the expense of Normani, which made her apology even less sincere since she didn’t even mention her by name. Nevertheless, the two artists posed together a couple of times in the years since at public events, and happily so might I add. They also supported one another on social media. In an interview with Nylon, published in 2024, Cabello opened up about how she and Normani were getting back to becoming as close as they were before. She said, ‘I remember times when we’d just be laughing so hard. With space, we can go back and tap into that. The past couple of times I’ve seen her, I say something and she laughs really hard. It doesn’t feel like we’re strangers. We’re getting back to the times when we really close.’ And she further opened up about being a part of Fifth Harmony at such a young age. She said, ‘I don’t know if I was struggling more than a normal teenager should because it’s hard to say what’s normal, whether you’re famous or not. My barometer wasn’t functional. It was more than a person should bear [in that situation]. How do you deal with being left out? How do you deal with jealousy? How do you deal with these things without hurting yourself or other people?’

Fifth Harmony fans everywhere were rejoiced when the band reunited for the first time in 7 years to perform, and they were even more excited when the band’s official Instagram page re-followed Cabello. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Cabello wasn’t there with them. In my previous blog entry on Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa, I put an emphasis on how some friendships just become stagnant over a period of time for no reason other than two people drifting apart because their lives go onto different directions. In this particular case between Cabello and Fifth Harmony, the friendship was fractured because business got in the way, as well as the girls’ ages at the time. But just like Cabello said, with time and space, anything is possible.

Some things should stay as they’re meant to be – memories. And that’s exactly what Fifth Harmony has become for Cabello. She’s now looking back on her time with the band fondly, despite all the hardships she’d faced while she was in it. But this doesn’t mean that she should rejoin the band either. Generally speaking, certain life phases are best left as memories because painful or difficult experiences serve as lessons to avoid future harm, while joyful moments provide strength and a positive outlook for the future. Memories also serve as a way to track personal growth, a source of comfort, and a way to understand who you were during a formative period, contributing to your identity and providing lessons for future challenges. To break things down more thoroughly:

For learning and growth

• Lessons from difficulty: Painful or challenging phases teach valuable life lessons that help you avoid repeating mistakes and build mental strength. You can recall these memories to react more effectively to similar situations in the future.

• Understanding your past: Looking back at past phases helps you understand your personal timeline and how you evolved into the person you are today. This is especially true for formative periods in early adulthood, which are often recalled with significant emotional detail. 

For maintaining emotional well-being

• Creating a positive outlook: Focusing on good memories helps maintain a positive outlook, which can be a powerful psychological tool for dealing with unpleasant situations.

• Finding strength: Cherished memories can provide strength and comfort, especially when times are tough. They are a reminder of joy and love that can be recalled to boost your mood.

• Processing emotions: While it’s natural to have painful memories, some difficult experiences can be a source of trauma. In these cases, leaving the most traumatic events in the past and focusing on the lessons learned, rather than the pain itself, is healthier for long-term emotional well-being. 

For connecting with others

• Shared history: Memories, both good and bad, can be a powerful tool for connecting with others. They are often the foundation of relationships and can be used to share your personal history with loved ones.

• Strengthening bonds: Shared memories are a source of comfort and joy, strengthening the bonds between friends, family, and romantic partners. They can be a source of shared laughter and a reminder of the good times you’ve had together. 

This is the best way to describe where Cabello now stands 9 years after leaving the band. The distance between them now serves to be the best thing for everyone; not just for Cabello, but for the four remaining members of Fifth Harmony. They’ve all come along long way since their days together, and they should feel so proud of themselves for overcoming the hardships that they’d faced. That said, Cabello and Fifth Harmony can now be two separate entities; both successful in their own right. They can support one another from afar. They can look back on their time together with love and adoration. Most importantly, they can leave the past behind…