Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez has hit back at a "distasteful" fan for abusing her on Instagram.

The 'Come & Get It' hitmaker, who split from her on-again, off-again boyfriend Justin Bieber last week, lashed back at a young female for "bullying" her by leaving a nasty comment on one of her photographs recently, in which the fan apparently wished the brunette beauty and her family would get cancer.

Horrified by the message, the 21-year-old star shared a photograph of her response to the user, whose profile has since been deleted, captioned: "Honestly, I don't speak up much because it's simply always taken out of context. But I don't take bullying well. I have seen too much to not say anything."

In the message to her abuser, she said: "The comment you left about cancer was absurd. How distasteful of a young woman. I have gone through that battle with fans and family members. You can dislike someone but to wish something that could happen to your or your family is uncalled for sweetheart. You won't be winning anyone's heart that way. Trust me. Educate yourself a tad more. God bless love. Be an amazing woman. You're beautiful."

Her response won support from many of her loyal fans, as it was liked more than 400,000 times.