14 Times Camila Cabello & Fifth Harmony Shaded Each Other That You Might've Missed
Celebrity relationships and friendships are a rare breed. These famous faces have their lives played out in front of the masses, whether it’s the good, the bad, or the straight-up shady. In Elite Daily’s new series, It’s Complicated, we’re highlighting the biggest celebrity “feuds” that took over Hollywood and dominated our Sunday brunches for weeks on end. We’ll take a deep dive into the lives and social media feeds of our favorite stars and dissect what happened in front of the camera, what went down behind the scenes, and everything you might have missed in between.
Camila Cabello left Fifth Harmony more than two years ago. I know, time flies. And while rumors of a major feud between the pop star and her former bandmates circulated for years, things seemed to have settled down by the 2018 MTV VMAs this past summer, when Cabello revealed on the red carpet that she and Fifth Harmony were "in a good place." And thank goodness. But there's no denying that it took some major work to get to this now-harmonious place, and sadly, things got seriously heated between the girls on social media and in the press. Here are 14 times Camila Cabello and Fifth Harmony shaded each other before they all finally made peace.
1. Nov. 10, 2015: Camila's collab with Shawn Mendes
The apparent disharmony (sorry) started even before Cabello actually left the group, with her announcement that she would be collaborating with Shawn Mendes on "I Know What You Did Last Summer." It was her first song without Fifth Harmony, and it was a total jam, so it wasn't long before rumors of a potential split started circulating. I mean, the five girls were thrown together back in 2012 by Simon Cowell on X Factor: U.S., after all, so staying together for the long haul wasn't necessarily a given. Anyway, amid all the gossip, Cabello was pretty much forced to set the record straight re: her intentions to not leave the group (at that point in time, anyway) on Twitter.
"There is not enough time in the world to explain yourself to people that already think they know ur intentions," she wrote.
Are "people" the fans? Or are they her former bandmates? Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm leaning toward the latter so I'm including it on this list.
2. Dec. 4, 2015: Cabello missing from the recording studio
I don't know if it was in retaliation for Cabello making a hit single with Mendes or not, but a month later, fans thought Fifth Harmony got shady when they shared a group shot at a recording session on Twitter and Cabello was noticeably absent.
I'm here for those boots, too.
3. April 21, 2016: Cabello's MIA again
Oops, they did it again... four months later, when Ally Brooke — who now has her own solo career in the works — posted a picture of the band attending a Britney Spears concert together. And again, Cabello was MIA.
I really hope Cabello never received an invite to this group outing, because who TF turns down a meet-and-greet with Brit Brit?
4. June 20, 2016: iHeartRadio MuchMusic Video Awards
Cabello basically crushed it at the iHeartRadio MuchMusic Video Awards, where she took home two trophies as part of Fifth Harmony, and two for Best Pop Video and Fan Fave Video for — you guessed it — her "I Know What You Did Last Summer" collab with Shawn Mendes. But after the group's manager, Roger Gold, gave Cabello a shoutout on Twitter, writing "SO proud of @camilacabello97 who won 4 #MMVAs last night + would've been the biggest winner if @Drake wasn't Canadian!" Lauren Jauregui's mother wasn't happy that he failed to acknowledge the rest of the group.
"Let's get it right," she reportedly wrote in a since-deleted tweet. "2 were thanks to Fifth Harmony. Just keeping it real."
Way to save the drama for your mama, sis!
5. Aug. 1, 2016: Normani says Cabello is "quirky"
Normani — whose own first solo single "Love Lies" hit the Top 40 on the Hot 100 in June 2018 — was asked to describe each of her bandmates in one word during a Facebook Live interview with Galore. She described Aly as "sunshine," Lauren as "therapist," and Dina, as "turn-up queen" (not one word, but OK). When it came to Cabello, though, Normani seemingly struggled to find an answer, before she finally landed on this:
She is... lemme see... she is... quirky.
Awkward!
6. Dec. 19, 2016, Part 1: Fifth Harmony announces Cabello's departure
This is the infamous day that the world found out Cabello and Fifth Harmony were dunzo, when her former bandmates posted the following tea-filled statement on Instagram before Cabello could break the news herself:
"After 4 and a half years of being together, we have been informed via her representatives that Camila has decided to leave Fifth Harmony," they wrote. "We wish her well. That being said, we are excited to announce that we will be moving forward with the four of us … We are four strong, committed women who will continue with Fifth Harmony as well as our solo endeavors."
7. Dec. 19, 2016, Part 2: Cabello makes her own statement
Cabello then released her own statement with her side of the story, claiming she was blindsided by Fifth Harmony's post.
"I was shocked to read the statement the Fifth Harmony account posted without my knowing," she wrote on Twitter. "The girls were aware of my feelings through the long, much needed conversations about the future that we had [during] the tour. Saying that they were just informed through my representatives that I was 'leaving the group' is just not true. Just like the other girls said in their statement about their plans, I had also planned to continue with my own solo endeavors in the new year, but I did not intend to end things with Fifth Harmony this way."
The plot thickens!
8. Dec. 19, 2016, Part 3: Fifth Harmony responds to Cabello's statement
The she said/she said drama continued when Fifth Harmony responded to Cabello's statement on Twitter, claiming they had been trying to communicate with her about her intentions for a year and a half to no avail.
They wrote:
Over the past several months we have consistently made every effort to sit down and discuss the future of Fifth Harmony with Camila. We have spent the past year and a half (since her initial solo endeavor) trying to communicate to her and her team all of the reasons why we felt Fifth Harmony deserved at least one more album of her time, given the success of this past year that we'd all worked so hard for. We called for group meetings which she refused, we asked LA Reid and the label to step in and try to set meetings, which again, she refused. We even went as far as group counseling which she did not show up to. So no, after months of rejection from her and her team, these supposed lengthy conversations in fact never happened, although we pleaded. We have tried with exhausted efforts and hearts to keep this group alive as the five of us, and we want it to be very clear that unfortunately those efforts are not mutual.
9. February 2017: Cabello's Seventeen cover
In a cover story for Seventeen, Cabello opened up about the reason behind her departure.
"Fifth Harmony wasn’t the maximum expression of me individually," she said. "My goal is to be brave and open up my soul."
The subtext here, of course, is that she wasn't able to do that while still part of the group.
10. April 2017: Fifth Harmony's Galore cover
Fifth Harmony shot back when they sat down for their first cover story without Cabello for Galore two months later.
"It’s really great because the four of us are really in sync with each other," Ally Brooke told the publication. "We’re pretty open about most things. We try to respect each other as much as we can. For us, communication is really important."
That callback to the whole "communication" thing = the ultimate shade.
11. July 12, 2017: Fifth Harmony's Billboard cover
In their cover story with Billboard, Fifth Harmony continued spilling the Cabello tea when questioned about all the drama and the group's new dynamic.
Dinah Jane shared, "Let's just say we’re in a better place now — there are no secrets in this circle."
"You can't change people," Ally Brooke added.
Then Normani jumped in by adding, "I get to sleep at night knowing we did everything in our power as friends, bandmates and human beings."
12. July 18, 2017: Cabello unfollows the band on Instagram
Camila Cabello seemingly unfollowed Normani, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane, and Lauren Jauregui on Instagram, and unfollowed Fifth Harmony's official Insta page, as well.
13. Aug. 27, 2017: FIfth Harmony's VMAs performance
This is the moment you came here for, right? The one that will go down as the shadiest shady moment in shade-throwing history? The one where Fifth Harmony basically kicked a symbolic Cabello off the stage at the MTV VMAs? See, the performance started out with five people standing on an elevated platform in silhouette, but right before the girls started singing, one of them fell aggressively off the back of the stage as if pushed. Then, Jauregui, Dinah Jane, Normani, and Ally Brooke continued their performance without blinking an eye.
We should all probably watch that again, so let's do it:
So intense! A year and a half later, I still can't believe these guys actually went there.
14. Jan. 11, 2018: Cabello reacts to the VMAs performance
Neither, apparently, could Cabello. But she nevertheless stayed quiet about VMA drama for five whole months, before finally addressing it in an interview with the New York Times.
"It definitely hurt my feelings," she explained. "I wasn’t expecting it, I wasn’t prepared for it — especially because at that point I’d moved on from it. I was just like, 'What? Why?' I don’t like holding onto the past, especially when it’s stuff that, in my opinion, is just petty."
Cabello also revealed in that same interview that it was, in fact, her 2015 collab with Mendes that first created all the problems within the group, because afterward, she asked to help write lyrics for Fifth Harmony songs and was not only reportedly turned down, but reportedly also given an ultimatum.
"I was just curious and I wanted to learn and I saw all these people around me making music, writing songs and being so free," she said. "I just wanted to do that and it did not work."
Such a bummer. I mean, I really dug the five ladies together, so I think it would have been amazing if they all could have stayed in the group while also pursuing their solo careers, like most of them are doing now.
Thankfully, by the time the 2018 MTV VMAs rolled around in August 2018, it looked like all the drama was water under the bridge and the shade-throwing stage was officially over.
"I feel like we’re in a really good place now, me and the girls," Cabello told Access Hollywood on the 2018 VMAs red carpet. "There’s just been enough time and distance away from the situation that I feel like we’re all genuinely in a good place right now. And honestly, there’s just no time in life for that stuff. What’s the point?"
There is no point. Which is why I'm so glad everyone has finally moved on and decided to just let their own work speak for itself!
