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Selena Gomez’s TV Uncle Jeff Garlin Calls Her Sexualization “Disgusting”

Selena Gomez and Jeff Garlin
Selena Gomez's former Wizards of Waverly Place costar Jeff Garlin, who played her uncle on the Disney series, recently called the singer's sexualization "disgusting"

Uncle Kelbo isn’t pleased! Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Jeff Garlin, who costarred with Selena Gomez in Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place, recently admitted that he’s not onboard with her sexier image.

Related: PHOTOS: Selena's Hollywood transformation

“I worked with [Gomez] for three years, and I love her. She is, at least in terms of what I saw, a great kid,” Garlin, 52, explained to HuffPost Live on Wednesday, Oct. 1.

“But then I see her sexualized,” he continued. “When I see her sexualized, I look at her, and I look at this Ariana Grande…both beautiful girls, but they have baby fat! They look like kids!”

Related: PHOTOS: Selena and Justin Bieber's cutest moments

Garlin played Gomez’s uncle on the kid-friendly series from 2008 to 2010. Since then, 22-year-old Gomez has shown off her more mature side in her music videos, various social media posts, and in the raunchy 2012 film Spring Breakers.

“I’m by myself in the theater, and I couldn’t have felt dirtier. Great bikini shots of Selena Gomez? I don’t go there,” Garlin added of watching Harmony Korine’s provocative flick solo. “I see the thing, but I see those chubby cheeks. She’s a kid. This is disgusting that it’s happening so young.”

Selena Gomez and Jeff Garlin on Wizards of Waverly Place
Garlin and Gomez on Wizards of Waverly Place

Related: PHOTOS: Selena and Justin — the way they were

Garlin is currently starring as Murray Goldberg in the second season of the ABC comedy The Goldbergs, which shows the PG version of what it was like to grow up in the ’80s. As for today’s generation, he blames the Internet for young stars like Gomez getting sexualized.

Related: PHOTOS: Stars who've gone nude on social media

“It didn’t happen 30 years ago,” he told HuffPost Live. “I’m not like clean-cut Johnson. Maybe it’s because I know [Gomez]. It’s like she’s young, she’s a kid.”

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