And in the two years between the “Havana” singer’s exit from the group and 5H’s disbandment in 2018, it seemed there was no shortage of drama surrounding the split, as seen in tons of viral moments.
Now, eight years on, Camila has said that she and former bandmate Normani might be letting bygones be bygones.
In a new interview with Nylon, Camila reflected on her time in 5H, saying: “My barometer wasn’t functional. It was more than a normal person should bear.”
She went on to address some of the friction within the group, saying, “I think conflict resolution is really important, especially when it comes to a group. Those are skills you don’t have when you’re 16 years old. 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?”
Camila then mentioned her reaction to seeing Normani at Paris Fashion Week and looked back on some fond memories. “I remember times when we’d just be laughing so hard,” she said. “With space, we can go back and tap into that.”
She added, “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 were really close.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Camila suggested that her new solo work might be inspired by her time spent in 5H. When discussing inspirations for her album, C, XOXO, Camila cited the 2012 film Spring Breakers and said, “I like the power of the girls. There’s some part of me that always wanted to belong to a girl gang.”
Normani has yet to comment on Camila’s revelation, but fans are still aware of the rift that existed between the two pop stars in the past. Back in 2019, Camila faced intense backlash after past DMs and posts showed her using extremely racially insensitive language about her former 5H bandmates.
In February 2020, Normani responded and said she was devastated by the screenshots and videos that emerged of Camila using the N-word and sharing racist posts. “I face senseless attacks daily, as does the rest of my community,” the singer told Rolling Stone at the time. “It would be dishonest if I said that this particular scenario didn’t hurt me.”
Camila has since apologized for her past actions, as seen in a post on X. “Those mistakes don’t represent the person I am or a person I’ve ever been,” she said.
You can read Camila’s full interview with Nylon here.