Selena Gomez made a triumphant return to the spotlight at the 2016 American Music Awards on Sunday, November 20, and her emotional speech drummed up plenty of support from fellow celebrities. Watch her emotional on-stage moment in the video above!
After the 24-year-old took the stage to accept her award for Favorite Female Pop/Rock Artist and bravely delivered a powerful speech addressing her recent mental health issues, Hollywood opened its arms to welcome her back.
Lady Gaga broke down in tears, and applauded the “Hands to Myself” singer. She then posted a sweet photo to her Instagram of her cuddling her famous friend and captioned it: “So dope I got to hang with with the biggest rockstar of the night. (Ya,know besides Sting and Green Day) …the girl with the biggest prize of all a BIG Heart that she shares with the world.”
Hailee Steinfeld met her with a warm hug as she walked off stage, and although Taylor Swift wasn’t there to congratulate her BFF in person, she posted a video to Instagram of her cheering loudly at the television as Gomez’s win was announced.
One Direction’s Niall Horan, who performed at the event, reportedly embraced Gomez backstage and told her: “You did so good!”
He also retweeted a post by actress Sammy Ray Dokes who wrote: “So proud of selenagomez and NiallOfficial.”
On the red carpet before the awards Ariana Grande said she “literally almost cried when she saw her” and revealed she’d hugged Gomez “so tight.”
So it was no surprise that Grande blew her a kiss after Gomez’s speech and stopped to hold her hand while walking past her seat too.
This photo of Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez is everything. ? pic.twitter.com/sIsVMvYo16
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 21, 2016
Fifth Harmony songstress Camila Cabello tweeted a simple message telling her friend she loved her, and Teenwolf’s Colton Haynes commended her for being so honest about her problems.
❤️ I love you @selenagomez https://t.co/OMxIN0JjhA
— camila (@Camila_Cabello) November 21, 2016
Sendin the biggest hug in the world to @selenagomez for speaking about how important it is to take care of your mental health ????
— Colton Haynes (@ColtonLHaynes) November 21, 2016
American gymnast Aly Raisman also loved her message.
Amazing!!! @selenagomez looking so effortlessly beautiful. Love the message. Congrats, well deserved ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Div8SrEpoK
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) November 21, 2016
Gomez looked stunning in a red Prada gown as she told the crowd she had been “absolutely broken inside” before she decided to take a break from her career and enter rehab in August.
“I kept it all together enough to where I would never let you down,” she said. “But I kept it too much together to where I let myself down.”
As previously reported the superstar checked into a treatment facility to focus on her mental health.
Watch her powerful speech above.