Selena Gomez Delivers Powerful, Emotional Speech In 2016 AMA Win: ‘I Had Everything, And I Was Broken Inside’
To say that Selena Gomez’s acceptance speech at the 2016 AMAs was amazing is a gross understatement. Not only was her AMA speech inspiring and empowering, it also proved that the Revival singer is an amazing human being.
After taking a break from the spotlight for months to tend to her mental health, Selena Gomez made a surprise appearance at the 2016 American Music Awards looking beautiful and spry as ever, Cosmopolitan reports. The singer did more than that, however, as she eventually took home the award for Best Female Artist – Pop/Rock.
Better yet, Selena Gomez delivered an emotional, powerful speech that left the entire audience teary-eyed and in awe. In her speech, Selena Gomez talked about her struggles with lupus and how the disease has impacted her personal life and career. She also expressed her gratitude to her fans for their unwavering loyalty despite her condition before leaving them with an empowering message, “If you are broken, you do not have to stay broken.”
You can read the full transcript of Selena Gomez’s acceptance speech at the 2016 AMAs below.
“Thank you guys so much.
“In 2014, this stage was actually the first time that I was authentically, 100-percent honest with all of you. I think it’s safe to say that most of you know a lot of my life, whether I liked it or not. And I had to stop. Because I had everything and I was absolutely broken inside. And I kept it all together enough to never let you down, but I kept too much together, to where I let myself down.
“I don’t want to see your bodies on Instagram. I want to see what’s in here [taps chest]. I’m not trying to get validation, nor do I need it anymore. All I can say from the bottom of my heart is that I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to be able to share what I love every single day with people that I love. And I have to say thank you so much to my fans because you guys are so damn loyal and I don’t know what I did to deserve you. But if you are broken, you do not have to stay broken. And if you have respect for me or not, that’s one thing you should know about me, is I care about people. And thank you so much for this. This is for you. Thank you.”
Congrats, @selenagomez! ? Here she is with a sweet message when accepting the #AMAs for Favorite Female Artist- Pop/Rock! pic.twitter.com/JCeE9IijDU
— American Music Awards (@AMAs) November 21, 2016
Selena Gomez’s stirring speech left many celebrities, like Lady Gaga, emotional. At one time during the speech, the camera showed Lady Gaga looking like she’s about to cry. It makes total sense, considering how the singer struggled with mental health problems of her own in the past.
Lady Gaga's reaction after Selena Gomez win at the #AMAs 2016! #JoanneAMAs pic.twitter.com/i8fHzdpe6E
— Gaga Source (@romansillusion) November 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/bizzlenaaa/status/800581878197719040
Taylor Swift, one of Selena’s best friends, also took to Instagram to share her reaction video to the win, in which she is heard screaming with glee after her friend’s name was announced as the winner.
Taylor's Instagram story celebrating her BFF Selena Gomez's win at the #AMAs! Congrats @selenagomez! pic.twitter.com/UDH9Z9yMfe
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) November 21, 2016
Before Selena Gomez took a break to focus on having her lupus treated in August, the 24-year-old singer has been traveling for months for her “Revival World Tour,” as previously reported by Mashable. While her condition didn’t seem apparent in most of her performances, she once took to Instagram to talk about her struggles with lupus while in the middle of her tour.
The Instagram post, which has since been deleted, was captioned, “… I act on a moment or fear something that hasn’t happened. I’m stagnant, I stay still and don’t just sit with myself first and ask ‘is this where I am, wholeheartedly?’…I’ve always told the truth. I’m always true to my word, I’ve shown who I am but I need to rethink some areas of my life creatively and personally.”
Selena Gomez also got herself involved in a controversial Instagram incident in early August which involved her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber. After Bieber posted several photos of himself and then-rumored girlfriend Sophie Richie on Instagram, his fans posted insulting comments about his new girl. In response, Bieber lashed out at them, threatening to make his Instagram account private if they didn’t stop with the insults. Selena Gomez saw his Instagram rant and reprimanded him for the way he treated his fans.
“If you can’t handle the hate then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol…” Selena wrote. Justin went back at Selena, alleging that she used him to get some publicity to prop her career. Selena fired back at Justin Bieber by accusing him of cheating on her multiple times when they were still together.
It appears all that is behind her now. If her 2016 AMA speech is any indication, Selena Gomez is back and better than ever.
[Featured Image by Matt Sayles/AP Images]