EMPOWER STAR OF THE WEEK: Selena Gomez

At the American Music Awards, Selena Gomez won the award for pop/rock female artist and took that opportunity to give the most meaningful speech. She is our EMPOWER Star of the Week for encouraging substance over style and opening up about her own physical and emotional health struggles.

She took a break from her career in August after dealing with lupus.  She explained her break. “I had to stop, because I had everything and I was absolutely broken inside. I kept it all together enough to where I would never let you down but I kept it too much together to where I let myself down.”

“If you are broken you do not have to stay broken. If that’s anything, whether you respect me or not, that’s one thing you should know about me is I care about people. Thank you so much for this. This is for you. Thank you.”

In an awards show filled with political statements, bad jokes and self-congratulatory speeches, it was refreshing to hear someone spend the time to try and help improve other people’s lives.