In her first public appearance since August, pop starlet Selena Gomez took to L.A.’s Microsoft Theatre last night to open up about her recent struggles with anxiety and depression, caused by the autoimmune disease Lupus. As she accepted the award for Favorite Female Artist — Rock/Pop, Selena addressed the crowd with an emotional speech. “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. I had to stop, because I had everything and I was absolutely broken inside… I’m not trying to get validation, nor do I need it any more. All I can say is I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to be able to share what I love every day with people that I love.”
Elsewhere after an awkward handshake with Niall Horan, former boybander Zayn Malik took a swipe at One Direction when he accepted the AMA New Artist award. “Wow — this just has my name on it, right?” he said cheekily before planting a kiss on girlfriend and AMA hostess Gigi Hadid.
However the stars of the show were Justin Bieber and Drake. While Justin won fours awards (Video of the Year for “Sorry,” Favorite Album — Rock/Pop for Purpose, Favorite Male Artist — Rock/Pop and Favorite Song — Pop/Rock for “Love Yourself”), Drake smashed it with (Favorite Album – Rap/Hip-hop for Views, Favorite Artist — Rock/Pop, Favorite Song – Rap/Hip-hop for “Hotline Bling” and Favorite Song — Soul/R&B for “Work” with Rihanna). Other winners included Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Carrie Underwood, and Blake Shelton.
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Text Tish Weinstock
Image via Twitter