Since we sometimes view celebrities as larger than life, we often fail to realize that they
are human beings with human emotions just like the rest of us.
And if they're brave enough to shed tears in front of a televised audience, you know
it is about something truly meaningful to them.
Whether it be reflections on the loss of a loved one, fans who touched their hearts and
lives forever, or the heartbreaking end of a long relationship, celebrities prove that,
regardless of fame, fortune and stratospheric status, a good cry never hurt anybody.
For the record, we can't blame anyone - much less a celebrity - who breaks down and cries
while talking to Oprah.
So sit back, grab a tissue, and take a look at some of the many stars who have dropped
their stoic fronts and unexpectedly turned on the waterworks during interviews.
Tracy Morgan
In 2014, a truck plowed into the back of Tracy Morgan's limousine bus.
"Actor comedian Tracy Morgan is in critical condition after a deadly car crash on the
New Jersey turnpike over the weekend."
The accident left the 30 Rock star with severe, life-threatening injuries, and his friend,
comedian James McNair, dead.
Morgan sat down for his first interview a year after the tragedy with Today's Matt Lauer,
and the mood quickly turned emotional.
Morgan claimed he had no recollection of the accident, and spoke through tears about his
recovery, saying,
"I can't believe I'm here.
I can't believe I'm in front of you.
I can't believe I'm just here, and just seeing the tragedy that happened, it kinda, it touches
me."
Remembering his friend who died in the fatal crash, Morgan said,
"Bones heal, but the loss of my friend will never heal."
He thanked his 30 Rock costar Tina Fey for helping lift his spirits, and revealed how
he was coping with life after the accident, and the lasting injuries he suffered, saying,
"I have my good days and my bad days, where I forget things.
There are times where I got the headaches and the nosebleeds."
Morgan has since returned to the business, starring in the TBS comedy, The Last O.G.
He told The New York Times,
“This show’s about redemption.
It’s about getting second chances.
I believe everyone deserves one.”
Selena Gomez
According to Metro, a long battle with Lupus resulted in Selena Gomez undergoing a secret
kidney transplant in 2017.
And fans became aware of the operation after Gomez posted an Instagram photo of herself
in the hospital holding hands with her best friend and donor, actress Francia Raisa.
She wrote: "I'm very aware some of my fans had noticed I was laying low for part of the
summer and questioning why I wasn't promoting my new music."
She then revealed the need for the surgery and publicly thanked her "family and incredible
team of doctors."
A month later, Gomez and Raisa sat down with Today's Savannah Guthrie for an exclusive
interview, where Gomez said of her friend:
"She lived with me in this interesting time where my kidneys were just done.
It was, that was it."
Gomez also confessed she hadn't wanted to ask anyone to donate a kidney, saying,
"The thought of asking somebody to do that was really difficult for me.
She volunteered and did it."
Both Gomez and Raisa feel that fate guided them through the entire process.
"You feel that Francia saved your life."
"Because she did.
That's, that's it."
Rihanna
She's been sitting firmly atop the music scene for more than a decade now, but in 2009, Rihanna's
relationship with Chris Brown almost brought her rise to a screeching halt.
According to TMZ, on the eve of the Grammys that year, Rihanna suffered horrific injuries
after Brown brutally attacked her during an argument.
Although Brown plead guilty to assault, according to US Weekly, he only received:
"…five years probation, community service and one year of domestic violence counseling."
Three years after the incident, Rihanna appeared on Oprah's Next Chapter, discussing her complicated
feelings about her former boyfriend.
The singer told Winfrey,
"It was a weird, confusing space to be in."
She said she was concerned for Brown's mental well-being, saying he needed help, but that
he was being villainized in the media.
"I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help and who's going to help him?"
She continued,
"Nobody's going to say he needs help.
Everybody's going to say he's a monster without looking at the source."
Ariana Grande
Learning a loved one has died is, of course, a traumatic experience, and it can be made
worse when you have to appear on national television the next day.
But that's exactly what happened to Ariana Grande in 2014 when her beloved grandfather
died the day before her scheduled appearance on Good Morning America.
According to the Daily Mail, Grande remained composed until the end of the interview when
Robin Roberts offered her condolences.
"Ariana, I know a lot is going on with your family right now, and it means a lot that
you came in this morning."
"Thanks for having me, you guys."
"Just know that we're thinking of you."
It was then that Grande lost it, off camera.
Grande addressed her grandfather's passing on Twitter the same day, calling him her "favorite
person to ever exist."
She even explained her decision to appear on the show so soon after his death, posting:
"Only reason I made this twelve hour trip is grandps told me he wanted me to always
be professional & fulfill my business commitments."
Katy Perry
In a 2013 interview with Billboard, Katy Perry revealed the abrupt end to her short-lived
marriage to Russell Brand left her with thoughts of taking her own life.
And in her 2012 documentary, Katy Perry: Part of Me, audiences saw the marriage crumble
on screen.
"The bad that comes along with the good is a journey.
And I learned so much from that journey."
According to the Daily Mail, the couple spent too much time apart while Perry was on tour.
And one day, after Brand texted her about wanting children, and Perry opposed the idea,
Brand's follow-up text was to tell her that he filed for divorce, causing Perry to break
down.
"I mean, I'm a romantic, and I kinda believe in this fairytale."
Perry revealed that just as she believed in her career, she believed in her marriage - and
yet it ended less than two years after it began.
"And I will do everything it takes to not fail, and I did everything it took, but it
still failed."
Britney Spears
In a 2002 interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Britney Spears reflected on a year where she
experienced several professional heartbreaks and a very personal and public one - getting
dumped by Justin Timberlake.
"You've had a rough year."
"Was pretty rough, yeah."
With his "Cry Me A River" music video and public comments, Timberlake made it clear
that Spears cheated on him, an allegation that Spears didn't exactly deny.
Spears attempted to explain,
"I'm not technically saying he's wrong, but I'm not technically saying he's right either."
She claimed,
"I really thought that I was gonna be with him for the rest of my life."
Although we may never know the truth of what happened, Spears was clearly emotional during
the interview.
"Yeah, it was a weird time.
I'm embarrassed, can we stop for a second?"
Kanye West
While he's been known to get fired up on stage and in interviews, during a sit down with
BBC Radio One's Zane Lowe in 2015, Kanye West became emotional remembering his British fashion
tutor, the late professor Louise Wilson, who died of breast cancer at the age of 52.
According to The Telegraph, West recalled the last time he saw her over dinner in London,
where she told him:
"She said, 'Thank you for the times… we came to performances, and this has, like,
really meant a lot to me.'"
It was then that West really got caught up in the feels.
Pharrell
There was a time when you couldn't escape Pharrell's infectious hit, "Happy", and when
the hitmaker sat down with Oprah in 2014 on Oprah Prime, he couldn't escape the happy
crying.
According to Buzzfeed, Oprah played "a video of people all over the world dancing and singing
to the song," leaving Pharrell to ask as he wiped away the tears,
"Why am I crying on Oprah?"
We hope that question was rhetorical.
He revealed,
"I love what I do and I just appreciate the fact that people have believed in me for so
long that I could make it to this point."
After the interview, Oprah tweeted, "Pharrell this was one of the most sincere humbling
moments I've ever experienced during an interview.
HAPPY tears."
"Makes me cry too, makes me cry too!"