Celebrities may train themselves to cry on cue, but what does it really take to move
them to tears off-screen?
I f you think Brad Pitt is tough enough to make it through a kid’s movie unscathed,
you’d be wrong.
Keep watching for more celeb waterworks.
When rapper Pharrell Williams released his song "Happy" in 2013, it took the world by
storm.
It was written for the animated film "Despicable Me 2" and was a hit in the United States,
becoming the best-selling song in 2014, per Yahoo! Entertainment.
"Happy" became the most downloaded song of all time in Britain and topped music charts
in over 30 nations, per The Guardian.
It was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 2014 Oscars.
The song touched people from across the world thanks to its uplifting lyrics and positive
message.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Williams discussed the success of his song and was
moved to tears when Winfrey shared a touching video of people from different nations dancing
to it.
"Why am I crying on Oprah?"
The rapper added through his tears,
"It's overwhelming because it's like, 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 to feel
that."
Reacting to the positivity his song has brought to people across the globe, Williams told
the Los Angeles Times,
"This is probably the most I've ever been humbled in my entire life.
Because it's something bigger than me, bigger than anything I've ever done."
In 2017, Selena Gomez shared with her millions of Instagram followers that she had undergone
a kidney transplant over the summer due to complications from Lupus.
In a touching post, Gomez revealed that her best friend donated one of her kidneys to
her, stating,
"There aren't words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia
Raisa.
She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me.
I am incredibly blessed.
I love you so much sis."
“I called her assistant and said, ‘Give me the information.
I wanna do this.’”
When the two sat down together in an interview for "Today," Gomez admitted that Raisa saved
her life.
Wiping away tears, the singer shared,
"My kidneys were just done.
That was it.
I didn't want to ask a single person in my life.
The thought of asking somebody to do that was really difficult for me.
She volunteered and did it.”
“Let alone somebody wanting to volunteer, it is incredibly difficult to find a match.
The fact that she was a match, I mean that is unbelievable."
Gomez revealed to Billboard that she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2014 and had
shared with Elle that it also affected her mental and physical health, saying,
"My lupus, my kidney transplant, chemotherapy, having a mental illness, going through very
public heartbreaks — these were all things that honestly should have taken me down."
“I just hope this inspires people to feel good, to know there is really good people
in the world.”
Chris Brown performed at the 2010 BET Awards to pay tribute to Michael Jackson, but one
particular song had the R&B's singer's emotions getting the best of him.
He even struggled to sing, dropping to his knees and crying while on stage.
According to Rolling Stone, Brown sang a medley of Jackson's songs and wowed the audience
as he replicated some of the late singer's best dance moves.
However, when the hit song "Man in the Mirror" began, Brown choked up.
The song's message about seeing change and understanding that change must first come
from within appeared to pull at Brown's heartstrings.
It was one of Brown's first performances since his assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna in
2009, and his career took a major hit after the incident.
So, was Brown reflecting on his past mistakes and looking at himself in the mirror, or was
it just a lot of crocodile tears?
Brown appeared on BET's "106 & Park" and revealed why he broke down.
He shared,
"A lot of people don't know, I was going to see Michael Jackson the day he died."
The King of Pop had died on June 25th, 2009 of a cardiac arrest.
Brown then added,
"When I heard 'Man in the Mirror' it just touched me.
It wasn't fake.
I know people were trying to put extras on it, but everything was genuine.
That was my ultimate apology, hands down."
For her 40th birthday, Kanye West didn't gift his then-wife Kim Kardashian millions of dollars
worth of jewels or more stock in Amazon and Disney.
Instead, he gave the reality star a hologram of her late father, attorney Robert Kardashian,
that left her in tears.
Kardashian tweeted a recording of the hologram of her father, who died in 2003.
The video shows Robert speaking to his daughter and telling her things like,
"Happy birthday Kimberly.
Look at you, you're 40 and all grown up.
You look beautiful, just like when you were a little girl.
I watch over you and your sisters and brother and the kids every day.
[…] The most beautiful thing that I have witnessed is watching you grow your family.
[...] You are the most, most, most, most amazing mother to your four beautiful children, they
are perfect."
“You are a beautiful soul.
Know that I’m very proud of you, and I’m always with you.”
He is also heard telling Kardashian that she married the very most genius man in the world.
In a video posted by ET Canada, Kardashian could be heard crying over the phone.
She was also thanking West for the gift while other people viewed the hologram, including
her mom Kris Jenner, who appeared to also be shedding tears.
Despite this very memorable gift, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West called it quits on their seven-year
marriage in February 2021.
At the end of the year, the reality star filed paperwork to become officially single.
Lady Gaga knows that fame comes with a price.
The songstress was seen crying during an interview with CBS in 2016 when discussing her more
intimate album "Joanne."
Here, she was able to showcase more freedom in her new music, which is something she doesn't
have much of in the real world.
Gaga shared,
"As soon as I go out into the world, I belong, in a way, to everyone else.
It's legal to follow me.
It's legal to stalk me at the beach.
I can't call the police or ask them to leave."
"If I can't be free out there, I’m gonna be free in here."
The singer also spoke about the little things people who aren't in Hollywood might take
for granted.
“I miss — I miss people.
Sorry.”
Wiping away tears, she further explained, saying,
"I miss, you know, going anywhere and meeting a random person and saying, 'Hi,' and having
a conversation about life.'"
That same year, Lady Gaga opened up to Variety and described fame as isolating.
She also added that while she sought out a career in music, she didn't do it looking
for the fame, saying,
"It's almost impossible for people even to probably look at my career and the things
I've done and think, 'Oh, she didn't want [that] — of course, she wanted to be famous,
of course, she wanted all that attention.'
It's just, creative expression is what I am and I would've been doing this whether I became
famous or not.'"
Tragedy struck Manchester, England, when a suicide bomber detonated a homemade bomb at
the Manchester Arena following an Ariana Grande concert.
According to the BBC, 22 people were killed and hundreds were injured.
According to TMZ, after learning about the attack, Grande was hysterical.
A month later, the songstress and other influential artists came together for a benefit concert
to help the victims and families of the deadly attack.
The One Love Manchester benefit concert featured performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Katy
Perry, Miley Cyrus, Little Mix, Mac Miller, Justin Bieber, ColdPlay, and Ariana Grande,
who created the event.
Rolling Stone shared that Grande, who performed alongside Cyrus and the Black Eyed Peas, shared
a touching speech during the night.
She declared,
"I want to thank you so much for coming together and being so loving and strong and unified.
I love you guys so much, and I think that all the love and unity you're displaying is
the medicine the world needs right now."
At the end of the concert, Grande took the stage and sang her hit "One Last Time," where
she broke down in tears and needed the help of the crowd to get through the song.
All the performers of the night also stood behind Grande and held hands as they sang
along with the songstress.
Actor Drew Barrymore admitted that she wouldn't ever consider marriage again after going through
three failed marriages.
The "Charlie's Angels" star's most recent divorce was from Will Kopelman in 2016, with
whom she shares two children.
Barrymore sat down with "Queer Eye's" Bobby Berk for her talk show "The Drew Barrymore
Show" and got emotional when opening up about dating again as a single mom of two.
"I don't know how to date with kids, you know?
I'm not there yet."
She opened up, further explaining,
"I have two young girls, and I don't want to bring people home.
I think that it would take me a very long time to meet someone and get to know them
before I could ever even introduce them to my daughters."
The actor later sat down with CBS Mornings, where she spoke more on the subject.
She shared,
"My kids' dad is happily remarried with the most wonderful woman in the world, Ali, and
their side of the street is so functional and whole and happening.”
“And I think I've been on the sidelines in a beautiful, honoring purgatory."
Barrymore admitted that she had been on occasional dates since her split, but shared that she
wasn't interested in marrying anyone or having any more kids.
"I would maybe live with someone again, maybe, but I've had kids and there's no way."
Noah Cyrus has set herself apart from her mega-famous sister Miley Cyrus, however, she
hasn't always felt that way.
The singer has become a star in her own right, releasing two EP's: 2018's "Good Cry" and
2020's "The End of Everything."
But she has been extremely open about living in her sister's shadow.
The songstress took to Instagram Stories to talk about "The End of Everything," but became
emotional when discussing the lyrics to her song "Young & Sad."
She explained,
"Being born in the family I was in, everybody gave me such a hard time for having a hard
time being Miley's little sister.”
“I always felt like I was that person that no one gave a s--- about due to what people
said to me online.”
In tears, Cyrus continued,
“It was absolutely unbearable and that's why I write, 'My sister's like sunshine / Always
bringing good light wherever she will go.
And I was born to rain clouds / Blessed in her shadows.'"
“That was something I heard my whole life.
Every single day, my whole life.”
The songstress had previously talked about the difficulties of being called "Hannah Montana's
sister" and other names other than Noah.
She told tmrw magazine,
"Somebody not even coming up to you and calling you by your name?
That's going to really f--- you up as a kid, make you feel like you don't f---ing even
matter to the population — for them to not even know your name."
Bella Hadid wanted to let her millions of Instagram followers know that life in the
public eye isn't always as it seems.
The highly successful model shared several crying selfies in November 2021 telling her
fans that social media platforms like Instagram are not real.
She also explained that she has had her fair share of struggles with body image.
After sharing a clip of an interview by Willow Smith, who spoke out about how normal it is
to feel flawed, Hadid shared her thoughts, captioning her Instagram carousel of photos,
"Social media is not real.
For anyone struggling, please remember that.
Sometimes all you've gotta hear is that you're not alone.
[...] But I want you to know, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and the roller
coaster always comes to a complete stop at some point."
Hadid had previously opened up to her fans on Instagram about spending time away from
the app for her mental health.
She wrote while sharing photos of self-help books and crystals,
"I took some time away to reflect and learn about myself in a way that would be too much
to explain at the moment, but with time I will express.
The memories and fortune I came back with are pure wisdom, a closer relationship with
myself & my spirituality, a sense of self-love that I have always lacked, a few great friends
and these books that saw me through."
Brad Pitt is one tough guy.
The actor spoke with Interview magazine in 2019 and admitted that he hadn't shed a tear
in 20 years.
However, he did admit that certain movies will make his eyes water.
Any guesses on what those films could be?
Pitt shared,
"I am quite famously a not-crier.
Is that a term?
I hadn't cried in, like, 20 years, and now I find myself, at this latter stage, much
more moved — moved by my kids, moved by friends, moved by the news.
Just moved.
I think it's a good sign.
I don't know where it's going, but I think it's a good sign."
In 2021, Pitt did reveal to W magazine that scenes in the animated film "How to Train
Your Dragon" have turned on the waterworks.
He also shared a story of how he was stuck in a hotel and watched the 2001 drama "Life
as a House" which stars Kevin Kline and Hayden Christensen and how it made him weep.
He said,
"I don't know if it would still hit me the same way, but, you know, on my 27th hour of
just pure wretchedness, this movie crushed me.
It just crushed me what he was saying to his son.
In fact, I should see it again and see if it has the same effect."
“Well, congratulations.”
In 2012, Kristen Bell got the surprise of a lifetime for her 31st birthday when her
then-fiance and now-husband Dax Shepard brought over her favorite animal for the day.
She was greeted by a sloth and a video captured by Shepard showed just how happy Bell became
to the point where her excitement became uncontrollable sobs.
In the video, Bell is seen bursting into tears and almost having a meltdown after finding
out she would be face-to-face with a sloth.
She appeared on "The Ellen Show" to talk about that moment, sharing,
"The day of my birthday, we're sitting in the living room and I hear a knock on the
door.
He says, 'Your present is here' [...] I had no context of knowing what it was, but I grabbed
the dogs and walk into the back room of the house and I immediately was overcome and thought,
'There's a sloth near.'"
Bell then talked about her infamous crying moment, stating,
"I didn't know how to process that because my entire life had been waiting for this moment
[...] I start to have a full-fledged panic attack.
I don't know how to compete with all this emotion, so I crawl on the bed and I'm crying
so hard."
Bell's video went viral and Shepard appeared on "Ellen" two years later and shared,
"Luckily I have seen that level of crying six or seven times so I didn't think I needed
to call help or anything."
During the 2002 Oscars, actor Halle Berry became the first Black woman to win the Academy
Award for Best Actress when she was nominated for her role in the film "Monster's Ball."
It was a historic and emotional moment for Berry, who accepted her award and shared in
her speech,
"Oh my God.
This moment is so much bigger than me.
[...] It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox.
And for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door
tonight has been opened."
Although Berry broke barriers that night, she is still the only Black woman to have
won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Years after her win, Berry looked back at that extraordinary moment and revealed to
Variety that her win was one of her biggest heartbreaks.
She elaborated,
"I wanted to believe it was so much bigger than me.
It felt so much bigger than me, mainly because I knew others should have been there before
me and they weren't."
Berry admitted that after her win, she found it even more difficult to land jobs, calling
it the "Oscar curse."
During an interview with Teen Vogue's editor-in-chief Elaine Welteroth, Berry shared that she thinks
her Oscar win was meaningless since it didn't create change for people of color.
She said,
"That moment really meant nothing.
It meant nothing.
I thought it meant something, but I think it meant nothing."
On June 7th, 2014, "30 Rock" actor Tracy Morgan was involved in a tragic car crash when a
Walmart truck struck his vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike.
His friend and comedian, James McNair, was killed and Morgan was badly injured.
Morgan suffered brain damage and had thoughts of suicide during his recovery, but things
were looking up for the actor when he gave his first interview on the "Today" show since
the accident.
Morgan shared with tears in his eyes.
"I can't believe I'm here.
[...] Seeing the tragedy that happened, it touches me."
The comedian, who was using a cane, spoke about his injuries.
"There are times when I have my good days and my bad days where I forget things.
There are times when I have headaches and nosebleeds."
Morgan also gave fans hope about returning to the stage when he said,
"I love comedy, I'll never stop loving her.
But right now my goal now is just to heal."
In 2021, Morgan returned to the "Today" show to share how he felt when he returned to the
hospital and met with the doctors and nurses who saved his life.
The comedian said that he dropped to his knees and started crying when he saw the bed he
was in after the accident.
He later added,
"I don't know about tomorrow.
I don’t got nothing to do with tomorrow.
I know today I'm sitting here talking to you.
I feel great.
I feel blessed."
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