The Words These Stars Said That Made These Other Celebs Cry
Pop culture history is full of proof that it's common for fans to cry over their favorite celebrities, for reasons ranging from Rudolph Valentino's tragic death in 1926 through the Beatles' arrival in America that drove people to hysteria. Years of connection to their work and lives can make a meeting between fan and celeb highly emotional, a fact that Jennifer Lopez realized when she saw her daughter get worked up after meeting Billie Eilish. "It made me think... Oh my God, my fans... that's why they're crying?" she said on former fiancé Alex Rodriguez's podcast "The Corp." "It never connected until I saw my daughter do it."
Sometimes, though, it's not just a celebrity/fan interaction that ends in waterworks. Sometimes, famous people move each other to tears, too, through their praise for one another, recognition of each other's work, and kind gestures. Get your tissue box ready and read on to see the words stars have said that made other celebs cry.
Lady Gaga is in the deep end of the pool of tears, watch as she dives in
"There can be 100 people in a room," Lady Gaga said often on the emotional "A Star Is Born" press circuit, "and 99 don't believe in you, but one does, and that was Bradley." Gaga welled up often while introducing director and co-star Bradley Cooper at various events, but there was one interview in particular where several members of the cast couldn't help but cry as they heaped praise on one another.
Appearing on "Good Morning America," Gaga first seemed emotional listening to Sam Elliott recall his experience on the film. "I've never been anywhere near someone like this," he said, touching Gaga's shoulder, "that's as huge as she is on a worldwide level, and that's as talented as she is." The waterworks started to flow as she listened to Anthony Ramos tearfully describe how important his high school drama teacher was, and then Cooper was asked to elaborate on a previous interview where he'd called Gaga "a revelation."
"I'm just so glad God gave her the talent that she has, and He chose her, because that's quite a vessel to go through," the film's director said. "Because it's really what you do with it, and she is such a beautiful human being." Nearly whispering as she cried, Gaga replied, "So are you. Thank you, Bradley."
James Hetfield couldn't handle Elton John's praise
Elton John has become something of an elder statesman of music later in his career, bestowing his blessing on up-and-coming artists like Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Rina Sawayama, Charlie Puth, and more, who all appear on his "The Lockdown Sessions" album (per Rolling Stone).
He also made headlines when he gave a stamp of approval to someone who's been around a while. The flamboyant piano player may not seem like someone who would be a fan of heavy metal, but calling in for a surprise appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" while Metallica were guests, John had nothing but love for the track "Nothing Else Matters." He covered it, alongside Miley Cyrus, WATT, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo, and Chad Smith, for a reissue of "The Black Album."
"This is one of the best songs ever written, to me," John said. "It's a song that never gets old. The chord structure, the melodies, the time changes. It's got drama written all over it."
While he listened to John compliment his song, lead singer James Hetfield brought his hand to his forehead and slowly wiped his face before shaking his head in disbelief. Howard Stern asked how it felt to hear John's words, and drummer Lars Ulrich jumped in. "The reaction I could feel in [James'] body language when you said it was one of the greatest songs ever written... I know how much that means to [him]." A tearful Hetfield simply nodded.
Joe Biden was caught off guard by Barack Obama's surprise award
In the final days of President Barack Obama's administration, before handing the reins of the country over to Donald Trump, he called a press event to honor then-Vice President Joe Biden. He spoke at length about VP Biden's "extraordinary career in public service," describing his years in the Senate, his dedication to the administration, and the work he would do in the years ahead as a citizen... unaware, of course, that in four years' time Joe Biden would himself be president.
"To know Joe Biden is to know love without pretense, service without self-regard, and to live life fully," President Obama said as VP Biden's eyes filled with tears. Then, in a surprise move, President Obama called up a military aide and said that he was pleased to award Joe Biden the Medal of Freedom, "our country's highest civilian honor." As the room erupted in applause, Biden turned away from the crowd, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped at his eyes.
At the podium, Medal of Freedom hanging around his neck, eyes still shining, VP Biden said, "Mr. President, you know as long as there's a breath in me, I'll be there for you. My whole family will be, and I know it is reciprocal. And I want to thank you all so very, very, very much."
A Robert Kardashian hologram made Kim Kardashian weep
When Kim Kardashian turned 40, she received a gift from then-husband Kanye West that had her entire family in tears. West commissioned a hologram version of the late Kardashian patriarch, Robert Kardashian, best known as defense attorney and friend to OJ Simpson during his 1994 murder trial. Robert passed away in 2003, but Ye brought him back to life with his gift.
In a video that Kim shared to Twitter, the lifelike hologram reminisces about driving her to school, dances and sings along to Barry Mann's "Who Put the Bomp," and tells her, "I watch over you, and your sisters and brother, and the kids, every day."
"Keep doing what you're doing, Kimberly," the hologram concludes. "You are a beautiful soul. Know that I am always with you."
Behind-the-scenes video shared on her Instagram Story (via ET Canada) shows Kim sobbing, dabbing at her eyes while she talks to Kanye over FaceTime. "I can't even describe what this meant to me and my sisters, my brother, my mom and closest friends to experience together. Thank you so much Kanye for this memory that will last a lifetime," she wrote on Twitter.
Zac Efron once cried on the phone with Michael Jackson
Zac Efron does it all. He acts, dances, and sings, so it makes sense that one of his biggest inspirations would be Michael Jackson. And though they never met, Efron says they once shared a memorable phone call.
It all happened when Efron was traveling with Kenny Ortega, the man who not only directed the "High School Musical" movies but also served as director and choreographer on a number of Michael Jackson projects. As Efron recalled on "The Graham Norton Show," Jackson happened to call Ortega one day. And Ortega happened to hand the phone over to Efron.
At first, Efron wasn't sure what to say, and he told Jackson, "I'm Zac Efron, I'm a massive fan, I'm an actor, and you're, like... my hero." Jackson was polite but brief and soon hung up. Then, the phone rang again. This time, Michael was the one who said, "Oh, this is Zac from 'High School Musical?' ... I love what you do! I'm a huge fan."
"I lost it," Efron said. Sobbing on the phone, Zac said, "Thanks for showing me how to dance, how to believe in myself, how to shine." The interaction resonated with the King of Pop, who also began crying. At the end of their call, Efron remembered, Jackson said, "Dreams really do come true, don't they."
Lil Nas X was touched by John Mayer's praise for Old Town Road
Celebrities often end an interview on "Hot Ones" in tears. On the YouTube game show, Sean Evans feeds stars a succession of spicier hot wings while they answer questions, and by the end, guests are often wiping tears from their eyes.
When Lil Nas X appeared on the show, they talked about a different kind of crying. Evans showed a photo of Lil Nas with John Mayer and asked, "How did John Mayer make you cry?", referencing Lil Nas's tweet where he said as much. Smiling, Lil Nas X said, "Maybe he said something super inspirational. John Mayer's like, a super-cool dude. He just says cool sh*t."
The night the photo was taken, Lil Nas X was on Mayer's Instagram Live show "Current Mood." The two played games and even sang an acoustic version of Lil Nas X's record-breaking hit "Old Town Road," which Mayer called "a tremendously good tune." Oh, but the praise wasn't done. The "No Such Thing" singer said the single not only illustrates what "a great writer" the young artist is, but "front-to-back, is perfect."
Lil Nas got choked up, managing to say simply, "Thank you."
The Hamilton cast recorded a sweet Oscars message for Lin-Manuel Miranda
In 2017, Lin-Manuel Miranda was up for an Oscar for his work on Disney's "Moana." "How Far I'll Go," which Miranda wrote, picked up a nomination for Best Original Song. However, the first surprise of the night came when he walked the red carpet with his mother, Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda. Stopping by E! News for a chat with Ryan Seacrest, Miranda was shown an unexpected video message from members of the "Hamilton" cast singing a special rendition of "How Far I'll Go."
After the message concluded with Taran Killam jumping in for a perfectly incorrectly timed "And Peggy!", drawing a big laugh, Seacrest asked how the video made Lin-Manuel feel. "I hate you for making me cry before the Oscars have even started," he said, teary-eyed, while his mother looked on in pride. "That was amazing. Thank you for that, that's incredible."
"How Far I'll Go" ultimately lost the Oscar to "City of Stars" from "La La Land," which, if you ask us, was a mistake almost as egregious as the infamous flub from that year that saw Best Picture accidentally awarded to "La La Land" instead of "Moonlight."
Tears flowed after Robin Williams gave Matt Damon and Ben Affleck a pep talk
It's hard to remember a time when Matt Damon and Ben Affleck weren't two of the most famous men in Hollywood, but back when they made "Good Will Hunting," they were a pair of virtual unknowns. The childhood best friends co-wrote the screenplay together and both starred in the film, which they were understandably nervous about when it came time to finally start shooting.
Thankfully, though, there was a veteran actor on set to comfort them. Matt Damon told E! News before the film's release that their co-star Robin Williams made them feel welcome, and that furthermore, he made them cry. "He put his hand on our head and just said, you know, 'It's not a fluke. You guys really did this. You really did it,'" Damon recalled at the time. "Tears were just falling down my face."
Years later, talking about the same moment in GQ, Damon said, "I remember [Ben] crying. Now, memory is a funny thing, as we know, so you would have to ask him." GQ did, in fact, ask Affleck, who admitted: "We both cried."
Robin Williams would go on to win an Oscar for his role in "Good Will Hunting." After Williams' untimely death in 2014, Affleck wrote on Facebook (per E! News), "He made Matt and my dreams come true."
Camila Cabello was overwhelmed by future boyfriend Shawn Mendes' kind words
Before she was "Cinderella," and before she was one half of pop super-couple "Shawmila," Camila Cabello was just friends with Shawn Mendes. The twosome collaborated on 2015 hit "I Know What You Did Last Summer" while Cabello was still part of Fifth Harmony, and they remained close in the years following.
One morning in 2018, she awoke to news that her friend Mendes had gone on "Beats 1 with Zane Lowe" and had spoken about her. After Lowe acknowledged the fact that both Mendes and Cabello write and produce much of their own music, Mendes said, "Oh my God, she's my favorite person in the whole world. I don't think you'll ever meet somebody who can feel emotion like her, in all aspects. She can feel hurt like no other, but she can feel love like no other. It's really amazing."
After watching the video, she tweeted, "I shouldn't be crying at this time in the morning but I AM. I love you SO much @ShawnMendes." Within the next year, relationship speculation began, their chart-topping collaboration "Señorita" was released, and the rest is pop history.
Lea Michele 'cried hysterically' after meeting Barbra Streisand
It's no secret that "Glee" star Lea Michele idolizes Barbra Streisand. She sang a number of Streisand songs on the Ryan Murphy show, and she even once told Broadway World that she was planning to star in a revival of Babs' iconic musical "Funny Girl," which never came to fruition. In fact, when an actual revival of "Funny Girl" was announced with Beanie Feldstein in the lead role, Just Jared pointed out that Michele's name trended on Twitter thanks to fans connecting her so strongly with Streisand's legacy.
Back in 2011, at the height of "Glee" fever, Michele was invited to perform at a tribute to Streisand. She wrote in her memoir "Brunette Ambition," "I was hoping to meet her that night, but she was surrounded by a sea of people... I figured I had lost my chance forever."
Instead, a few nights later, after the Grammys, a chance meeting in the valet line gave Lea the encounter she'd always wanted. "I felt a tap on my shoulder," she wrote, "and it was Barbra. And she said, 'I just wanted to say thank you for introducing me to your generation.'" The two hugged. When Babs walked away, Michele wrote, "I started to cry hysterically. Sometimes you meet your idols and they don't live up to your expectations, but that moment was one of the best of my life... All of my dreams had come true."
Keanu Reeves' very special birthday message to Octavia Spencer
When Octavia Spencer moved to LA, she had an encounter people only dream of: her car broke down and Keanu Reeves came to her aid. But this wasn't the stuff of romantic dreams. Instead, she was "mortified," as she told Graham Norton. "I was on my way to pick up a script... so I wasn't really wearing any underwear. I was wearing sweats and my favorite college football t-shirt." The icing on the cake (or should we say the droppings on the car?) were the "months of bird poop" that'd accumulated on Spencer's vehicle.
As luck would have it, the "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" star materialized and offered a hand. Spencer "knew immediately it was Keanu Reeves." Without missing a beat, he helped push her car out of the road. Ever since, she's been a fan. "I go to his movies every opening weekend, whatever he has," she told Meredith Viera, "because that was a sweet thing to do."
Imagine her surprise when Keanu Reeves showed up unexpectedly again, this time in a video montage of birthday wishes in 2020. For her 50th trip around the sun, Spencer explained to Jimmy Kimmel that she had to cancel her plans because of the coronavirus pandemic but was delighted to receive videos from people she loves. "Chris Evans is a dear friend," she said. "Katy Perry is a dear friend, and then Keanu Reeves surprised me! Of course I started crying like a baby. 'Keanu! Oh my God!'"
Kate Middleton 'shed a tear' during Prince Harry's speech at her wedding
At this point, Prince Harry's long-standing frustration with the royal family is very well documented. In particular, there are rumors of a feud between Harry and his brother Prince William.
Back in 2011, though, the brotherhood seemed to be all love at William's royal wedding to Kate Middleton. As Best Man, Prince Harry gave a speech at the reception which reportedly took him two weeks to write. In her book "Harry: Life, Loss, and Love," Katie Nicholl describes the speech as "affectionate, warm, and funny."
He told the guests that William was "the perfect brother" and Kate was "like a sister," Nicholl writes. "William didn't have a romantic bone in his body before he met Kate, so I knew it was serious when William suddenly started cooing down the phone at Kate," Harry reportedly said. He added that their relationship was his "inspiration," and Nicholl notes that the newly minted Duchess of Cambridge "shed a tear."
Unfortunately, the family dynamic has since shifted in a major way. A source told Us Weekly in 2020, "[Kate] wishes she could speak to Harry. She misses him and fears she'll never be close to him again."
Beyoncé was visibly moved by Adele's Grammys speech
The year 2016 was dominated by the return of two of music's biggest superstars: Beyoncé and Adele. The former finally released "Lemonade," the follow-up to her self-titled visual album, while the latter's "25" served as the sequel to "21." "Lemonade" arrived alongside a visual spectacular so hotly-anticipated that HBO made it free for everyone for the weekend (per Rolling Stone), while "25" demolished sales records (via Billboard).
Going into the Grammys the following February, both were nominated for some serious gold. Adele had a big night, racking up awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It was Album of the Year, though, that saw her shower Queen Bey in praise. "The artist of my life is Beyoncé," she said at the podium before going on to call her record "so monumental," "soul-bearing," and a glimpse of "another side to you that you don't always let us see." And in a moment that proved stars are part of the Beyhive just like us, Adele added, "All us artists here f**king adore you. You are our light."
In one final tug at the heartstrings, Adele said, "The way that you make me and my friends feel — the way that you make my Black friends feel — is empowering, and you make them stand up for themselves. And I love you, I always have, and I always will."
Moved to tears, Beyoncé repeatedly mouthed, "I love you."