See Selena Gomez make her annual appearance at inspirational WE Day: 'I cry at least twice while I'm here'

Selena Gomez attends WE Day California on April 25 in Inglewood, Calif. (Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
Selena Gomez attends WE Day California on April 25 in Inglewood, Calif. (Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Selena Gomez has long had a special relationship with WE Day, an annual series of events held across the country to celebrate young people doing amazing things. The actress and singer has been supporting the organization for seven years — the final episode of her Disney Channel show Wizards of Waverly Place had aired only a few months before her first WE Day attendance.

It’s no surprise then that, in April 2019, when Gomez made her first red carpet appearance after having taken a mental health break, she did it at WE Day. The crowd went wild when she took the stage.

Now audiences can see Gomez and a slew of other celebrities, including Natalie Portman, Joe Jonas, Chance the Rapper, Neil Patrick Harris and many more in action on a WE Day special airing Aug. 9 on ABC.

Before she went into the 2019 show, Gomez, 27, told Entertainment Tonight that she’s always moved by WE Day.

“I come here and I cry at least twice while I’m here,” Gomez said.

She finds it “so encouraging to hear that these kids are working so hard, and I would like for that to spread all over our generation.”

One of her most memorable appearances was in 2018, when she appeared onstage with Nellie Mainor, a 7-year-old struggling with a rare kidney disease, who brought cards and toys to other children hospitalized for similar issues. Gomez had revealed the previous year that she had undergone a kidney transplant, and she asked Mainor, “Do you know how much I admire you?”

Selena Gomez hugs Nellie Mainor onstage at WE Day California on April 19, 2018, in Inglewood, Calif. (Photo: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for WE)
Selena Gomez hugs Nellie Mainor onstage at WE Day California on April 19, 2018, in Inglewood, Calif. (Photo: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for WE)

Gomez is such a fan of WE Day that she’s even hosted the event in the past, but this year she left that to NPH.

She still addressed the audience, filled with kids who earned a ticket to the event by giving back to their communities, long enough to say that she continues to be wowed by them.

The WE Day special airs at Aug. 9 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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