On November 30, 2017, Selena Gomez was honored with the Billboard Women of the Year Award. She first said in the microphone, “To be honest, I think Francia should be getting this award because she saved my life,” she stated, trying to hold the tears in her eyes before they started to roll down her eyes.
This past year Gomez released via Instagram that she underwent a kidney transplant with the help of her “sister” Francia Raisa, know mostly as Adrian Lee in The Secret Life of the American Teenager as well as her role as, Leti in Bring It On: All or Nothing, due to her and her ongoing battle with Lupus Disease.
She gathered herself together and with her strength and hope spreading voice she says:
“I never felt this proud to be a woman in the industry than I do today because I actually feel comfortable with every single woman that has encouraged me but how crucial it is that the voices that are being heard for the first time is so great and I’m so grateful for all the older women who have lifted us all up because I wouldn’t be here without any of you so thank you for all of you that have inspired so many girls who don’t feel like they have a voice.”
Since early October this past year, the Hollywood film and entertainment industry has changed with many male stars being accused of either sexual harassment or assault by countless females who work in or around the business. What started in Hollywood trickled down to politics where politicians as well as lower yet recognizable people, the news from Fox 5 to most recently NBC’s TODAY Show.
It is thanks to the Silence Breakers who have shared their stories, or the women who shared #MeToo, the famous hashtag that took storm seemingly overnight and has now been recently announced in TIME Magazine on the cover as, TIME People of the Year.
All the women who have come out have used their voices, like Gomez herself, have encouraged both women and girls for years through her public appearances, acting, and especially through her music that having a strong voice and morals are always yours and no ones to take or seize