Renaissance woman and global superstar, actress, producer and social activist, SELENA GOMEZ, was honored last night with the 2020 ARTS Award during the PBS Broadcast of the 33rd Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards.
Gomez joined fellow honorees BAD BUNNY, LINDA RONSTADT, JESSICA ALBA & AMERICA’s ESSENTIAL FARMWORKERS who were honored for their inspiring stories and their work in helping pave the way for Hispanics in the U.S.
Presented by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the award not only recognized Gomez’s accomplishments as an actor, singer and philanthropist, but also for her work as an executive producer who’s created projects that have shined a light on the Hispanic community. About the award, Gomez expressed “I want to say thank you. I want to continue knowing that just because of who I am, and just because of the hard work I do, I hope that it just inspires so many people to continue to believe in their dreams, believe that they’re capable, that they can — no matter what,» she said. Gomez also added, “I’m grateful that I’ve had so many opportunities to be a voice in the community.”
The Hispanic Heritage Awards were created by the White House in 1988 to commemorate the establishment of Hispanic Heritage Month in America and is among the highest honors by Latinos for Latinos and supported by 40 national Hispanic-serving institutions.
Selling more than 145 million singles worldwide and over 25 billion global streams, Selena has achieved global success as a recording artist. “Lose You to Love Me,” the first single off her critically acclaimed album “Rare,” available via Interscope Records, marked a historic moment for the singer as she landed her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Praise for the album was immediate with Variety proclaimed “Rare is one of the best pop albums in recent memory” and Time called it a “pop gift” while Rolling Stone raved calling it “an act of divine ruthlessness.” In 2020, Time Magazine named Gomez one of its “100 Most Influential People”, and her recent collaboration with K-pop sensation BLACKPINK on “Ice Cream,” has become a global phenomenon. In addition, her anticipated cosmetics line “Rare Beauty” launched to great success. The cosmetics line holds true in that real beauty comes from embracing your looks. As part of “Rare Beauty’s” mission, the Rare Impact Fund was established and has pledged to raise $100 million for mental health services for individuals in underserved communities. To do this, the company will donate one percent of all sales, from the time the very first product is sold, to the fund.
Selena has added executive producer to her impressive list of credits serving as an executive producer of the hit Netflix original series “13 Reasons Why.” Gomez has used her platform to speak out on social causes throughout her career and this was evident when Gomez executive produced the critically acclaimed Netflix docu-series “Living Undocumented” which created much buzz and discussion regarding the polarizing issue of undocumented people living in the United States. In addition, Selena serves as executive producer of the upcoming feature film “Broken Hearts Gallery” for Sony and the new HBO Max cooking show “Selena + Chef.” Next up, Gomez will executive produce and star opposite Steve Martin and Martin Short in the Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building”.
