Hillary Clinton surprised her biggest celebrity surrogate on the campaign trail, pop star Katy Perry, by presenting her with a humanitarian award at the UNICEF Snowflake Ball Tuesday night.
“On a personal level, I cannot tell you how delighted I am to be here to help celebrate a global megastar, a social-media queen with the most Twitter followers in the world—although she’s getting some competition—and someone whose powerful voice and creative lyrics remind us when you get knocked down to get back up,” Clinton said in a surprise address at the glitzy New York gala.
“I have seen Katy’s commitment to the causes she believes in firsthand,” the former Democratic presidential nominee said of Perry, who had spent months campaigning for Clinton. “I’ve gotten to spend time with her and I know how deeply she cares about making our world a better place. She is serious about understanding the complex problems we face and pulling people together to solve them. We need champions like Katy now more than ever: her passion, her energy and, yes, her voice, louder than a lion.”
Moments later, Clinton handed the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award to the “Fireworks” singer.
A tearful Perry proceded to heap praise on Clinton, who has largely remained out of the public eye since her Election Day defeat.
“Hillary Clinton has lit a voice inside of me, and that light will never go out. It will continue to get brighter and brighter,” the singer said. Perry continued to thank Clinton for her “incredible work, and your heart,” the audience responding with a standing ovation.
Clinton relied on Perry to court young voters throughout the presidential campaign. The pop star performed in Philadelphia just days before Election Day, and again just hours before Clinton’s loss had become obvious.
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