Selena Gomez Is Visibly Emotional After Receiving the Longest Standing Ovation at this Year’s Cannes

It’s Selena Gomez’s world and we’re just living in it!

Just days after Meryl Streep was greeted with a two-minute-long applause for the prestigious Palme d’Or, Selena Gomez from Only Murders in the Building has set the standard by receiving the longest-standing ovation this year.

The screening for her musical crime drama garnered a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival following the premiere of her latest film Emilia Perez. The production has been getting all the limelight for its unique storyline and powerful characters. 

According to Deadline, the ovation was extended for another two minutes when Rust & Bone filmmaker Jacques Audiard went onstage and thanked the audience. This led the well-deserved standing ovation to last for over 11 minutes.

As the audience stood up to cheer for The Heart Wants What It Wants singer, the 31-year-old looked like she was trying to maintain her composure. Gomez was later seen wiping away tears as her co-stars shared an emotional embrace. You can see her beaming in this video shared by Variety on X.

Gomez, the most followed woman on Instagram with a whopping 429 million followers, was dressed to impress in a black velvet gown with a white satin neckline. The “Lose You to Love Me” singer completed the look with a Bulgari diamond necklace and earrings. 

She shared the pics on Instagram, leaving boyfriend Benny Blanco “speechless.” 

She also expressed her gratitude on Instagram, writing “Thank you, Cannes! I’m so honored to be a small part of something so special in Emilia Pérez. Jacques Audiard, thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me.” 

“Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofía Gascón, Édgar Ramírez, and every single person apart of this film absolutely blew me away,” the star added.

The singer told Reuters she was relieved the focus has shifted to her acting career. Adding, “I’d rather somebody say I did a terrible job than talk about my personal life. So, I feel very proud,” she said, referencing the award-winning film.

Back in January, the actress reflected on her acting career in an episode of the SmartLess podcast. She told the hosts—Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes—that she hasn’t “been able to even touch the surface of what I know I’m capable of doing.” Adding, “I’m very selective or else I’d been in all of the movies that I get offered. I just fight for my roles and I’m always auditioning so I like to earn it.”

The Grammy-nominated artist revealed that she’s keeping her music career on hold for now. “I wanted to be an actress, I never really intended on being a singer full time but apparently that hobby turned into something else. I don’t think I’m the best singer, but I do know how to tell stories and I love being able to make songs,” she explained.

She also revealed that she only has “one more album” in her before she calls it quits. 

Emilia Perez is an unbelievably audacious movie loosely adapted from Boris Razon’s 2018 novel Écoute. Directed by Jacques Audiard, it tells the story of a feared drug lord (played by Karla Sofía Gascón) who wants to flee Mexico for gender confirmation surgery.

He reaches out to Rita, played by Zoe Saldaña, for help. 

In an interview with Vulture, Saldaña described the movie as “a story about human beings and their most human, cellular selves, failing and hurting and struggling and finding strength.” 

The movie has been selected for the Palme d’Or.

You can see it when it hits theaters in France on August 28, 2024.