American Idol host Katy Perry broke down crying on a recent episode after a survivor of a school shooting auditioned.
21-year-old Trey Louis from Texas auditioned for the show’s current 21st season, sharing a rendition of Whiskey Myers’ track ‘Stone’ for judges Perry, Lionel Richie and country singer Luke Bryan.
Before his performance, Louis revealed that he is a survivor of the Santa Fe school shooting of 2018, which left eight students and two teachers dead.
“I’m from Santa Fe, Texas,” he told the judges and audience. In May 2018, a gunman walked into my school.
“I was in Art Room 1. He shot up Art Room 2 before he made his way to Art Room 1. I lost a lot of friends. Eight students were killed. Two teachers were killed. It’s just really been negative. Santa Fe’s had a bad rep since 2018.”
In response, Perry broke down in tears and told Louis: “Our country has fucking failed us! This is not OK. You should be singing here because you love music, not because you had to go through that fucking bullshit.”
“You don’t have to lose eight friends,” she added. “I hope that you remind people that we have to change. Because, you know, I’m scared, too.”
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“We have tolerated this for so long… too long,” Richie added. “It’s become the norm.”
Watch the emotional audition below.
After the 2018 Santa Fe school shooting, Travis Scott honoured the survivors of the incident at a Houston Rockets basketball game.
10 people were killed and many others injured when gunman Dimitrios Pagourtzis opened fire at Santa Fe High School. After a short speech at the Rockets game against the Golden State Warriors from team owner Tilman Fertitta who introduced Travis Scott and passed the microphone to him.
“To the Santa Fe seniors, to the amazing officers, to the principals, we love you,” the Rapper said, pointing to the seating area where the students of Santa Fe High School sat, “Y’all are the strongest people on this Earth. Thank you for being the heroes for all of us.”
Kelly Clarkson also delivered an emotional plea for gun control following the shooting, calling for a “moment of change”.
“And mamas and daddies should be able to send their kids to school, to church, to movie theaters, to clubs — you should be able to life your life without that kind of fear,” she said during a speech at an awards ceremony.
“We need to do better! These people are failing our children, we’re failing our communities we’re failing their families — I have four children, and I can’t imagine getting that phone call or that knock on the door. So instead of a moment of silence, I want to respect them and honor them. So let’s have a moment of action — a moment of change.”