Singer Taylor Swift received the first ever Icon Award at the Teen Choice Awards at the weekend - and she used the platform to speak about gender equality, self-care and making mistakes.
During her acceptance speech, the 29-year-old star gave an inspiring talk to teens at the event at Hermosa Beach, California on Sunday.
The Blank Space hitmaker told her fans they make her so happy, adding: “You make me laugh every day online. I love meeting you.
“I love loving you. You are just the most generous, amazing people.
“Thank you for giving me the life I have. Every single minute of every single day, I know you’re the reason I have the life I have and I get to do what I love doing.”
She added: “I think one thing I wish I would’ve known as a teen is mistakes are inevitable, like ... I think sometimes you think if you try hard enough to make every decision perfectly, you think you can possibly ace life and never make any mistakes but it’s normal to make mistakes.
“I just want you to know if you’re out there and you’re being really hard on yourself right now for something that’s happened or for messing up or feeling embarrassed, it’s normal.
“That’s what’s going to happen to you in life. No one gets through unscathed. We’re all going to have a few scratches on us.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/taylorswift13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@taylorswift13for her #TeenChoice Icon Award! pic.twitter.com/HOeQdGFRqM
— Teen Choice Awards (@TeenChoiceFOX)
Taylor, who was introduced to the stage by World Cup winner Alex Morgan, called for equal pay for the US women’s soccer team.
Taylor was presented with a special Teen Choice surfboard with pictures of her beloved cats.
Other winners included The Jonas Brothers, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Will Smith, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello and Ariana Grande.