Demi Lovato & the 'Glee' Cast Reunited to Pay Tribute to Naya Rivera

Emotions were high at last night's 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards, mostly because pop star Demi Lovato and the Glee cast virtually reunited to pay a touching tribute to their late co-star Naya Rivera. 

Demi began the segment by saying she cherishes the memories she has from over a decade ago when she got to play Dani, the girlfriend to Naya Rivera's Santana on Ryan Murphy's beloved FOX music series Glee. Rivera, who passed away tragically in a boating accident last summer, and the coming out of her openly lesbian character Santana, are often hailed as hallmarks in the continued evolution of LGBTQ+ representation, and the impact she had on fans and viewers is still felt to this day. 

After Demi's introduction, many OG members from the Glee cast — including Darren Criss, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch, Kevin McHale, Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Alex Newell, Harry Shum Jr., and Jenna Ushkowitz — all got together on Zoom to reminisce about their favorite memories of Naya and share some kind word about her, including a heartfelt letter written by her mother, Yolanda Previtire. 

"Naya would be honored to receive this recognition," the letter read. "When I was told that Santana would be a lesbian, she called me to let me know and I asked her how did she feel about that. And she said, 'I feel great about it.' Little did we know that she would impact so many people in the LGBTQ+ community."

Previtire continued:

"Her desire was to always be an advocate to those who did not have a voice. I don't believe that she realized how important she was to this world. I am grateful that my eldest daughter helped to change the landscape of how we view and see each other. Thank you, GLAAD for keeping my daughter's legacy alive."

Watch the Glee cast's emotional reunion and tribute to Naya in the video below.