News: Katy Perry Meets Orlando Tragedy Survivor on “Ellen”

Photo Credits: TheEllenShow

Tony Marrero, one of the survivors of the Pulse nightclub shooting in downtown Orlando this June, shared on Ellen how he rose back from the dead, literally.

He narrated how Luis Vielma—whom he became best friends with while working at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter—had invited him to Pulse. Vielma, 22, was straight but had wanted to check out the gay club’s Latin night.

“Everybody was having such a good time,” Tony related. “It was packed and it was just amazing.”

The amazing night however, quickly turned into a nightmare.

Tony and Luis were just getting up to leave. The bartender had already announced last call and they hadn’t had a drop to drink as they only came there to have fun dancing. They started heading to the door and that’s when they heard the gunshots and saw people drop to the floor. The two best friends looked at each other and then they hit the ground as well.

That was the last time Tony saw Luis.

“It was horrible,” Tony recounted. “People screaming, crying, people saying their goodbyes.”

Tony was shot four times in the back and once in the arm which shattered his whole left arm. It was after he got shot that the cops came in and somehow he managed to crawl to the door where one of the respondents grabbed him by his arms and took him across the street to safety.

He died en route to the hospital but came back after.

Watch Ellen’s interview with Tony below.

Later in the interview Tony revealed to Ellen how Katy Perry’s song Rise had helped him get through this ordeal. “The lyrics to that song are so powerful,” he said. “Every word in that song is so powerful, so I embraced it.”

At this point DeGeneres asked him, “Have you met Katy yet or no? You wanna meet Katy?”

Katy appeared onstage and the two shared a long hug punctuated by soft cries. In response to how her song helped Tony through his struggles, Katy said she was happy to be there in her own little way to help Tony. She also added that she heard about Tony’s dreams and that she will pay for his first year in film school.

Watch their emotional meeting below.

Curious about the Katy song Tony was referring to? Check it out below.

Ellen also mentioned Shutterfly’s donation of $25,000 to the Pulse Victims Fund.

Before the interview started, a short clip was shown where Tony was filmed saying, “From something tragic comes light. Comes all these positive things—that’s what people need to focus on.”

Let us all be that light, guys. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend.