Lea Michele
"For all of you out there who loved and admired Cory as much as I did, I promise that with your love, we're gonna get through this together. He was very special to me and also to the world, and we were very lucky to witness his incredible talent, his handsome smile and his beautiful, beautiful heart. So whether you knew him personally or just as Finn Hudson, Cory reached out and he became a part of all of our hearts, and that's where he'll stay forever."
Jane Lynch
"I am here to say that all that warmth and that charm, that openhearted quality that we loved in Cory was no act. Cory was a beautiful soul. He was not perfect, which many of us here tonight can relate to. His death is a tragic reminder of the rapacious, senseless destruction that's brought on by addiction. Tonight we remember Cory for all he was and mourn the loss of all he could have been. To a generation that loved Cory so, please know: this gifted and wonderful young man was worthy of your love. And if you were lucky enough to know Cory as we did and witness firsthand Cory's goofy, breezy sense of humor, his natural instinct for inclusiveness, and his unbridled sense of generosity day in and day out, I promise, you'd have loved him even more."
Blake Jenner
"We on Glee were so blessed to have known him and so blessed to have spent time with him. I mean, the dude took me snowboarding and he gave me so much advice both on work and personal stuff and he was just amazing. And so I'm glad that like [Lea] said, for the people that only knew him as Finn Hudson, I'm glad that they got to officially meet Cory Monteith, who was just an amazing person."
Darren Criss
"He was a joy. Wonderful guy. Obviously it's been a very rough time. When you start picking up the pieces after something as tragic as this, and it's funny that you say that, you don't know how to breach it, we're picking up the pieces now and there's two things you gotta remember. One, is he was a really funny guy, had a great sense of humor and he loved life. He always took care of his friends and wanted his friends to be happy. So it's only right that we, you know, try and start to smile again and laugh again. It's something that he would have wanted. Personal note, he will be severely missed, but I'm just so happy that a guy like him got to touch as many lives as he did while we were lucky enough to have him."
Dianna Agron
"We all have nothing but the truth, which is he was one of the most amazing people that I've ever met—generous, loving, kind—and that's how he'll always be remembered."
Ryan Murphy
"Cory really was in many ways like that character. He was a real leader. He was very beloved by the crew. I think Cory was very much like Finn [in] that Cory really was a champion of young artists and the underdog. I hope that that's how he's remembered and I think he will be because that's how he was in real life with his causes and his outreach programs. Also I think a lot of people, a lot of young kids, have watched the evolution of that character and have been touched by it and hopefully that's his legacy."
Selena Gomez
"This hurts. I love you Cory. Rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family."
Mike O'Malley
"He was very, very hardworking actor, and I just loved working with him. He was a great guy and I miss him very much. Ever since I met him, he was the fictional quarterback on the show and he was the very real quarterback on that set. He was an incredibly warm guy who was welcoming to everyone who came onto that show from the beginning through the new folks who came onto the show this past year."
Naya Rivera
"The entire Glee family and I are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Cory was and always will be a part of my own family and a good friend. He was a special part of this world and will forever be missed."
Jayma Mays
He was such a fun guy to be around and I have nothing but amazing, wonderful memories of working with him. I have those memories to always take forward with me."
Chris Colfer
"I'll never forget all the laughs we shared or the faces we made after awkward interview questions. Love and miss you, buddy."
Kevin McHale
"So thankful that I and so many of you got to experience Cory's overwhelming kindness, humor and talent. There will not be a day that goes by that I won't miss him," he added. "Thank you all for your incredible support and patience."
Chord Overstreet
"He was the greatest dude you'd ever met. Never met anyone who said anything bad about him. Everybody loved him…I spent more time with him than I have with anyone in my family in the last three or four years…We're a family."
Charice
"Friendship is not defined by the length of time two people share together. One defining moment is all it takes for two individuals to call each other friends. I was a tad emotional when the clock struck 12 midnight—not because I was tired, but because May 10 was my birthday. And I, a girl from the barrio of Gulod in the far-flung Philippines, was alone in America. Cory came to the rescue, just in time, with his sweet greeting: 'Happy birthday, Charice!' A big smile crossed his handsome face. There was sincerity in his tone as he gave me a tight hug. He became family to me at that moment."
Adam Shankman
"Goodbye my amazing and beautiful friend. The lights in my world just grew dimmer. The world just lost one of our best. I love u so much..."
Harry Shum Jr.
"This is how I remember him. Kindhearted. Incredibly funny. Extremely passionate."
Brook Lander Shurtz
"He'd go out of his way for other people. He'd go out of his way for his friends, for his castmates, he would go out of his way for the underdog, for the people that might not have the voice others do. And I think that's so special and that's what I always appreciated about Cory. It always seemed like he was enjoying life. He loved to snowboard. He loved to play the drums. He loved to play video games. He loved his cars. He had a zest for life, and he was so worldly, and he was well-traveled. And he was intelligent."
Karine Vanasse
"He was this big TV star who chose to do this small Canadian film and not everybody does that. For him, he wanted to show his team, himself and his fans that he had all this other potential to develop and he wanted his career to maybe head in that direction."
Neil Patrick Harris
"How sad to read about Cory Monteith passing away. What a shame. He was a lovely, kind, talented guy and will be missed."
Josh Groban
"While I only met him briefly on set, I remember him to be an extremely sweet guy. Tragic. RIP Cory."
Dot Marie Jones
"I have no words! My heart is broken Cory was not only a hell of a friend he was one amazing man that I will hold close to my heart forever."
Kevin Zegers
"He's probably the closest person I've ever lost. It was a heavy and weird month. Cory was the nicest man I knew."
John Stamos
"First day on Glee he said to me, I can't believe I'm working w/Uncle Jesse-I can't believe i'm writing this tweet. Heartbreaking. RIP Cory. We talked about how lucky he felt to be alive-and sober. We talked about playing drums. Glad i knew you Cory."
Sophia Bush
"When someone who I think is such a light in your industry, when something that devastating happens, nobody expected it. And it's, I think, more emotional for the people who knew him and loved him because he was working toward that. He had just gone to get help. I think, if anything, it signified to so many people—and hopefully to so many people who loved him from around the world, who watched him, who looked up to him, who might be struggling—that addiction is serious and it is not to be taken lightly, and it comes for you in ways you can't imagine."