Jennifer Aniston, Ivanka Trump, Sarah Jessica Parker and Tom Brady were among the celebrities who paid tribute to the heroes and victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the 25th anniversary. The stars joined others across the United States in remembering the day nineteen hijackers took control of four airliners, flying two into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and crashing a fourth in a field in Pennsylvania.
Aniston, 57, shared a photo on her Instagram Story on Friday of FDNY firefighters locked in a group embrace while weeping. "To the extraordinary, brave men and women who, while others were running out, ran in," she wrote, adding: "We remember you, we honor you, and we are forever grateful for you," alongside prayer hands, bandaged heart and American flag emojis.
Ivanka Trump and Sarah Jessica Parker's tributes
Ivanka Trump, 44, the president's daughter, posted a photo of firefighters standing on rubble while raising an American flag. She wrote: "25 years later, we remember the lives lost, the heroes who ran toward danger, and the spirit of a nation that came together. We remember. We honor. We will never forget," followed by an American flag emoji.
Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, 61, shared a video of the annual "Tribute in Light" art installation, which illuminates the Lower Manhattan skyline from dusk until dawn every September 11. Set to Jim Walton and Ann Morrison's song "Not a Day Goes By," the clip was captioned: "September 11th, 2026 25 years. We never forget. I [heart emoji] NY Forever. And ever. X, SJ."
Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, 49, posted an image of a drone display recreating the Twin Towers. Lindsay Lohan, Adam Sandler, Hilaria Baldwin, Amy Schumer and Heidi Klum also shared tributes on Instagram.
What happened on September 11, 2001
Nineteen al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four airliners on a nearly cloudless autumn day in 2001. Two of the jets slammed into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, causing the skyscrapers to collapse and killing 2,753 people. A further 184 people died when another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon, while 40 passengers and crew were killed when those aboard United Airlines Flight 93 fought back against hijackers, sending the plane crashing into an empty field in Pennsylvania.
In the years after the attacks, the death toll in New York rose to 2,996 as a result of harm caused by exposure to dust at Ground Zero. Thousands more still suffer long-term health problems, including emergency service workers who risked their lives to rescue survivors.
Osama bin Laden, who founded al-Qaeda in 1988 and admitted to orchestrating the attacks, was responsible for the terror and destruction of that day and the decades-long wars that followed in the Middle East. He went into hiding immediately afterward and was hunted by the United States and its intelligence partners for a decade before being killed at his compound and buried at sea.
Controversy at the 25th anniversary ceremony
New York marked the 25th anniversary with a ceremony overshadowed by controversy over President Donald Trump's absence and right-wing outrage over the attendance of the city's first Muslim mayor. Trump instead paid his respects at the Pentagon rather than joining the New York event, where hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center and killed most of the 2,996 total victims.
Vice President JD Vance and Trump's four living predecessors, Republican George W. Bush, who was in office during the attacks, and Democrats Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, gathered at the Ground Zero site in Lower Manhattan.
Bereaved family members read out the names of all those killed, with a bell tolling to mark key moments in the attacks, which sparked years of U.S. involvement in Middle East wars and controversy over Washington's human rights record.
Terry Strada, widow of victim Tom Strada, criticized Saudi Arabia during the ceremony, accusing it of complicity in the attacks and denouncing former presidents in attendance. "You are missed more with each year that passes, but how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?" she said in unscripted remarks broadcast live worldwide.
