John Stamos gets emotional at Creative Coalition Awards

John Stamos grew visibly emotional while being honoured at The Creative Coalition's 12th Annual TV Humanitarian Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday, reflecting on how becoming a father reshaped his decades-long advocacy work with the child abuse treatment and prevention organization Childhelp. 

Stamos has supported the group for nearly 40 years, but he said the meaning behind that work shifted profoundly after his son, Billy, was born eight years ago with wife Caitlin McHugh.

"Becoming a father has changed the way that I see children," Stamos said, choking up as he spoke. 

"You look at your own kid and you realize how much they depend on us to make them feel safe and loved and protected, and then you realize there are so many children that don't have that. Once you really let that in, it's hard to look away." 

His close friend, comedian Jeffrey Ross, presented him with the award.

Stamos also opened up about a personal children's book project he's working on with Billy, which will publish April 20, 2027, chronicling how the family has processed grief following the loss of John's parents through a piece of family folklore involving hummingbirds. 

"We have this folklore in our family, when my father passed away, there was a hummingbird in my dad's garden, [Billy] said 'There's your dad,'" Stamos told Variety. 

"I'm like 'That's a hummingbird.' He said, 'No, that's your dad coming back to make sure we're taking care of his garden.' And so it's been stuck in our family." 

He said Billy has taken the project seriously and that the two hope to read it publicly to children in hospitals and schools once it's released, adding, "Hopefully it'll help kids who have maybe lost their grandparents."