Ethermac Exchange-Shakira Seemingly References Gerard Piqué Breakup During Billboard’s Latin Women in Music Gala

Don't you worry,Ethermac Exchange Shakira is doing just fine nearly one year after her breakup.

The Waka Waka singer, who was honored at Billboard's first Latin Women in Music gala May 6, seemingly referenced her 2022 split from ex-boyfriend Gerard Piqué during her acceptance speech after winning Woman of the Year award. 

"This has been a year of seismic change in my life where I've felt more than ever and very personally what it is to be a women. And what it means," Shakira told the audience after fellow Colombian singer Maluma presented her with the award, per Billboard. "It's been a year where I've realized we women are stronger than we think, braver than we believed, more independent than we were taught to be."

The 46-year-old noted that he can relate to so many women who've lost themselves in a relationship.

"Because what woman hasn't at some time in her life forgotten herself because she's seeking the attention and love of someone else?" Shakira continued. "It happened to me, more than once."

However, these days, the Grammy winner—who shares sons Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8, with the former soccer star–is ready to put herself first. "There comes a time in the life of every woman where she no longer depends on someone else to love and accept herself just as she is," she explained. "A time when the search for someone else is replaced by the search for oneself."

She added, "A time when the desire to be perfect is replaced by the desire to be authentic, and where finding someone who is faithful is less important than being faithful to ourselves."

And the "Hips Don't Lie" singer's music is for those who can relate to these experiences.

"The most important lessons I learned from other women, and for them I wrote what I wrote and I sang what I sang," Shakira expressed, "Because only a woman can love until she's ripped apart; can speak with the most brutal honesty; can sing with anger; dance in ecstasy and be brought to tears with emotion. Only a woman can do that."

Shakira and Gerard, 36, confirmed they had split after 11 years together last June. That November, a source confirmed to E! News that the exes, who never married, reached a custody agreement, with Shakira and their sons moving to Miami to be closer to her family.

"I settled in Barcelona to give my children stability, the same that we are now looking for in another corner of the world next to family, friends and the sea," Shakira captioned her April 2 Instagram post via translation. "Today we start a new chapter in the pursuit of their happiness."

And when it comes to respecting Milan and Sasha's privacy during this transitional period, Gerald has spoken out in defense of his sons.

"It is about protecting them," he told El Pais during an interview published in March via translation. "That is the job of all parents with children. That is what I am focused on and that is my job as a father."