Jennifer Aniston, Ivanka Trump, and Sarah Jessica Parker lead celebs paying tribute to heroes and victims of 9/11

Jennifer Aniston, Ivanka Trump, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Tom Brady were just a few of the celebrities who honored the heroes and victims of 9/11 on its 25th anniversary.

A-listers joined the many who remembered the sacrifices made on that tragic day September 11, 2001 when terrorists hijacked four airliners and wreaked havoc including flying one into each of the Twin Towers in New York City.

Aniston, 57, took to her Instagram Story on Friday to share a powerful image of FDNY firefighters locked in a group embrace while weeping. 

She wrote: 'To the extraordinary, brave men and women who, while others were running out, ran in.

'We remember you, we honor you, and we are forever grateful for you. [prayer hands, bandaged heart, and American flag emojis]' 

First daughter Trump, 44, shared a snap of firefighters standing on the rubble while raising an American flag with the caption: '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. [American flag emoji]'

Sex and the City star Parker, 61, shared a video of the iconic 9/11 'tribute in light' art installation which illuminates the Lower Manhattan skyline from dusk until dawn every September 11.

She captioned the clip set to the tune of Jim Walton and Ann Morrison's Not a Day Goes By with: 'September 11th, 2026 25 years. We never forget. I [heart emoji] NY Forever. And ever. X, SJ'

NFL legend Brady, 49, posted a snap of a drone display recreating the Twin Towers.

Lindsay Lohan, Adam Sandler, Hilaria Baldwin, Amy Schumer, and Heidi Klum also shared tributes on Instagram.

Nineteen Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four airliners on the nearly cloudless autumn day in 2001.

Two of the jets slammed into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, causing the iconic skyscrapers to collapse – killing 2,753 people.

A further 184 people died when another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, while 40 passengers and crew were killed when those aboard United Airlines Flight 93 bravely fought back against hijackers, sending the plane crashing into an empty field in Pennsylvania.   

In the years after the attack, the death toll in New York rose to 2,996 as a result of the harm caused by exposure to the dust at Ground Zero. 

Thousands more still suffer long-term health problems, including emergency service workers who risked their lives to rescue as many people as possible.

Osama bin Laden was responsible for the terror and destruction of that day, and the subsequent decades-long wars in the Middle East.

Bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda in 1988, and admitted to orchestrating the 9/11 attacks. 

Satisfied with his work, he went to ground immediately after the attack and was hunted by the US and its intelligence partners for a decade, before being killed in his home and unceremoniously dumped in the sea.

New York commemorated the 25th anniversary with a ceremony marked by controversy over President Donald Trump's absence and right-wing outrage over the attendance of the city's first Muslim mayor.

In an unusual move, Trump was paying his respects at the Pentagon, rather than joining the event in New York, where hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center and killed most of the 2,996  total victims on that world-altering day.

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 – were gathering 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 major moments in the attack, which sparked years of US involvement in Middle East wars and bitter controversy over Washington's human rights record.

Terry Strada, widow of victim Tom Strada, unleashed a stinging attack on Saudi Arabia, accusing it of complicity in the attacks, and denouncing former presidents who were 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.