Ariana Grande showed off her wicked sense of humor while accepting her first major accolade of 2025.
“Thank you guys so much,” the singer/actress told attendees at the Palm Springs International Film Festival after receiving the rising star award from Jennifer Coolidge.
Grande, who has performed hilarious impressions of Coolidge as recently as during her Saturday Night Live hosting gig in October, then took the stage to acknowledge her friendship with the White Lotus Emmy winner, calling Coolidge a “comedic genius whose brilliance has inspired my entire life.”
“You don’t know how much it means to me,” Grande continued. “I’ve been performing since I was a child, so I never thought at the age of 31 I would be hearing the words ‘rising star’ again, so I wanted to start by thanking my two friends: Botox and Juvederm.”
“I thought I’d be hearing ‘slightly withering star’ or ‘drooping star’ by now so thank you,” she quipped as the room burst into laughter.
After thanking Wicked director Jon M. Chu, whom she described as her “fearless leader” and her costar Cynthia Erivo, whom she called her “brilliant sister,” Grande shared how comedy shaped her life even before singing.
“Being able to play Glinda the Good was not only the honor of my life but it felt like a homecoming,” Grande continued. “For those of you who don’t know, I started out in stand-up comedy. My first professional gig was in our living room in Boca Raton, Fla., [to entertain] my grandparents. I was 4 years old and my mom gave me $5.”
“I learned early on that laughter was one of our greatest escapes and I remember the infectious impact that it had, not only on the people in my life, but how it fed me in return. And the past 10 years when I was really focused on music I really missed that feeling. So it really does it feel like the beginning of a new chapter.”
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For her supporting performance as Galinda a.k.a. Oz’s Glinda the Good in the Chu-directed Wicked: Part One, Grande has also been nominated for the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and more this season. The movie and its sequel Wicked: For Good (in theaters Nov. 21) star Erivo as Elphaba a.k.a. the future Wicked Witch of the West.
Of the Grammy winner’s honor at the Palm Springs Film Festival awards gala, Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a statement that Grande “is an iconic global performer, who has seamlessly transitioned to film in her first major starring role, proving herself to be a multifaceted and undeniable talent. This role is certain to be the beginning of the many accolades she will garner throughout her acting career.”
Among the honorees at this year’s gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center were Angelina Jolie for Maria, Nicole Kidman for Babygirl, Timothée Chalamet for A Complete Unknown, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, Adrien Brody for The Brutalist and the casts of Emilia Pérez and Conclave.
Wicked: Part One is in theaters now.
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