Ariana Grande accepts Rising Star Award from her hero Jennifer Coolidge, thanks Botox

Jennifer Coolidge's singular brand of comedy has changed Ariana Grande for good — and now the two actresses have finally shared the stage to celebrate.

The White Lotus star presented the "7 Rings" singer with the Rising Star Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Friday night.

Before handing Grande her statuette, which she received for her acclaimed performance in Wicked, Coolidge joked, "Hasn't Ariana already risen?"

Grande was thrilled to share the spotlight with Coolidge, whom she described as a lifelong hero. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jennifer, for doing this for me, for showing up, for coming all this way," she told the Legally Blonde actress. "I can't tell you what it means to me. Your comedic genius and your brilliance has inspired me my entire life. I just love you. Thank you. I love you."

The singer also joked about receiving the Rising Star award at this juncture in her career, after more than 15 years of acting and pop stardom. "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," she said. "So I want to start by thanking my good friends Botox and Juvéderm. I thought I'd be hearing, you know, 'slightly withering star' or 'drooping star' by now."

Related: Dana Carvey had to learn Jennifer Coolidge impression last minute for SNL sketch: 'I still don't quite understand it'

Elsewhere in the speech, Grande reflected on her time in Wicked. "Being able to play Glinda the Good was not only the honor of my life, but it felt like a homecoming," the singer said. "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."

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Grande continued, "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 feel like the beginning of a new chapter."

Related: Ariana Grande and Dana Carvey can't contain laughter channeling Jennifer Coolidge in fake SNL Maybelline ad

Grande recently received praise for her uncanny impression of Coolidge in a Saturday Night Live sketch in October. She'd previously impersonated the actress on The Tonight Show in 2018 — which Coolidge credited with reviving her career — and in a viral Instagram post on Halloween in 2022.

Related: Ariana Grande thought she was going to be murdered while meeting idol Imogen Heap

Coolidge, who appeared in Grande's music video for her single "Thank U, Next" in 2018, also sat down for a conversation with the singer to commemorate her coronation as Entertainment Weekly's 2022 Entertainer of the Year.

"You've been my Entertainer of the Year since 1999, every year," Grande said at the time. "You've been my Entertainer of the Year since Best in Show came out. And then everything that followed: hit, after hit, after hit, after hit, after hit. It's an honor to know you, to call you my friend, and to watch everything that you do. It is an absolute gift."

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