What Ariana said

In her acceptance speech, Ariana said: “Thank you Jennifer for doing this for me, for show up, for coming all this way. I can’t tell you what it means to me. Your comedic genius, your brilliance, has inspired me my entire life. I just love you. You don’t know how much it means to me. 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.”

‘… the beginning of a new chapter’

Talking about playing Glinda in Wicked, she added: “Being able to play Glinda the Good was not only the honor of my life but it felt like a homecoming. 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 feel like the beginning of a new chapter.”

Ariana is also nominated at the Golden Globes for her performance in Wicked, which os based on a Broadway prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Cynthia Erivo stars as Elphaba in the Jon M. Chu film. The second part is scheduled for release on November 21, 2025.