Charlize Theron & Amy Poehler Tear Up, Get a Little Raunchy at Power of Women Luncheon

Actresses get emotional but don't forget to bring the laughs while being honored for their philanthropic efforts

Charlize Theron and Amy Poehler don't just put their hearts into their acting.

Both were honored for their philanthropic work at the Variety Power of Women luncheon today in Beverly Hills and both got emotional while discussing what motivates them to give back.

"It's impossible for me to accept this award because there's someone here so much more powerful than me," Theron, a vocal advocate for HIV/AIDS research and awareness, said onstage. She gestured toward her mom, Gerda, sitting in the audience.

"I hope you're OK with me giving this award to my mom," she continued. "That bitch was building roads in Africa when no woman was doing that. I thank you, Mom, for teaching me to by your actions how to be a strong woman, and for turning me into a p---y every time I talk to you."

Well, then!

Poehler was moved to tears onstage while discussing the plight of the children she has learned about through her work with Worldwide Orphans. She encouraged the audience to close their eyes and think of a time from their childhoods when they felt warm and loved.

"Open your eyes and realize that there are so many children in the world who have nothing," the Parks & Recreation star and mother of two said, choking up. "They have nothing. They have no one who lights up when they walk in a room, and no clothes, or safety, or food. And so who are we to be in this room, and be somebody living this life without helping them?"

Poehler didn't forget to bring the laughs, either.

"Remember," she said, wrapping up her speech, "giving to charity is good for your skin, and makes your ass smaller!"

Poehler and Theron's fellow Lifetime Impact honorees included Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Hudson, Elizabeth Banks and Sony Pictures cochair Amy Pascal.

Kidman also paid tribute to her mom, telling the group about her work with U.N. Women, "I became involved with this organization because I was raised by a feminist mother—and she said to never be frightened of using the F-word!"

Banks, who talked heart health among women, joked, "There's a lot of talk about boobies, and I'm all about boobies.

"But," she added, "you are four times more likely to die from heart disease than breast cancer...I mean, when was the last time your gyno checked your cholesterol?"