Charlize Theron admits she finds it "so hard" to be away from her newly adopted son

She said: "He's doing great. It's very hard for me to leave the house now so you know how important this is because I was like standing at the door going, 'Ah, this is so hard!'"

Honoured with the Ally For Equality award for her advocacy work for the LGBT community, she told the audience: "Marriage equality is about more than just marriage. It's about something greater. It's about acceptance ... I will always be your cheerleader and I will always be your friend.

Chelsea Handler hosted the event and joked that despite her aversion to kids, she has managed to maintain her friendship with Charlize.

She told E! News: "I love Charlize. She's got her little baby now, she's a mother. That was almost a reason I stopped being friends with her because I try not to be friends with too many mothers, but we worked through it."

Although she isn't quite ready to sign up for babysitting duty. She added: "I don't think anyone would ask me to babysit."