New
Inside The 2025 Time100 Gala: Icons, Innovators And Impact They Carry
Ed Sheeran, Snoop Dogg and Jon M. Chu attend the 2025 TIME100 Gala" width="970" height="647" data-caption='Ed Sheeran, Snoop Dogg and Jon M. Chu. <span class="lazyload media-credit">Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME</span>'>
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were the last to arrive at last night’s TIME100 Gala in New York City, though you wouldn’t have known it if you were waiting with the press. As all eyes and cameras were pointed in the direction of their expected entrance, the couple walked past the journalists waiting to ask questions, ducking behind a decorative black curtain wall before making their way to the still photography section. Lively held her husband’s hand as they smiled in near silence.
“It’s very cordial,” Reynolds commented to the photographers on their politeness and continued to make jokes as the room grew quiet. “Don’t worry, she’ll leave,” when they were asked for solo shots. And a simple “thank you,” to the reporter who shouted, “You look beautiful,” which was meant, clearly, for Lively.
Earlier, the red carpet at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, was buzzing with luminaries including Demi Moore, Scarlett Johansson, Jon M. Chu, Simone Biles, Kwame Onwuachi, Nikki Glaser, Demis Hassabis and Hozier—some of TIME’s freshly minted most influential people in the world.
Honoree and Singer Nicole Scherzinger, dressed in a magnificent black sequin off-the-shoulder gown, was the first to arrive. She’s currently starring as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. At 6:24 p.m., she was somehow still doing interviews ahead of a 7 p.m. curtain 12 blocks south at the St. James Theatre.
A line formed as a barrage of heroes from this year’s class of leaders, titans, innovators, icons, pioneers and artists waited their moment in the flashbulbs. Honoree Serena Williams finished posing and walked over to hug American gymnast and fellow Olympic medalist Aly Raisman, followed by one for CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King. King fumbled with her glasses while opening her purse. 2025 Super Bowl winner and honoree, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, was in line for all the action but missed the interception. The security guard swooped to rescue the glasses before anyone could step on them.
“This is not a normal red carpet,” Olympic gold-medalist skier Lindsay Vonn told Observer. “You don’t see a scientist standing next to Adam Scott. The mix of genius and talent and athleticism all in the same room doesn’t happen anywhere else.”
“It’s very different than my usual meetings in the scientific arena,” declared honoree and astronomer Wendy Freedman, beaming in a red off-the-shoulder gown. “When I go to the telescope, it’s a different costume.”
She’s been measuring how fast the universe is expanding, which tells us its age and its size. “There’s a big controversy in my field right now about whether we have all of the ingredients of the universe and whether there’s something really fundamental that we’re missing. So, I’ve been using the James Webb Space Telescope to get the most accurate data that we’ve ever been able to get before and to address those questions. I just find it very exciting, and it’s just been a tremendous opportunity,” Freedman told Observer.
Kristen Bell, Wendy Freedman and Demi Moore attend the 2025 TIME100 Gala" width="970" height="647" data-caption='Kristen Bell, Wendy Freedman and Demi Moore. <span class="lazyload media-credit">Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME</span>'>Honoree Bobbi Brown, owner of the eponymous cosmetics line, was excited to meet Snoop Dogg, the host for the evening. While TIME recognized Brown for her work as an innovative leader, she pointed to a passion that often flies under the radar.
“My life’s work has always been about helping people,” Brown told Observer. “Whether it’s women and their makeup, self-esteem, confidence—I’ve always been a champion for women and entrepreneurs.”
At 57 years old, entrepreneur, chef and restaurateur Nok Suntaranon earned a James Beard Foundation Award for her Thai Restaurant in Philadelphia, Kalaya. She opened the spot only seven years ago and is one of TIME100’s most influential innovators. “For any woman at any age, sometimes we have to put our dreams on hold because family comes first. If anytime you want to pursue your dream, you can. Don’t let anyone stop you,” Suntaranon told Observer, noting that, other than Thai, Japanese is her favorite cuisine.
“I like to think that unseen virtues bring about visible rewards. So that’s what it feels like,” visual artist Mickalene Thomas, best known for elaborate paintings with rhinestones, acrylic and enamel, shared with Observer. In addition to her own work, she co-founded a mentorship program called Art Forward for emerging and mid-career artists.
Last year, playwright and honoree Branden Jacobs-Jenkins earned a Tony Award for his play, Appropriate, starring Sarah Paulson. This year, his new project, Purpose, also about a dysfunctional family, is running on the same stage and garnering lots of attention.
“This is a crazy event, but in a good way,” Jacob-Jenkins told Observer. “I’m just so happy to be representing the theater, representing writers and representing people of color being creative.”
TIME CEO, Jessica Sibley, quipped with the photographers as she took her turn on the step-and-repeat. “I write the check,” she announced with a smile before posing with the evening’s sponsors. “Now with my bosses.” The day before the gala, Sibley sat down with Meghan Markle at the TIME100 Summit. “Meghan asked me to do the interview,” Sibley revealed to Observer. “We really focused the conversation on her as a brand, as a business leader, as a CEO, as an entrepreneur, as a creator and as an innovator.”
Later, from inside the gala, Lively toasted her mom, Willie Elain McAlpin, whom she said she was most influenced by.
“She wanted me to share with you that she is a survivor of the worst crimes someone can commit against a woman,” Lively said in her speech. “I’ve watched her conceal her raw and undeserved shame my entire life, so, as her daughter, being asked to share this today is monumental. If we name it, we change it.”
Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, accepted the Impact Award. “You don’t need to stand on an Olympic stage in order to have an impact, and you certainly don’t need to win medals. You just need to show up and stay true to who you are,” Biles told the crowd.
During the program, astronomer Freedman was spotted in conversation with Academy Award-nominated actress Johansson—a rare alignment of galaxies and stardom only the TIME100 gala could pull into orbit.
