Inside the Time 100 Gala With Blake Lively, Demi Moore, Snoop Dogg & More

On Thursday night, a Nobel Prize wasn’t the highest accolade in the room — depending on who you asked, it might have been an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, Olympic medal or Vince Lombardi Trophy.

There were plenty of people within earshot at Jazz at Lincoln Center able to claim each of those honors. Not even a trip to space served as the trump card: the crowd included two people who could claim that one in just the past week alone. “She’s back. She’s back from space,” said Time chief marketing officer Sade Muhammad as she greeted activist Amanda Nguyen, part of the recent Blue Origin flight. Her fellow crew member, Gayle King, was making the rounds nearby.

That night, the VIPs had one achievement in common: a spot on the 2025 Time 100 list, highlighting the most influential people of the year.

“It’s a little different from other honors, like Emmys, Golden Globes — it’s a little special for me, not just as an actor, not just as a producer,” said “Shogun” star Hiroyuki Sanada. “My whole career brought me here, not just for one role or one performance.”

“It’s super awesome for me so early in my career to have this recognition,” said singer Myles Smith, who launched his career through TikTok only a few years ago. “It feels like I’m supposed to be here, but also not at the same time. It’s a conflict I’m still battling with and the imposter syndrome is wild right now.”

Each honoree is introduced to the list through a short tribute penned by an industry friend or colleague. For Smith, it was Shaboozey; for Daniel Dae Kim, the words came from JJ Abrams, who worked with the actor on “Lost.”

“I was really pleasantly surprised and humbled by it, just the way I am by this entire recognition,” Kim said. “When you have a relationship with someone where you just talk day to day, you don’t often take a step back and think about the ways they’ve affected your life in positive ways.”

“Is Meghan in the building? Yesterday I got excited because I saw her sitting in a chair that I sat in after her,” said Nikki Glasser, presumably excited to run into her fellow Time 100 honoree Meghan Markle, who attended the Time 100 Summit the day before. But a different Meg — Megyn Kelly, also on the list — trailed closely behind Glasser on the carpet, along with Adrien Brody, Georgina Chapman, Hozier and more making their way toward cocktail hour.

Scarlett Johansson could be found catching up with Miranda July and Serena Williams ahead of the seated dinner, which doubled as a filmed-for-TV special. The dinner opened with a performance by Smith, who performed his hit “Stargazing” and is gearing up to join Ed Sheeran on tour this summer. But first, he joined Sheeran at their table for dinner, where they were seated alongside Irish singer Hozier, chef Kwame Onwuachi, who is getting ready to cater the Met Gala, and Padma Lakshmi. Female education activist Angeline Murimirwa was one table over, along with “Wicked” director Jon Chu.

The evening featured brief speeches from honorees between courses, beginning with former Hamas hostage Noa Argamani and ending with Lively, who spoke about violence against women as she paid tribute to her mother, who was seated within the frame along with Ryan Reynolds.

Snoop Dogg, serving as the event’s emcee, added personal platitudes as he offered shout-outs for Time 100 honorees including Simone Biles, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Demi Moore, chemistry Nobel Prize winner Demis Hassabis and “the least controversial person” Bobbi Brown.

“Lets take a second to acknowledge just how once in a lifetime this crowd is. Just take a look around,” said Snoop, as if everyone wasn’t already well aware of Williams and Biles, or Lively and Reynolds, just seats away. “You’ll never be in a crowd this hot again in your life.”

Sheeran closed out the night with a three-song performance, including new song “Old Phone” from his upcoming album.