Time gala: the stars, the heroes, the hierarchy
Time rolled out the red carpet Tuesday night for a party to honor the 100 Most Influential People in the world. While politicians who once flocked to the event were in short supply, leaders from the entertainment, tech and media realms showed up in droves.
A record 81 present and past honorees made the scene this year, although some, like President Obama, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis and Cuba’s Raul Castro, could be excused for skipping the gala.
Kanye West, who graced one of the five covers for the 100 Most Influential People issue, also provided some of the musical entertainment and was seated with wife Kim Kardashian, “American Sniper” star Bradley Cooper and Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk at Table 8. The event was hosted at the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in the Time Warner Center.
Time Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs kept the wine flowing but did not have to work hard to keep the conversation rolling with a table that also included Ariel Investments head Mellody Hobson and her director-producer husband, George Lucas of “Star Wars” fame.
Country singer Tim McGraw, who added to the musical entertainment for the night, was joined by wife Faith Hill and their three daughters at Table 6, where they broke bread with Airbnb founder Brian Chesky.
At Table 9, “The Good Wife” star Julianna Margulies was seated with Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp. and 21st Century Fox, and son Lachlan Murdoch, non-executive chairman of News Corp., which owns The Post. Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp and Joanne Liu, from Doctors Without Borders, rounded out the table.
Oscar winner Julianne Moore was joined at Table 10 by “Today” host Matt Lauer, “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels and Obiageli Ezekwesili, an honoree who started the #BringBackOurGirls campaign over the abducted school children in Nigeria.
Former astronaut Mark Kelly landed with his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, at Table 1. His twin brother, Scott, is on a year-long mission aboard the International Space Station, while Mark is serving as the control on Earth.
Also enjoying front row status was Univision anchor Jorge Ramos at Table 2, one of the cover stars of the issue, along with filmmaker Harvey Weinstein, his wife, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, and late-night talk show host Seth Meyers.
John Dickerson, the future host of “Face the Nation,” had no chance of keeping it too serious at Table 3 with Comedy Central star Amy Schumer and transgender actress Laverne Cox from the Netflix hit show “Orange Is the New Black.” Both were honorees of the top 100.
Hillary Clinton, a no-show, was on the list as a leader and surprisingly did the write-up for a woman who many urged to enter the Democratic race for president against her, Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
There was definitely a pecking order among foodies on the scene.
Martha Stewart, whose media and branding empire is on the upswing, wrote the essay on Kardashian, but still only managed a third-tier seat at Table 12.
Meanwhile, the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten was seen dispensing tips at Table 4 on the first tier to Real Simple editor Kristin van Ogtrop. Their table mate was Mustafa Hassan, a 2015 honoree for her work with the International Rescue Committee in Syria.
Restaurateur Danny Meyer, flush after his Shake Shack IPO earlier this year, still merited no better than Table 15 on the third tier.
But as a consolation prize, he got to chat with Megyn Kelly, host of the Fox News show “The Kelly File.”
the “Top Chef” host and cookbook author Padma Lakshmi was at Table 20 along with Mia Farrow, son Ronan Farrow and artist Chris Ofili.
In the frozen tundra at Table 17, there was a Time reunion. Former Time editor Jim Kelly, who is now a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and a sometime consultant to Time, was breaking bread with his predecessor as editor, Walter Isaacson, “Hardball” host Chris Matthews and Kira Orange Jones.
Isaacson did the write-up on Orange Jones, the Teach for America executive director who became instrumental in education reform in Isaacson’s native New Orleans.
For the third year in a row, Time cashed in on the ad front by running five “covers.”
It sold four of the back cover ads to Toyota and a fifth went to express parcel courier DHL.
In addition to Kanye, Ramos and Cooper, the other covers included ballerina Misty Copeland — who was chatting with National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver at Table 11 — and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only cover subject to skip this year’s event.
Her profile was written by fellow high court colleague Antonin Scalia, a graduate of Manhattan’s Xavier High School.