Day: April 26, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday took up Donald Trump’s bid to avoid prosecution over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump’s lawyers argue that former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity for their official acts. We talk to Richard O. Lempert from the University of Michigan School of Law. New York’s highest court on Thursday threw out Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction with a ruling that shocked and disappointed women who celebrated historic gains during the #MeToo era. And paleontologists in Argentina have announced a new herbivorous dinosaur that lived over 90 million years.

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Highlights From the Red Carpet at the 2024 TIME100 Gala

Post author By Mike Nova
Post date April 26, 2024

Dua Lipa at the TIME 100 Gala

On Thursday, TIME rolled out the red carpet at New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center for a ceremony recognizing the 2024 TIME100 honorees. This year’s TIME100 Gala, which brought together some of the most influential people in the world to celebrate the annual TIME100 list, began with a number of the night’s biggest stars serving stunning looks, chatting with press, and mingling amongst each other.

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Here are the evening’s buzziest red carpet moments, featuring icons like singer-songwriter Dua Lipa, actor-director Dev Patel, and more.

Dua Lipa on Saturday Night Live

Leading up to her upcoming double-duty stint as both host and musical guest of the May 4 episode of SNL, Dua Lipa revealed how thrilled she is to be taking on the legendary gig. “I’m so excited. I’m really, really looking forward to it,” she said. “I’m just going to throw myself into what could quite possibly be the maddest experience of my life and just have fun with it.”

She also explained how she’s started preparing for her first time as host. “I hung out with Bowen Yang for a bit so I was picking his brain a little before I get into all the madness,” she said.

Dev Patel on rom-coms

Fresh off the theatrical release of his feature directorial debut, revenge thriller Monkey Man, Dev Patel offered his take on a very different genre of film: romantic comedies.

After being told that many of his fans want to see him in a rom-com, Patel seemed totally game. “I love rom-coms. I wouldn’t mind doing my own Hugh Grant vibes,” he said, adding that, in addition to all of Grant’s movies, his personal favorite rom-com is Pretty Woman.

However, he all but pled the fifth when asked whom he’d like to star opposite him. “Any of the cool actresses working today,” he said.

Kylie Minogue on “Padam Padam”

In reference to her 2023 No.1 hit single “Padam Padam,” pop icon Kylie Minogue said that while she was originally confused by the song’s title, she immediately fell in love with it after hearing it as a demo.

“Before he hit play, I was like, ‘Padam Padam?’ As everyone pretty much said, ‘What’s Padam Padam?’” she said. “I heard the song, fell in love with it, and literally said, ‘Get me the stems—when can I record it?’ So I recorded it in my hotel room—I do so much recording myself now…I will forever be very thankful for ‘Padam Padam.’”

Don Lemon on Weinstein’s overturned conviction

In the wake of the news that New York’s top court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction—the watershed case that sparked Hollywood’s #MeToo movement—TV journalist Don Lemon spoke about why he believes Weinstein’s case should be “adjudicated properly.”

“I’m not a fan [of Weinstein] but I will tell you it’s our justice system,” Lemon said. “If they found credible evidence that something happened with the judge during the trial then just like any other citizen he should be treated equally under the law…Innocent until proven guilty. Again, that doesn’t mean I think he’s innocent. But Donald Trump is downtown in Manhattan and he’s in front of a judge and a jury. Everyone should be treated fairly under the system.”

The TIME100 Gala is TIME’s annual celebration of the TIME100 list of the world’s most influential people. The Gala brings together icons, leaders, change-makers, and celebrities from across industries and nations for one lively evening of meaningful dialogue and celebration. This year’s Gala features live performances from Dua Lipa and Fantasia Barrino, two honorees on the 2024 TIME100 list.

TIME is teaming up with ABC to bring viewers inside the exclusive TIME100 Gala with a special television event. TIME100: The World’s Most Influential People, produced in partnership with P&G, airs Sunday, May 12 at 10 p.m. EDT on ABC, and the next day on Hulu, featuring host Taraji P. Henson and appearances by Patrick Mahomes, Maya Rudolph, and more.

The TIME100 Gala was presented by Booking.com, Citi, Merck, Northern Data Group, Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky, and Verizon.

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How TIME100 Gala Attendees Reacted to Harvey Weinstein’s Overturned Rape Conviction

Post author By Mike Nova
Post date April 26, 2024

The crowd at the TIME 100 Gala

The world’s most influential leaders gathered to toast the annual TIME100 list in New York City on Thursday. While the night was a celebration, the day was also a sobering moment of reflection for many in the wake of the announcement that same morning that disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 New York rape conviction was overturned; Weinstein’s case was a landmark lawsuit that helped to accelerate the #MeToo movement.

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For some attendees, like media personality Don Lemon, the news was heavy, but ultimately an opportunity for the country’s justice system to live up to its values.

“I’m not a fan [of Weinstein], but I will tell you, it’s our justice system and if they found credible evidence that something happened with the judge or the trial during the trial, then just like any other citizen, he should be treated equally under the law,” Lemon told TIME, later drawing a parallel between Weinstein’s right to a fair trial and Donald Trump’s current hush money trial.

For others, like activist and astronaut Amanda Nguyen, who helped to craft the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act after surviving her own assault, the overturned conviction was a disheartening reminder that there’s still so much more work to do when it comes to stopping sexual violence.

“We all know as survivors that the courts fail us,” Nguyen told TIME. “I want everyone, especially survivors, to know that you’re not alone, that we have been fighting, that we believe them and even when we have these setbacks, we know our truth. We will get through this.”

2024 TIME100 honoree and Human Rights Coalition president Kelley Robinson said that she was using the current moment as an affirmation of the power of community and a reminder that any movement often includes setbacks on the way to progress.

“I hope that anyone who is a survivor who is watching at this moment right now looks up and knows that there’s a community of people that have their back,” Robinson told TIME. “There are people that are willing to fight for them and the way that progress works is that sometimes we make advancements and sometimes we get pushed back.”

Former TIME100 honoree Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, agreed with Robinson’s belief that any movement towards a brighter future would encounter challenges but that, ultimately, the power of it came from working together in numbers.

“This is a movement because we stand together and we move together,” Burke told TIME. “I think that when people see hashtags go viral, they misunderstand what movements are—movements are made of people. And the one thing the survivor movement has is a lot of people. What we’ve seen historically is that movements always have disappointments, so while I was disappointed in what I saw today, I don’t see it as a setback. It means we have more work to do.”

However, for TIME100 honoree and writer E. Jean Carroll, who had a landmark win last year when a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual assault for a case she brought against him for an alleged rape in the ’90s, the news was visceral and sobering.

“This will not stand,” Carroll told TIME. “But it’s a punch to the gut.”

The TIME100 Gala was presented by Booking.com, Citi, Merck, Northern Data Group, Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky, and Verizon.

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TIME100 Honoree Motaz Azaiza Speaks on the Gaza Solidarity Encampments Taking Over U.S. Colleges

Post author By Mike Nova
Post date April 26, 2024

Motaz Azaiza at the TIME 100 Gala

Motaz Azaiza spoke to TIME on the red carpet at this year’s TIME100 Gala in New York City. The Palestinian photojournalist is honored on this year’s list for his work showing the world what is going on in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war. He spoke about the Gaza solidarity encampments that are popping up at universities in New York and across the country. He recently visited students at Columbia University and New York University and told TIME about the experience.

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Azaiza says that he received an invitation to visit the campuses from the journalism schools at the universities. “It was great. I appreciate this, and I’m happy that students there would like to know more and educate themselves.” He continues, “It was an honor for me to raise awareness about what is going on in my country.”

In regards to using his platform on social media to raise awareness for what is going on in Gaza, he listed a couple things that he’d like people to know. “We are humans, we’re asking for and fighting for our freedom,” he says of the people of Palestine. “We are not animals, my people are getting killed, murdered, and starving. Struggling to find food, shelter, they are in the tents… people are really suffering. It’s now 200+ days of suffering and murdering people—civilians, most of them are women and children.”

He says that he lost over 100 of his colleagues due to the Israel-Hamas war. “Journalists should be protected everywhere in the world,” he tells TIME on the red carpet. “Journalists should not be afraid doing their work or threatened to be killed.” Azaiza ended his interview with TIME saying, “Free Palestine.”

The TIME100 Gala was presented by Booking.com, Citi, Merck, Northern Data Group, Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky, and Verizon.

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Jack Antonoff Says Florence Welch Gave Him ‘a Lot of Tips’ for Writing a Broadway Score

Post author By Mike Nova
Post date April 26, 2024

Jack Antonoff at the TIME 100 Gala

TIME100 Honoree Jack Antonoff is making his Broadway debut later this year. It was announced on April 16 that the famed music producer would be crafting the score for the modern adaptation of Romeo + Juliet, starring Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor. Antonoff tells TIME that he spoke with Florence Welch, who did the score for The Great Gatsby at the American Repository Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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“She’s walking me through it,” he says, adding that Welch has given him “a lot of tips.” When asked about the specifics of the conversation, Antonoff said that “it’s private.” Tony-winning director Sam Gold, who will direct the Zegler and Connor-led Romeo + Juliet, is working with Antonoff on the sound for the new show. “[Gold] is so brilliant, and our conversations about what it could be are kind of wide open. We’re trying to find a sound that is somewhat bizarre and familiar,” Antonoff says.

The collaboration process is something that Antonoff is very familiar with given his long list of credits on multiple pop stars albums. From Lorde to Lana Del Rey, he’s “got something cooking,” but was not specific about who he’s working with next. He even joked about wanting to do classical music. When asked who he’d like to collaborate with next whom he hasn’t had a chance to, Antonoff says, “I never know if I like someone’s work, and that’s already in the past.” He urges that something is on the way.

Antonoff is just coming off two-weekend performances at Coachella with his band, Bleachers. The first-weekend set was visited by his long-time collaborator, Taylor Swift, and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Swift’s latest project, The Tortured Poets Department, was released last Friday. Anotonoff is credited as a producer on 16 songs and has a songwriting credit on 10.

The TIME100 Gala was presented by Booking.com, Citi, Merck, Northern Data Group, Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky, and Verizon.