Honorees at the 2025 TIME100 Gala gathered at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Thursday night to pay tribute to the people and causes that have shaped their life’s work.
Industry leaders were among the hundreds of guests joining them in New York City to celebrate this year’s TIME100, a list that brings together influential voices, cultural icons, and global change-makers.
Noa Argamani—who was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and held hostage for 245 days before her rescue—joined actor, author, and producer Demi Moore; former professional tennis player Serena Williams; education advocate Angeline Murimirwa; and actor and entrepreneur Blake Lively in delivering tributes at the event.
TIME CEO Jess Sibley introduced Argamani, the first to give a tribute that evening.
Noa Argamani
Argamani used her speech to deliver a heartfelt tribute to the 59 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, including her partner, Avinatan Or.
“A year ago, I didn’t know if I would make it out alive. I was lucky—I was rescued. But Avinatan is still there, fighting to survive,” she said. She described the conditions in the tunnels where they are held as being “without any light, with barely any food, struggling just to stay alive.”
The former hostage urged the audience to “use [their] voice” and influence to keep global attention on those still in captivity.
“Help make sure that the world will not look away,” she said, "We need them home now—before it's too late."
Speaking after the activist, Sam Jacobs, TIME's Editor in Chief, said "we are grateful not only because [Argamani is] free, but because [she is] a powerful voice for freedom around the world."
Demi Moore
TIME100 Innovator and the evening’s host Snoop Dogg introduced Moore, the second honoree to give a tribute that evening. Moore, who earned a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination for her role in the 2024 film The Substance, reflected on the power of self-acceptance.
“When we embrace who we are, where we are, exactly as we are—we stop missing the moment we’re in,” the actor said.“The truth is you can’t run out of time if you're living in the present.”
Known not only for her work on screen but also as a producer and author, Moore spoke candidly about her personal evolution—describing her path toward self-acceptance and the time she once lost “stressing over things that haven’t happened or reliving things we’ve already survived.”
She closed with a tribute to the journey itself: “So here’s to the moment we’re in: to the weird, winding, beautiful road that brought us all here, to not having it all figured out—but being brave enough to keep showing up anyway.”
Serena Williams
TIME100 Pioneers Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier introduced Williams, a 23 Grand Slam champion, as the next honoree to give a tribute. The athlete and entrepreneur spoke about the importance of “changing the conversation” around what women can achieve in the sporting world.
“For most of my life, I’ve been a part of a world that didn’t always expect much from women … especially not from a Black girl from Compton with big dreams and an even bigger serve,” she said. “But if there’s one thing my parents taught me, it’s that the rules weren’t built for us—so sometimes, you have to create your own.”
Williams reflected on how her early goals grew over time, shifting from personal victories to systemic change.
“When I was a little girl, I dreamed about winning Grand Slams. But as I grew older, I realized my dreams were, well, bigger than that,” she said. “I started dreaming about changing the conversation. About making people see women’s sports, and women’s athletes, completely different. And it was about proving that passion, power and emotion [weren't] weaknesses, but our greatest strengths.”
She highlighted her own ventures, including helping to launch the Toronto Tempo, Canada’s first WNBA team, and supporting emerging women-led leagues.
Williams closed by celebrating a generational shift in the value placed on women athletes and the new foundations being built.
“It’s happening at every level,” she said. “College athletes, especially young women, are learning what I had to figure out the hard way: that their name, their image, their story, has value. That they deserve to profit from their own hard work.”
“To the next generation watching: we’re not just opening doors for you. Of course, that’d be too simple. We’re building whole new houses. Because when you bet on women, you’re betting on the future,” Williams said. “Thank you, and I hope to see all of you at a Tempo game. I’ll save you seats courtside.”
Angeline Murimirwa
TIME100 Icon David Muir introduced Murimirwa, the next honoree to give a tribute. As CEO of CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education), Murimirwa works to ensure millions of girls across Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe can access the education they deserve.
On stage, she offered a stark reminder of just how dire the situation remains. “Did you know that only 5 out of 100 girls from the most marginalized families in Africa complete high school? You heard that right: 95% of the most marginalized girls in rural Africa never complete secondary school.”
Murimirwa shared how her own journey began with the odds firmly stacked against her—and how a scholarship became her turning point.
“My mum sold two buckets of maize to buy me the blanket and toothbrush I needed to stay at the school I would attend, which was far from my village,” she recounted. “My family gave up many meals to see me through.”
Years later, after graduating alongside CAMFED’s first 400 alumnae, Murimirwa helped build the movement that would go on to change hundreds of thousands of lives.
“And when I made it, with the first 400 graduates of CAMFED, we started working on what was next,” she said. “Because we knew that education transforms your life—and it puts you in a position to be able to transform others'.”
Murimirwa emphasized that CAMFED’s mission extends far beyond the classroom, describing the organization’s work as a catalyst for economic growth, improving health and fostering resilience to climate change.
“Tackling our world’s biggest challenges and creating a brighter future is possible. And it starts with sending a girl to school,” she concluded. “Let me make a toast. To my amazing mum. To my fellow girls’ education leaders. To everyone joining us on this journey as we charge ahead. This is the time to support more girls, to support them better, and to support them now!”
Blake Lively
Actor Lively, introduced by Snoop Dogg, spoke about her mother Willie Elain McAlpin, and honored female survivors as a whole.
Lively focused much of her speech on how her mother greatly influenced her life, sharing her mother’s personal experience getting attacked by a co-worker before Lively was born. She and her mother are alive, she says, because of the women survivors who teach each other how to live and continue on. There is a “super power,” the actress says, in “female triumph.”
“We can make it to the end alive, physically or emotionally, and we will, and we do, and we thrive. Even when it doesn’t feel possible. Even when we are in sharp pain,” she said. “Never underestimate a woman’s ability to endure pain.”
Lively admitted that she “has so much to say about the last two years of my life,” but said that “tonight is not the forum,” to share such thoughts. (Lively filed a complaint against Justin Baldoni, her co-star and director of It Ends With Us, in December 2024. Since then, the two have been involved in dueling lawsuits related to her harassment and retaliation allegations, which he has denied.)
Her speech shed a spotlight on the women whose experiences have influenced her, and whose pain and struggles allowed her to be a woman with a “voice” today.
“Thank you to every woman whose strength brought life to me and my four children, and thank you to every man—including my sweet husband—who are kind and good when no one is watching,” she concluded. “And to all the communities across the gender, age, political, geographical, and racial spectrum who fight every day just to be safe, I see you.”
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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.
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 4 at 10 p.m. EDT on ABC, and the next day on Hulu, featuring host Snoop Dogg, a performance by Ed Sheeran, and appearances by Demi Moore, Serena Williams, and more.
The 2025 TIME100 Gala was presented by Booking.com, Circle, Diriyah Company, Prudential Financial, Toyota, Amazon, Absolut, Pfizer, and XPRIZE.