Although I was on the fence, I did end up going to the Time100 Gala last night. I was debating whether or not to go because I don’t totally believe in these big red carpet things, and I have been to very many of them over the years.
The ‘Scam’
As I said on the red carpet last night, with all due respect to Time, I don’t think they really pick the most influential people. I think it is more of a PR event. And I should say the people at Time were absolutely lovely. They were really nice up and down the line, and I did not sense one iota of hostility toward me given my political views. They did nothing other than make me feel welcome and were super kind.
I appreciate being named again, but I have to be honest about it. These things are very navel gazey. It felt a little embarrassing to be walking around with people pretending this really is the 100 most influential people and somehow they have moved up on some imaginary power grid.
I looked around last night and there was not one other conservative in the room. Not one. You would find the occasional civilian who would come over and be like, ‘Hey, I am one of your kind.’ Time did put J.D. Vance on the list, and Joe Rogan was named too. He is not conservative, but he voted for Donald Trump. Neither attended.
To be fair, some of the people have accomplished so much. Olympic champion Simone Biles was there and spoke. She is impressive by anybody’s measure. But then you had people like Blake Lively, who was there with her husband Ryan Reynolds and her mother Elaine Lively. She has been in some movies and successful TV shows, but in no world is this person one of the most influential people in America.
This is part of what Mark Halperin called the “scam” of the whole thing. He worked for Time and told me on Friday’s edition of The Megyn Kelly Show that the event is basically an “advertising play.” He said Time gets a group of famous and influential people in the same room, and then they go to their biggest advertisers and say, ‘Come sit at a table with a Nobel Prize winner or XYZ celebrity.’ Mark called it an “exercise in stroking and cultivating advertisers.”
I think that is why the nature of the gathering is off-putting to me. When I first went in 2014, I was a little bit more starry eyed. It felt like, wow, I’ve accomplished something, which, you know, I hadn’t. I had launched my primetime show on Fox News. That was good, but I wasn’t one of the most influential people.
And then there is the fact that these things are awkward. That is true for many reasons, but especially because – let’s face it – what we do on The Megyn Kelly Show is criticize the media all day, every day and half of them were in the room. That is awkward.
Blake Lively
As it turned out, Meghan Markle was not there. She only participated in the summit leading up to the big event, which I was invited to but declined to go. Had I known we might have crossed paths, maybe I would have reconsidered it. But it is probably best for all that we did not see each other. I think I might have dodged a bullet there.
But as I mentioned, Blake Lively was in attendance. I joked with a reporter on the red carpet that I was hoping to get some sort of selfie with Lively or Markle in the background since they have provided me with so many hours of content. I also made headlines for saying I didn’t think Blake should have made the list because she has no influence and is embroiled in what I believe is a fake #MeToo claim against Justin Baldoni.
I did manage to get my selfie. Here is Doug and yours truly in the foreground and Blake in the back:
She was right behind me chatting with somebody. She is an absolutely beautiful woman. Ryan Reynolds was with her and very nice to everybody around him.
But the truth is, I don’t think what she is doing to Justin Baldoni is in any way fair, gracious, nice, or just. I couldn’t help looking at her the whole night like some sort of twisted mean girl because virtually all the allegations she has launched against him have fallen apart. Yes, there is still going to be a trial. She will have her day in court. But to me, there is something wrong with her to have said the things she said when it is all being disproved. There is actual evidence.
In any event, she had the opportunity to go give a speech and decided to make the whole thing about her mother’s rape. Here’s a bit of what she said:
LIVELY: I have so much to say about the last two years of my life, but tonight is not the forum. What I will speak to separately is the feeling of being a woman who has a voice today… Before I say more, I want to warn that what I will speak about tonight covers trauma, so please feel free to step away if you need.
My life was influenced most by my mother sitting here tonight… She wanted me to share with you that she is a survivor of the worst crime someone can commit against a woman… My mom never got justice from her work acquaintance who attempted to take her life… She has always credited her beating heart today with a story she heard from another woman in a similar circumstance… The woman painfully and graphically shared how she escaped. And because of hearing that woman speak to her experience, instead of shutting down in fear and unfair shame, my mom is alive today…
We don’t let our daughters know, but one day we break their hearts by letting them in on the secret that we kept from them as they pranced around in princess dresses that they are not and will likely never be safe at work, at home, in a parking lot, in a medical office, online, in any space they inhabit physically, emotionally, professionally…
Never underestimate a woman’s ability to endure pain. Life’s just a bowl of cherries. So, 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. 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 and I share tonight and my influence with you for as long as I have the ability to affect even one other person.
Now, why would she make her whole speech about her mother’s trauma from more than 45 years ago? That was the darkest view of womanhood in America that I think I have ever heard from a public figure at an awards ceremony. To me, it was evidence of how desperate she is to improve her standing in the public eye.
She has really taken a serious hit as a result of this battle she started with Justin Baldoni. She thought she was going to be elevated as a #MeToo heroine. Instead, he lawyered up with a great one who happens to be my own lawyer too, Bryan Freedman, and started fighting back on each and every claim.
She has a whole legion of people who no longer like her, and my own belief is she used her mother’s rape to try to improve her standing with a certain section of the populace. I thought it was such an obvious manipulation of her image, and I thought it was one of the most cynical displays.
The Highlights
The evening also had its highlights. I got to see Ed Sheeran again. I interviewed him when I was at NBC, and he was just as charming as he was then.
Gayle King was also there. She was working the tables that had celebrities at them the way a bride works her wedding. I mean, she did not skip somebody who was famous. Most of us leave the celebrities alone. Obviously, she did not feel that way.
We were treated to a performance by Myles Smith, and he was amazing. I would definitely go see him in concert. And last but not least, I met Demi Moore, who was stunning. She could not have been nicer. Some of these A-listers won’t deign to speak to anyone other than their little collected table, but she was very friendly with everyone there.
So, that is my armchair assessment of the Time100 Gala. Thank you, again, to Time. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful; I just have to be honest about my feelings. I am glad we went. Doug and I had fun, and we met some nice people.
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,057 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.