“TIME” magazine has unveiled its 2021 list of the Next 100 Most Influential People In The World. The expansion of their list of the most influential people highlights 100 rising stars shaping the future of entertainment, health, politics, business and more.
Giving the group proper introductions are the magazine’s guest contributors with even bigger names, including but not limited to Jennifer Lopez, Alyssa Siebken, Shonda Rhimes, Tony Hawk, Spike Lee, and Gwen Stefani. Here’s what they have to say about this year’s honorees:
- Jennifer Lopez on Charli D’Amelio: J-Lo may be an A-lister, but even she knows reaching 100-million followers on TikTok is “no small feat” – which Charli became the first to achieve after just a year-and-a-half on the app. Calling Charli” the biggest new teenage star” and a “kindred spirit” as the app’s “best” dancer, J-Lo praises the TikTok star’s “authenticity,” and grace in handling the “huge responsibility” of “such a high level of fame.”
- Matt Tompkins on Alyssa Siebken: Alyssa is the next generation of radio, re-defining what radio looks when she brings her fierce talents and energetic personality on-air, online, and on the socials for Omaha, NE. Her super-power is her authenticity combined with an unfiltered, brutal honesty that she rarely holds back; But, when it comes from a place of genuine love and positivity, she leaves her fans, listeners, and friends only wanting more every single day.
- Tony Hawk on Nyjah Huston: Huston is the highest-paid skateboarder in the world at just 26, and skate legend Tony Hawk says Huston’s skills prove that the “highly technical” skateboarding experience in video games – like the “Tony Hawk Pro Skater” series – really “can be done in real life.” Hawk has “no doubt” that when skateboarding finally hits the Olympics this summer, Huston will be a “top talent.”
- Seth Meyers on Amber Ruffin: Ruffin became the first black woman to write for a late-night network talk show when she joined “Late Night with Seth Meyers” in 2014, and in his intro for “TIME,” the host himself calls Ruffin a “hilarious writer, gifted sketch performer, talented singer, so-so dancer, and loving truth teller.”
- Spike Lee on John David Washington: Washington made his film debut at just seven years old in “Malcolm X,” and legendary director Spike Lee says “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”… which in Washington’s case is Denzel and Pauletta Washington. Lee remembers seeing tears in fellow directing legend Christopher Nolan when they saw Washington in “BlacKkKlansman” at Cannes.
- Gwen Stefani on Olivia Rodrigo: Rodrigo is one of the youngest singers to get a single at the top of “Billboard’s” Hot 100 at just 17 years old with her song “Driver’s License.” Stefani, a GRAMMY-winning hitmaker herself, calls Rodrigo a “master at turning her heartbreak into something glorious.”
Check out the complete list HERE.
Source: TIME