Nikki Glaser to Host 2026 TIME100 Gala Honoring Dakota Johnson, Luke Combs, Zoe Saldaña and More (Exclusive)

Julia MooreWed, April 15, 2026 at 11:30 AM UTC

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Nikki Glaser, Luke Combs, Dakota Johnson and Zoe SaldanaCredit: Getty (4) -

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal some of the 2026 honorees for TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World

The honorees — which include Nikki Glaser, Luke Combs, Coco Jones, Dakota Johnson, Kate Hudson, Zoe Saldaña and Jennie —will celebrate at the TIME100 Gala in New York City on April 23

Glaser will host the event, which will feature performances from Combs and Jones

The biggest stars of the year have been unveiled.

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal that the TIME100 Gala will take place in New York City on Thursday, April 23, and will be hosted by honoree Nikki Glaser and feature performances from honorees Luke Combs and Coco Jones. For the first time, the event will be live-streamed, allowing fans all over the world to be part of the legendary night celebrating some of Hollywood's biggest names.

Alongside Glaser, Combs and Jones, Dakota Johnson, Kate Hudson, Zoe Saldaña and Jennie are on this year's list of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Glaser is honored by Chris Rock in the issue, who says that the 41-year-old Golden Globes host has "all the tools for comedic stardom," but also the "potential" to go far beyond that. "I hope she realizes she has the potential to be not just a great comedian, but a great artist who uses the power that comes with this moment to approach her career like Madonna or Leonardo DiCaprio and work with only the best. I hope this is just the beginning of an incredible, multifaceted, Steve Martin–esque career," Rock, 61, writes.

Taylor Swift honors Johnson and her "fascinatingly varied and eclectic career" in the issue. "The name Dakota Johnson has become synonymous with refreshing honesty in a world of media-­trained answers," Swift writes of the actress, who she says is a friend and "one of the most empathetic people I've ever known."

Johnson, 36, "can’t stop challenging herself" and is "captivating in front of the screen and inquisitive behind it,"

Dakota Johnson (left): Taylor Swift (right)Credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty; Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Hudson "makes being the coolest girl in the room feel effortless," Mindy Kaling writes in the issue, praising the actress for making it "all look easy, which is the hardest thing in the world."

Kaling, 46, recalls meeting Hudson, 46, "while we were both being ignored at an Oscars party" and quips that she "created an entire show" — Netflix's Running Point — just to become friends with her.

Ed Sheeran writes that Combs, 36, "has talent just spilling out of him" and praises the country singer for how he's "constantly evolving" in his personal and professional life.

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"He’s scaled the highest heights of music while remaining loving and kind to those around him," Sheeran, 35, writes. "People might call that 'normal,' but there’s nothing normal about what Luke has achieved."

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Saldaña, 47, is a "phenomenon" who is "one of one in the universe," according to Avatar director James Cameron. "To those close to her, she is the most gracious, loyal, loving, and fiercely protective mother, wife, friend, and all-around incredible human being we know," he writes in TIME. He praises her, too, for celebrating her "Afro-Latina roots with fierce pride and courageous dignity" in her work.

"Zoe moves through the world with grace and beauty, elevating all of us whom she touches," Cameron, 71, says.

Kate Hudson (left), Coco Jones (middle) and Jennie (right)Credit: Getty (3)

Gracie Abrams honors Jennie in the issue, who she says is simply "a star" and possesses that same enigmatic quality onstage and off. "The magic at her core...is identical to the power she carries when you find her in the corner of a party or run into her in a backstage hallway," Abrams writes.

Jennie, 30, is "the type of person who will grab both your hands and squeeze them," Abrams, 26, says. "She has a softness that only emphasizes her strength."

Jones, 28, is celebrated by her longtime friend, Jaylen Barron. The pair first met "when we were both kids on the set of Disney Channel’s Good Luck Charlie," Barron writes. "We've been best friends ever since."

"Everything she does is a masterpiece," Barron says of Jones, who "knows exactly who she is, and has never been afraid to be her full self." She praises her, too, as a "great example for other young Black women—especially in an industry that was not built for us—that you don’t have to compromise your values in order to be successful."

The TIME100 red carpet ahead of the gala will be hosted by actor Terrence J and Traitors star Maura Higgins, who will interview many of the night's special guests and honorees. For the first time, the carpet will be livestreamed across TIME’s YouTube, Instagram and X accounts, bringing fans from around the world in on the action, thanks to P&G and Cascade.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”