New NBC star Megyn Kelly was seen powwowing with the network’s former queen of “Today,” Katie Couric, at the prestigious Time 100 Most Influential Gala on Tuesday night.
After Page Six revealed Kelly will start at NBC in May, she was seen chatting up Couric on Tuesday night at the star-studded event at Lincoln Center.
Couric herself told us of the tough news business, “I do feel like I get the respect that I deserve, not by everybody though. One thing I have learned, you can’t be liked by everyone and sometimes if you stand by something, a lot of people will not like you.”
She added, “I do not feel like I am an icon to young female journalists, not at all. But I am happy if I have helped in any way to inspire young women. I have tried all my life to be a role model and to conduct myself in a way that I could be smart and authoritative to have equal footing with men.”
“SNL” star Leslie Jones was the star of the party, with guests literally climbing over barriers to greet her. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds shimmied down one balcony level to chat with Jones, as did Chrissy Teigen, who was earlier seen braving lashing wind and rain as she arrived in a strapless gown.
Jones also was seen mugging for photos with Viola Davis, Ava DuVernay, RuPaul and Colin Kaepernick.
Jones told us, “It’s pretty awesome that everyone is being so nice. I’m having a great time. But I can’t wait to take these damn high heels off, they’re killing me.”
Model of the moment Ashley Graham nearly fell over on the red carpet but saved herself at the last moment. Quickly recovering, she told Page Six the advice she would give her younger self.
“I would tell my younger self not to be so anxious … If you just look at the girl in the mirror and accepted her for who she was and start looking at yourself as a role model, things might change in my life,” she said. “The moment I was proud of myself when I thought I was making a difference is when I took a photo of my cellulite and posted it on Instagram. I do not think that there is something more real than that.”
Guests — who also included Harvey Weinstein, Naomi Campbell and Margot Robbie — were treated to performances by John Legend and Demi Lovato.
Honorees on Time’s 100 Most Influential People included Samantha Bee, Margaret Atwood, Syrian Defense leader Raed Saleh and Viola Davis, who said, “Everybody in this room, I’m sure at some point, has gone through something in their lives, and you survived it. But not only did you survive it, you took that trauma, and that hurt, that revelation, or whatever it was, and you used it to connect, to give, to influence, to help, and that is the beauty and the purpose of what we are here on this Earth to do.”