--- title: Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke Become Meme at TIME 100 Gala description: Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke shared a moment at the 2019 TIME 100 Gala — and the internet can't help but love their connection. canonical: https://time.com/5577618/taylor-swift-emilia-clarke-time-100/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-24T21:02:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T23:44:53.000Z og:title: Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke Make a Meme-Worthy Pair og:description: Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke's connection at the TIME 100 Gala is meme-worthy og:url: https://time.com/5577618/taylor-swift-emilia-clarke-time-100/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffce880079affb81/698948ed929fad8c20bf31ab/time-100-gala-2019-dinner-performance-taylor-swift-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: time-100-gala-2019-dinner-performance og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke Make a Meme-Worthy Pair twitter:description: Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke's connection at the TIME 100 Gala is meme-worthy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffce880079affb81/698948ed929fad8c20bf31ab/time-100-gala-2019-dinner-performance-taylor-swift-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Photo of Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke at the TIME 100 Gala Becomes the Ultimate Pop Culture Meme > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:44 PM UTCPublished: Apr 24, 2019 9:02 PM UTC  Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke at the Time 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 23, 2019. Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke at the Time 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 23, 2019. Kevin Tachman for TIME  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:44 PM UTCPublished: Apr 24, 2019 9:02 PM UTC The characters: one [Taylor Swift](http://time.com/5573442/taylor-swift-time-100-gala-performance-video/), pop icon, and one [Emilia Clarke](http://time.com/collection-post/5567865/emilia-clarke/), _Game of Thrones_ actress and well-known [Mother of Dragons](http://time.com/5290025/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-dragon-tattoo/). The occasion: the [2019 TIME 100 Gala](http://time.com/5573035/time-100-2019-gala/) in New York City, celebrating TIME’s [annual selection](http://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/) of 100 of the most influential people in the world — Clarke and Swift included. The moment: when the two superstars met, sparking the internet’s immediate infatuation. Swift, who attended the gala [to perform](http://time.com/5576863/taylor-swift-time-100-pictures/) an acoustic set of songs for her fellow honorees, was captured on camera connecting with Clarke, who famously plays [Daenerys Targaryen](http://time.com/5577255/daenerys-sansa-smile-meme/) in the HBO hit show, in a candid moment during the [evening’s festivities](http://time.com/longform/time-100-gala-2019-red-carpet-fashion-photos/). Both women were dressed in voluminous gowns fit for princesses — Swift’s a diaphanous pale pink, to go along with the theme of her [new aesthetic era](http://time.com/4694697/taylor-swift-new-album-2017/), while Clarke’s was a vibrant red, perhaps winking at her role as the fiery khaleesi and Mother of Dragons. In the photo, we can see Clarke crouching down to chat with Swift, positioned on a lower level of the event space beneath a railing. Naturally, fans have to be curious: what did they discuss? Both have some serious secrets they’re currently hiding; Clarke has to keep her lips sealed about the ultimate ending of the eighth and final season of _Thrones_, while Swift has been teasing a new phase of her own career and image on social media for months, with new music potentially coming out later this week — if her mysterious countdown clock is any indication. While we may never know if they finally spilled these secrets to each other — or had other matters to discuss — at least the internet now has photo evidence of this momentous meet-up of pop culture royalty. > [](https://twitter.com/marvintran76/status/1120891700233347072) > [](https://twitter.com/TSwiftNZ/status/1120879270933536768) > [](https://twitter.com/TSwiftNZ/status/1120846296594538496) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5577618/taylor-swift-emilia-clarke-time-100/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5577618/taylor-swift-emilia-clarke-time-100/"},"headline":"Photo of Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke at the TIME 100 Gala Becomes the Ultimate Pop Culture Meme","datePublished":"2019-04-24T21:02:10.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T23:44:53.000Z","description":"They're both 2019 TIME 100 honorees","url":"https://time.com/5577618/taylor-swift-emilia-clarke-time-100/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Taylor Swift","onetime","T100 2019","2019 TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffce880079affb81/698948ed929fad8c20bf31ab/time-100-gala-2019-dinner-performance-taylor-swift-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltffce880079affb81/698948ed929fad8c20bf31ab/time-100-gala-2019-dinner-performance-taylor-swift-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"time-100-gala-2019-dinner-performance","caption":"Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke at the Time 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 23, 2019.","creditText":"Kevin Tachman for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5577618/taylor-swift-emilia-clarke-time-100/","name":"Photo of Taylor Swift and Emilia Clarke at the TIME 100 Gala Becomes the Ultimate Pop Culture Meme"}}]}] ```