--- --- # Adam Rippon's Deeply Emotional Reaction to Cher's Praise Is a Thing of Beauty ## Video: Adam Rippon's Toast at the TIME 100 Gala [Watch (HLS stream): Adam Rippon's Toast at the TIME 100 Gala](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0BRi8ZWz.m3u8) (2:16)  _Published 2018-04-25. Adam Rippon's Toast at the TIME 100 Gala_  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Apr 25, 2018 12:52 AM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Apr 25, 2018 12:52 AM UTC Ever since stealing hearts and nabbing medals at the 2018 PyeongChang [Winter Olympics](http://time.com/5181946/12-questions-with-adam-rippon/), figure skater [Adam Rippon](http://time.com/collection-post/5217596/adam-rippon/) has turned his sharp edges to showing off his wit and humor. His appearance at the TIME 100 Gala in New York on Tuesday night was no exception, as the medal-winning athlete — who is on the [2018 TIME 100](http://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/?) list as one of the world’s most influential people — mingled with his fellow celebrities and charmed new admirers. One of his admirers is a legend known as Cher. She wrote about him in the TIME 100 issue — and Rippon reacted accordingly when TIME asked him about that honor at the gala. “I think this was the first time I was like, enough is enough! Cher, how could you play me like that?” Rippon said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I wasn’t expecting it — it was completely unreal. She’s been a champion for so many. Truly, just completely unreal.” Classic Rippon. Rippon is lately shining in his status as America’s beloved breakout Olympic star, [covering](https://www.out.com/out-exclusives/2018/4/05/adam-rippon-gus-kenworthy-american-idols) a number of magazines, advocating for LGBTQ rights and befriending his idols, like snowboarder [Gus Kenworthy](http://time.com/5164823/lgbt-gus-kenworthy-olympics-2018/), actress [Reese Witherspoon](http://time.com/5191281/adam-rippon-and-reese-witherspoon-on-colbert/) and fellow TIME 100 honoree [Shawn Mendes](http://time.com/5186347/oscars-2018-adam-rippon-shawn-mendes-selfie/). He’s also busy on the upcoming all-athlete season of [_Dancing With the Stars_](http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/news/updates/dwts-athletes-cast-announcement-spring-2018), where he’ll compete against teammate figure skater [Mirai Nagasu](http://time.com/5173409/mirai-nagaus-dancing-stars/). Adam Rippon reacts to praise from cher at time 100 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5251289/adam-rippon-on-cher-time-100/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5251289/adam-rippon-on-cher-time-100/"},"headline":"Adam Rippon's Deeply Emotional Reaction to Cher's Praise Is a Thing of Beauty","datePublished":"2018-04-25T00:52:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:18.206Z","description":"The Olympic figure skater is on the 2018 TIME 100","url":"https://time.com/5251289/adam-rippon-on-cher-time-100/","keywords":["Newsfeed","GALA","T1002018"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"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/5251289/adam-rippon-on-cher-time-100/","name":"Adam Rippon's Deeply Emotional Reaction to Cher's Praise Is a Thing of Beauty"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Adam Rippon's Toast at the TIME 100 Gala","description":"Adam Rippon's Toast at the TIME 100 Gala","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0BRi8ZWz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-04-25T02:38:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0BRi8ZWz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5251289/adam-rippon-on-cher-time-100/","duration":"PT2M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5251289/adam-rippon-on-cher-time-100/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```