Highlights From the Toasts at the TIME100 Next Gala 2023

More than a hundred guests gathered in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday evening to celebrate the honorees on the TIME100 Next list.

Influential figures —including Golden Globe-nominated actor Rachel Zegler, comedian Mae Martin and Grammy award-nominated singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini—made an appearance at the TIME100 Next Gala 2023. Six honorees, including actor Tyler James Williams and artist Noah Kahan, offered toasts spotlighting people and causes significant to them.

The event began on a somber note, with TIME CEO Jessica Sibley saying a few words about the Israel-Hamas war. “The last few weeks have been difficult,” Sibley said. “It’s so important to have all of us come together here tonight… to be together… and to drive meaningful conversations.”

Honorees echoed that sentiment of coming together, emphasizing the general importance of collective solidarity and action, including on issues like climate change and transgender rights.

“​​[Tonight] we’re celebrating thousands of those who are here before us who made it possible for us to be here,” said Xiye Bastida, a 21-year-old climate activist and member of the indigenous Otomi community.

Here’s what recipients had to say:

Tyler James Williams

Golden Globe-award winning actor Tyler James Williams spoke fondly about advice his mother once gave him, saying that she encouraged him to not be afraid to be unique.

“Everyone in this room, at some point or another, had to make a complicated choice to choose to do what they do uniquely. Inherently differently,” said Williams. “Being unique is not a choice. But choosing to authentically present your uniqueness is.”

Williams toasted to the decision to take a different path, even when the outcome is unknown. “May we all remain comfortable with the uncomfortable.”

Xiye Bastida

Climate activist Xiye Bastida toasted to her ancestors, reminding guests about the lessons that current generations can learn from the past, especially regarding their relationship with the Earth.

Bastida spoke about how in the indigenous language she speaks, Otomi, the word for the outer layer of the Earth is the same word for skin, “meaning that when you hurt Mother Earth, you’re actually hurting yourself.”

She also reminded fellow honorees about the need to take actions that will help make the world a better place. “I choose to walk my path, knowing that I’m an architect of the future, honoring my ancestors, as well as future generations,” she said. “Today, I want to toast Mother Earth. Because every breath that we have taken, every bite, every single step, we always have this beautiful world.”

Noah Kahan

Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan has been open about his battles with mental health, and did the same while giving a toast at the gala.

“I grew up being told that a depressive episode requires as much rehab as a broken arm,” he said. Kahan went on to say that his family gave him the space to not be okay all the time and that he was encouraged to talk, “Even if I was just listing my flaws, I feel better now.” He ended by suggesting his peers should do the same. “Here’s a toast to talking, to being honest about how we’re feeling, and maybe feeling better because of it.”

Victor J. Glover, Jr.

Astronaut Victor Glover, Jr. is preparing for a lunar mission on the Artemis II in 2024, but at the TIME100 Next Gala, he remembered his November 2020 SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience trip to the International Space Station and return in May 2021.

“It was a great time to leave the planet,” he joked. “But my wife made me come back.”

He added: “I lived there so long it felt like home… But only when it’s night on Earth and that sky is pitch black, the absence of everything else, can you see the stars. When I look around this room tonight, I see bright lights and I want to toast to your courage, your work, inspiring humanity through faith, through food, through art, film, music, community development, your activism, your service, your passion. I just want to encourage you to keep shining and I raise my glass to you.”

Dylan Brandt

Teen activist Dylan Brandt, the young man behind the 2021 state lawsuit that helped transgender kids in Arkansas access gender-affirming care, toasted to transgender families across the country.

Brandt’s speech centered on themes of hope and resilience. He would not have been able to take on this legal battle alone, he said. “In this journey, family extends beyond blood, encompassing anyone who supports me and helps me find my authentic self, defining my support system,” Brandt said.

“Let us be allies, advocates, and champions for these [transgender] families and work tirelessly to create a world where every individual, regardless of where they come from, can live authentically and with the love and acceptance they deserve.”

Stephanie Hsu

Actress Stephanie Hsu, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in last year’s Everything Everywhere All at Once and starred this year in the comedy Joy Ride, admitted that she found it difficult to find something to toast to tonight because “the world feels like it is an absolute shambles, and the shambles feel like they’re all somehow made by our own human doing.” The actress did not point to one specific tragedy, but noted that during the pandemic, she found comfort in the words of her favorite authors.

“In her book, No Is Not Enough, Naomi Klein says that it is not enough to merely resist, to say no. Our historical moment demands a more credible and inspiring Yes–one that sets a bold course for winning the fair and caring world we want and need.”

Write to Moises Mendez II at moises.mendez@time.com.