Time’s Most Influential: Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Bradley Cooper & more

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Time Magazine’s annual Time 100, or the Most Influential People in the World issue, is out this week. Per usual, the Time 100 is broken down into five categories: the Titans (represented with a Kanye West cover), the Leaders (Jorge Ramos cover), the Pioneers (Misty Copeland cover), the Artists (Bradley Cooper cover) and the Icons (featuring a cover with the Notorious RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsberg). You can see Time Magazine’s Time 100 package here – they always go all out, and they always get friends/admirers to write about the featured people.

This year’s Time 100 includes the above people, obviously, plus Amy Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Pope Francis, Kim Kardashian, Laverne Cox, Lorne Michaels, Ina Garten, Reese Witherspoon, Emma Watson, Samantha Power, Alexander Wang, Lee Daniels and more. So… Time has gone full KIMYE. They gave Kanye his own cover – plus Elon Musk wrote about Kanye’s influence – and they included Kim on the list, with a write-up from Martha Stewart (of all people). How does that make you feel about Time?

Personally, I hate the fact that Bradley Cooper was chosen as the face of The Artists. Seriously? On a list of artists that includes Alexander Wang, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chris Pratt, Kevin Hart, Julianne Moore and John Oliver? With that kind of list of artists, you’re going to put BRADLEY COOPER on the cover? But my disgust with B-Coop’s ascent has been well-documented. I just don’t get how he keeps getting Oscar nominations for playing the same character time after time.

FINAL.Cooper

FINAL.Kanye

Covers courtesy of Time Magazine, additional photo by WENN.

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113 Responses to “Time’s Most Influential: Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Bradley Cooper & more”

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  1. ToodySezHey says:

    Kanye and B Coop? Ugh.

  2. Kiddo says:

    Ruth Bader Ginsburg should not be sharing a cover with this level of F_ckery.

  3. M.A.F. says:

    I still do not get the Bradley Cooper thing. I just don’t.

    • CM says:

      Indeed. Either he’s been ridiculously lucky (I mean, come on: he’s no Daniel Day Lewis in terms of talent!) or he has friends in very high places. And that cover photo – is it just my screen or is he looking particularly red-eyed there? He looks… a bit out of it…

    • Kiddo says:

      >>>>>>>fake baby, the end.

    • VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

      As far as I’m concerned the only movie he’s ever made worth watching again (JUST for him, my man Liam was in A Team), is “American Sniper”…which is effing sad. Honestly, that’s the ONLY role of his that he deserved to be nominated for an Oscar for (just going by performance)….that’s the only time I’ve ever seen him NOT be Bradley Cooper. Ugh. I feel dirty inside. Especially since I thought he was a million times hotter than he normally was with that extra weight and beard. My kryptonite.

    • lucy2 says:

      I think he’s been good in a few movies, but not 3 Oscar nominations in a row good. I’m kind of bummed that they didn’t give it to Julianne, who has had a longer and better career and finally won her long over due Oscar.

      • I-am-fluff says:

        in the meanwhile… Leonardo DiCaprio gets zero recognition

      • M.A.F. says:

        And that is what I don’t get. I’m not a huge DiCaprio fan but he has had so many good movies where I’ve been blown away and yet we have Cooper, who will forever the guy from Alias, who has three nominations in what, 3 years? Ugh.

      • Bob Loblaw says:

        Dicaprio or Cooper over Daniel Day Lewis? No freaking way.

      • Anne tommy says:

        ( warning- random caps follow…) Unpopular View I know but day Lewis is overrated. I Find him lacking in subtly and far too prone to chew the scenery – there will be blood being a case in point. But that’s what gets the prizes of course. De Caprio is a Much better actor.

  4. aenflex says:

    Scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit.

    • Julie says:

      Definitely running out of people.

    • Kiddo says:

      Don’t they do this every year, though? They have a bit of a trolling session before they reveal someone who isn’t part of this pre-edition roll-out? Or is this the final cut?

  5. Tristan says:

    It is an utterly depressing indictment of the awful world we’re living in, when a pair of idiots like Kanye & Kim Kartrashian West are considered to be amongst the world’s most influential people. Definitely the world’s most pointless celebrities

  6. MtnRunner says:

    My first thought too was “BCoop”? Who does he influence?

  7. Mel M says:

    It makes my head hurt. How? How does a supposedly serious publication like Time think Kanye is a Titan? I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. I wonder if he was miffed that he wasn’t in the “artist” group since that seems to be one of his favorite ways to describe himself.

  8. mia girl says:

    Mad love for the Jorge Ramos cover choice.

    • Hmmm says:

      I’ve been in love with that man since I first saw him on Univision when I was a kid.

    • mia girl says:

      Hmmm – this is one of the few times I get to say I know a famous person! He is a smart, thoughtful and passionate journalist. And a really nice guy.

      It has always amazed me that he is among the most watched newscasters in the U.S. and still so many don’t know him because he is broadcasting in Spanish (although now he does have an English-language program on Fusion).

  9. meme says:

    Time Magazine is irrelevant.

  10. Dhavynia says:

    I get the bitching about Cooper but no one bitching about West?
    Yeah it is insulting to have Ruth Bader Ginsburg among these people
    Why Time keeps pushing the Kardashians every year on that list is beyond me so I guess they compensated by having West

  11. ToodySezHey says:

    Time just lost all the credibility they garnered from the #BlackIivesMatter cover. I can’t with them for voting Kanye stunt queen influential for anything.

    What’s next. .Iggy Azalea as a pioneer of hip hop???

  12. Beth says:

    Ugh. Stop with Kim Kardashian already, world. Just stop.

    • kakakes says:

      Kim is an odd choice now considering she is not as famous as she once was. Her tv show is tanking each and and her little sisters are more popular then she is. Its nice to know some folks in big places don’t like her. She has been banned from the Oscars and the Soho House in LA atleast. See, REAL A listers don’t want her.

  13. nikki says:

    At least Bradley Cooper has some talent. WHY on God’s earth is Kim Kardashian on there? SERIOUSLY?

  14. Dawn says:

    Well Time is once again showing how out of tune it really is. There is NOTHING influential about KanYe West or his wife. Bradly Cooper for what? I know this the more that people try to force that jerk KanYe down my throat the more I despise him and whoever is hawking him. I find him to be talentless and what’s wrong with society today. I won’t be buying Time again until they understand the difference between truly influential people and what seems to be popular in today’s mass media society.

    • green says:

      As it is with most things, it is all a matter of opinion. You don’t think his influential but Elon Musk does. Elon probably listens to his music before a brainstorming session. For all we know Kim might be influencing or inspiring someone who could end up curing cancer or doing something else incredible. I don’t want to be attacked but Kanye’s music has been a very big part of my life. I used to have social anxiety and suffer from low self esteem and i still do sometimes but when i listen to his music it just gives me such a confidence boost that all my fears disappear. Songs like Through the Wire, Everything I am, and Champion are my go to songs when i need some confidence.

      • Mellie says:

        I’ll buy your music argument, however, you lost me at… “For all we know Kim might be influencing or inspiring someone who could end up curing cancer or doing something else incredible.” No one is curing cancer while watching Kim tell Kourtney how to have an ‘o’ on KUWTK.

      • green says:

        Maybe influencing and inspiring were the wrong words but you never know. I know a doctor who watches KUWTK on the regular as way to clear her mind and relax. I feel many people watch for the same reason. Just a way to waste an hour before falling asleep. Similar to people who read gossip. I mean we could all be reading things that are more insightful and educational, yet here we are. Which is alright, as long as it doesn’t consume our lives.

  15. GlimmerBunny says:

    I seem to be in the minority but I like and respect both Kanye and Bradley. What Kim is doing on the list is a mystery to me tho.

    • FingerBinger says:

      I respected Kanye before he decided to become a Kardashian. Bradley looks like a creep but I don’t dislike him.

  16. Birdix says:

    I’m a longtime Misty Copeland fan, but come on. A pioneer? She’s been doing this for 15 years–the only difference is that she’s got a flashy under armor campaign (and an incredible agent.) What about someone like Elizabeth Holmes?

    • Carmen says:

      Copeland’s career has been held back by racism in the ballet world. She should have been promoted to principal a long time ago.

  17. ann says:

    Kanye’s ego will be growing even bigger if possible

  18. Kiki says:

    I am happy that beauty is the eye of beholder than the stupidity that beauty society that upholds to. Misty Copeland is one beautiful woman, and to have Times most influential people on the cover is something really special.

    Congratulations.

  19. Longhairdontcare says:

    Influential maybe not but i dont agree with the BCoop hating. Is he semi creepy dating young girls maybe but i think hes a great actor. I love the majority of his movies and he also does Broadway. I think hes proven his talent.

  20. Susie Q says:

    It must be a sign of the apocalypse that Time thinks Kim Kardashian has influence over anyone except for other vacuous, no talents who think that that with a half decent face and no talent that they could be as successful.

  21. Janie says:

    What a joke! I guess the squeaky wheel does get the oil?

  22. Carmen says:

    With this list, they not only scraped the bottom of the barrel, they scraped the bottom out of the barrel. There isn’t any barrel left.

  23. teehee says:

    OHHHH PLEAAAASE. You mean who bought the title?

  24. llokiesa says:

    OMG Kim and Kanye? Who do they influence? Kim is not famous around the world, so who is she influencing on the masses exactly? I highly doubt girls in a country like India or something would even know who she is to care enough to copy her or something. TIME has hit an all time low. I hope their sales fail big time after this. Please cancel your subscription to TIME!

  25. kakakes says:

    Out of all the REAL celebrities out there, they chose a bunch of D listers like Kim and Kanye who represent what is wrong in society? 2 greedy, spoiled, untalented and ungrateful human beings who have made a career for just being famous. Kim did a porn tape for heavens sake! You think thats hard work or ‘influential’ in a good way? F–k Time.

  26. Fiona says:

    I don’t get the argument that Cooper plays the same character all the time. How is the character in American Sniper anything like his 2 previous nominated performances. And how is it anything like his role in the Elephant Man?

  27. VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

    Ruth Bader Ginsberg always looks fierce…..I love her.

  28. cakecakecake says:

    LOVE me some Misty Copeland!!!! I have no other comments on the rest.

  29. Amy says:

    …and people wonder why their magazine sales go down when they keep pulling stunts like this.

  30. word says:

    They should have just put North on that list too then. Jeez what a joke.

  31. forever2lines says:

    Long time lurker, first time poster here.
    What the f&ck is wrong with the world, kanye and trashian most influential…….
    Is time mag now us weekly….

  32. lucy says:

    The paragraph on West is just a bunch of unsubstantiated claims and hype. I’m not certain he didn’t write it himself, it makes so little sense.

    He is referred to as a “boundary breaker”. What boundary did he break?
    (Mentally ill megalomaniacs on magazine covers?!)

    Whom has he influenced?

    “(H)e fought for his place in the cultural pantheon with a purpose.”
    (How?! What?!)

    “(W)e’re only just beginning to see why.”
    Sure, Musk, like West’s didactic credo: if you say so. Making proclamations and boasts seems to be all it takes these days for the media to print the history books.

    Standards and investigative substantiation have been replaced with mediocrity. There are no gatekeepers.

    • Alex says:

      That’s because TIME magazine isn’t even sure. They’re making sweeping, vague claims that don’t actually mean anything (much like the like sh-t that comes out of Kanye’s mouth) so they don’t have to actually identify his actual cultural impact. Which, concluding from the other commenters, I would say not much.
      (Speaking totally separate from his music.)

  33. Jayna says:

    Time has become People Magazine pulling this stunt for most influential.

  34. folly says:

    I think whoever compiled this list is just sick because that is the only way I can explain what abubakar shekau is doing on that list,how can you name a notorious killer as an influential person. SMH

  35. Alex says:

    Jesus Christ, TIME, if you’re going to put celebrities on the cover (and there should be a few) yes I agree with Emma Watson. But Kanye West? Yes Kanye has made good music, but lately he’s known for his inane rampages and sh-t babbling. Most of what comes out of his mouth is pure drivel. How about celebrities like Mark Ruffalo who constantly campaign for the environment (or even Matt Damon.) How about celebrities that fight for animal rights like Stella McCartney?
    I was done with TIME magazine when they decided Beyonce was the world’s most influential person in 2014. Really? We have people like Richard Branson and Steven Hawking and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, but a musician who doesn’t even write her own sh-t?
    COME ON.

  36. Ellie says:

    Who does Bradley Cooper influence? I used to think he was cute but he seems so odd, he lives with his mother and dates girls young enough to be his daughters. There’s something so stunted about men like that, not attractive. He’s a good actor but I don’t see him as influential.

    As for Kanye and Kim, how ridiculous. They’re the most tedious couple on the planet. I will grant that Kanye has a certain influence, he’s managed to convince Anna Wintour ruin her credibility by sticking his wife on vogue and sit next to her at fashion shows even though she looks like she wants to vomit. That’s it. Kim represents everything that is wrong with society. What does she do apart from wearing hideous clothes, posing and taking selfies. Most boring woman on the planet. Urgh….

  37. Wolf says:

    Time Magazine has been irrelevant and unreadable for at least a decade, so no big surprise.

  38. Magpie says:

    Chris Pratt is an artist? Lolololol! Time mag is so lame they’re just trying to get readers. Their articles have been so shallow fr years now there is just no point in buying it. Even when there were serious topics that interested me the reporting has been so lame i always felt cheated.

    • Magpie says:

      Like that “mom enough” cover about mommy wars or whatever. It was all just shock value for the cover of a 5 year old breastfeeding, but the articles inside were super dull and informative (i read it zzzzzz). This is the same. Trolls.

  39. TessD says:

    What I don’t get is why Elon Musk (Tesla and SpaceX CEO) had to write Kanye’s bit? They should have switched the roles.

  40. Mike says:

    Because that tool needed more gas to inflate his overblown ego…