“ What just happened?” said Chip Gaines, the HGTV personality, collapsing into an elevator after the Time 100 gala on Tuesday night.

While Time magazine has diminished in influence, its annual exercise to rank the world’s “100 most influential people” still manages to draw a crowd. There were so many famous names at Jazz at Lincoln Center, even the celebrities were shellshocked.

These included the six cover stars: Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House; Taylor Swift, the singer; Dwayne Johnson, the action star; Sandra Oh, the actress; Gayle King, the journalist; and Mohamed Salah, the soccer player.

“Since I was a teenager, I was reading Time magazine. So to be here tonight, that’s pretty thrilling,” Ms. Pelosi said.