Does Teyana Taylor know what day it is?
She arrived at Time magazine’s Women of the Year gala in Hollywood on Tuesday night under some fog. Just the day before, she was smiling and posing for the cameras in the front row of the Chanel fashion show in Paris. “We just landed a few hours ago,” Taylor told me. “The show was yesterday. I know the jet lag is bad, so I have to make sure I look good now.”
The musician-turned-actress has nothing to worry about. She arrived at the Time event wearing a gorgeous form-fitting black and brown Schiaparelli dress. What about her makeup and hairstyle? perfection.
While in Paris, Taylor had a second fitting for her Oscar dress. “I almost cried,” she says. “It’s great. The last fitting is on Thursday. It’s huge. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
I asked her how she felt about Sunday’s Academy Awards. “I’m very nervous,” Taylor said. “I feel like it’s almost over and it’s been so much fun. The friendships and beautiful people I’ve made have made me look forward to every award season. I’m going to miss everyone. This whole journey has been so beautiful. I’m not taking any of him for granted.”
“I was like, ‘I’m going to change direction,'” Taylor recalled when he “retired” from the music industry in 2020. “I said, ‘I want to do something else that I love,’ and that’s what I did, and I got ‘A Thousand and One.’ So if I hadn’t taken that retirement, I don’t know if I’d be here today.” (She returned to music last year and earned her first Grammy nomination for her new album, Escape Room.)
Teyana Taylor attends the Chanel fashion show at the Grand Palais in Paris on March 9th.
WWD (via Getty Images)
Our chat was interrupted by Mel Robbins, who said she just wanted to hug Taylor. “Congratulations,” says the podcast host, self-help guru, and Time Award winner. “We’re all rooting for you.”
Before Taylor took her seat inside the ballroom, I asked her what she would say to her younger self today. “I say, ‘Baby, I’m so proud of your perseverance. I’m so proud that you never changed your mind,'” she says. “Through every trial and tribulation, I have always walked with grace, even when it hurt. I lean on my peers and tell them how I feel. When they tell me that, I walk out like a champ.”
Other honorees, presenters and attendees at the TIME event include Mariska Hargitay, Queen Latifah, Lucy Liu, Cho Chao, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Brandi Carlyle. The night was sponsored by P&G, Rolex, Target, Booking.com, Toyota, Deloitte, and Maker’s Mark.
MORE: See 2026 Oscar Party and Red Carpet Events in Photos: Tom Cruise, Chase Infinity, Demi Moore
