The Time 100 has become one of the most widely used annual benchmarks to gauge the most influential people in the world. While Italian Americans might have been surprised that this year’s list did not include anyone from Italy, that does not mean that there was no Italian representation on the list. In fact, according to our research staff at America Domani, we were able to identify four figures on the list of partial or full Italian descent.
Pete Davidson: Before he was known for cracking jokes and stealing Kim Kardashian’s heart, Davidson was just a regular kid from Staten Island. His late father Scott Matthew Davidson was a New York firefighter who passed away tragically in service of the September 11th attacks. Davidson has distant Italian ancestry.
Ariana DeBose: The emergence of Ariana DeBose as one of 2022’s most influential people was a heartwarming story. The thirty-one-year-old actress rose to prominence for her role as Anita in the musical West Side Story. DeBose’s ancestry includes Puerto Rican, African American, and Italian.
Joe Rogan: The 2020s have been a career-defining decade for the comedian and podcast mogul. After signing a $200 million deal with Spotify in 2020, Rogan has become one of the world’s most popular podcasters. Three out of four of Rogan’s grandparents are Italian, specifically from Sicily and Basilicata.
Ron DeSantis: The Florida Governor was among the most Googled individuals in 2022. DeSantis has Italian roots tracing back to multiple regions of Italy, including Abruzzo, Campania, and Molise.