This year was another rollercoaster of highs and lows in the entertainment industry.
From estranged royal family members airing their dirty laundry – and frozen privates – in memoir form to Taylor Swift seemingly taking over the world, it’s safe to say that there weren’t many dull moments over the course of the year. There were movie releases, strikes, scandals, births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and oh yeah, have we mentioned Taylor Swift? Seriously, the Swift thing is relentless.
While it would be easy enough to come up with 50 or even 100 of the biggest moments in entertainment, this roundup will simply choose one pivotal moment for each month of the year. Without further ado, let’s set our sights back to the beginning of the year with…
January: Jamie Lee Curtis Offends Fans With Questionable ‘Artwork’
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On the heels of the disastrous Balenciaga fashion photo shoot featuring images of young children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage gear, actress Jamie Lee Curtis created a scandal of her own by posting a photo of her dining room. Fans were confused by a piece of artwork prominently displayed on the wall which seemed to show a nude child submerged in a box full of water.
The 65-year-old star claimed to have posted the photo to show off some chairs. But followers noticed it for very different reasons, saying it gave off “strong Epstein vibes.” The artwork in question is called “The Tub” (2003) and is attributed to artist Betsy Schneider.
Why does Jamie Lee Curtis have a picture of a naked child stuffed inside a suitcase on her wall?
Strong Epstein vibes. pic.twitter.com/DJSIaZkkVm
— Stew Peters (@realstewpeters) January 17, 2023
Curtis later apologized for the photo. “Last week I posted a picture of some chairs that included a photograph on the wall by an artist that was gifted to me 20 years ago,” the actress wrote by way of explanation. “I understand it has disturbed some people. As I have said, I am a truth teller, so here’s the truth.”
“It’s a picture of a child, taken by her mother, of her playing in their backyard in a tub of water. Nothing more, nothing less. I took down the post because I didn’t want to keep something up that upset anyone,” Curtis added.
February: Madonna Looks ‘Unrecognizable’ At The Grammys
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Pop star Madonna has been in the game for decades, but fans were shocked by what they described as her “unrecognizable” appearance during a performance at The Grammys this year. Photos of the 64-year-old singer quickly went viral as social media users speculated about what they assumed were extensive plastic surgery procedures.
“Madonna looks good for her age… if her age is 2,700 year old vampire who eats babies and small animals alive,” comedian Tim Young wrote in a popular tweet.
The frenzy got so extreme that Madonna responded to it, claiming her appearance was the result of a “long lens camera” taking “closeups.” Also, predictably, she blamed the entire thing on misogyny.
“Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women pass [sic] the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her If she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working, and adventurous,” Madonna wrote in part on Instagram.
March: Aaron Carter’s Mom Releases Graphic Photos Of His Death Scene
Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images
Recording artist Aaron Carter, 34, was found dead in his bathtub in November 2022 from an apparent overdose. But his mother and former fiancee insisted there was foul play involved. When they believed law enforcement was failing to take their claims seriously, Carter’s mom, Jane Schneck, took her observations to the public and shared graphic photos from the scene of the incident.
“I want to share these death scene photos with you all because the coroner wrote it off as an accidental drug overdose. They never investigated it as a possible crime scene because of his addiction past,” Schneck shared on Facebook, noting that the police “allowed people to go in and out” and were “tromping” through the alleged crime scene. She also said there were people out there who wanted Carter dead.
“Aaron had a lot of death threats and many many people who were making his life miserable,” the singer’s mother continued.
“I’m totally supported by the family and friends who know I had to post the awful photos,” Schneck wrote. “… Because of my son’s mental illness and prescription drug issues they just wanted it to be something easy that they didn’t have the time or inclination to address.”
“We want answers … We want justice … There are people who must be held accountable,” she concluded.
April: Bud Light Partners With Trans Activist Dylan Mulvaney, Setting Off The Biggest Conservative Boycott In History
Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images; Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
On the first day of April, in a move that was decidedly not an April Fool’s Day joke, activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video on social media promoting a brand partnership with national beer brand Bud Light.
The influencer dressed like Audrey Hepburn’s character in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” while drinking Bud Light and claiming not to understand what March Madness is. Mulvaney was also gifted a one-of-a-kind commemorative beer can.
At first, Bud Light stood behind the partnership, arguing that “Anheuser Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points.” But the backlash became national news and soon a boycott formed with prominent celebrities and influencers leading the way.
The move cost the brand millions of dollars in sales and completely wrecked their reputation. Bud Light lost its spot in the top 10 most popular beer brands. The marketing executives in charge of the campaign were fired, but it wasn’t enough. The Mulvaney promotion has officially tanked the brand.
May: King Charles’ Coronation
(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
The newly crowned King Charles has some very big shoes to fill following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, especially after her record-breaking 70-year reign. The longest waiting heir apparent of all time put a lot of thought and effort into his coronation ceremony, ensuring all the pomp and pageantry was on display for the world to see.
The media provided non-stop coverage leading up to the event, which inspired some backlash from Americans who insisted we fought an entire war to be free of this obsession with the monarchy. But the fascination over the coronation probably has a lot to do with how American traditions are being forgotten, or actively rebelled against, in favor of a live-in-pajama-pants existence that honestly gets a little depressing.
King Charles reminded us why these strictly formal processions exist in the first place: they make people remember that some events are worth getting dressed up for.
June: “Elemental” And “The Flash” Both Flop
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Movie studios typically look forward to summer blockbuster season, but Disney’s ticket sales were lackluster for the animated film “Elemental,” which came out in June.
“Elemental” had one of the worst openings in studio history, bringing in just $29.5 million in domestic ticket sales during its opening weekend. The movie was Pixar’s first non-franchise theatrical release since the COVID pandemic that wasn’t released directly to streaming.
“Elemental” featured the four elements — earth, water, fire, and air. The movie also included T the studio’s first “non-binary” character, Lake, who is voiced by the “non-binary” star Kai Ava Hauser.
Things weren’t much better for the Warner Bros. movie “The Flash,” which debuted in late June.
The Ezra-Miller-led superhero film earned just $55 million during opening weekend.
Warner Bros. blamed lackluster sales on some controversies involving Miller in the months leading up to the release, which they claimed made the film difficult to promote. Plus they’re still saying people are reluctant to return to theaters… except when they are. See July for proof.
July: “Barbenheimer” Takes Over The Nation
JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images; JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images
At first it was just a big joke: would people really attend a double feature of both Greta Gerwig’s live-action “Barbie” movie and Christopher Nolan’s extra-long historical thriller, “Oppenheimer”? Matt Damon said he would. Then it seems like a lot of people did, proving that maybe going to the movies was back in style.
Though they were an unlikely pair, both movies performed exceptionally well at the box office, bringing in more than half a billion dollars combined.
August: Oliver Anthony Puts ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’ On Blast
Screenshot: @RadioWV YouTube Channel
Prior to August 11, almost no one had heard of Oliver Anthony, a singer-songwriter out of Virginia. But his working man anthem “Rich Men North Of Richmond” blew up on social media. The song made history as it shot up the Billboard Hot 100, making Anthony the first artist ever to debut in the number one spot on the all-genre music song chart with no prior chart history of any kind.
A lot of Anthony’s popularity came from the fact that he was just a guy who didn’t seem to want fame at all.
“The hopelessness and frustration of our times resonate in the response to this song,” Anthony said of the hit single.“The song itself is not anything special, but the people who have supported it are incredible and deserve to be heard,” he added.
September: Britney Spears Dances With Knives
Allen Berezovsky/WireImage via Getty Images
Britney’s fans mostly all celebrated when she was released from her 13-year-long conservatorship in November 2021. But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing since then, with many followers expressing concern about the bizarre videos the singer has been posting on social media. In most of them, she’s barely clothed while dancing around in her home.
In one especially troubling example posted in September, the 42-year-old pop star is scantily clad and dancing to strange music while wielding what appear to be real butcher knives as her dogs cower in the background.
Spears later insisted the knives were just props. “Lighten up about the knives,” she told concerned parties.
October: Bentkey Kids Entertainment Launches, Plus Disney And DailyWire+ Battle To Become Fairest One Of All
Bentkey.
For all the sane parents out there lamenting the lack of quality kids entertainment that they can feel good about, an answer finally appeared. The Daily Wire proudly announced their new platform, Bentkey, which would get back to the basics when it came to entertaining children without any hidden woke agendas.
At the same time, Daily Wire announced their first live action feature film, “Snow White and the Evil Queen” starring the company’s own Brett Cooper. This was a direct response to Disney doing their own live-action adaptation with leftist actress Rachel Zegler in the lead role. Zegler previously went viral for saying the iconic storybook character would not need a man or “true love.”
Disney also announced in October that the release date of their “Snow White” movie would be pushed back a full year. There was no reason given for the delayed release, but the announcement came shortly after Zegler got slammed for her very unpopular comments. Hmmm.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images//The Daily Wire
November: “The Marvels” Has Worst Ever Opening In MCU History
Maybe the age of superhero movies is finally over. The female-led “The Marvels” made history, but not in a good way, when it had the worst-ever opening weekend in studio history, making just $47 million. Poor performance was at first blamed on the ongoing actors’ and writers’ strikes in Hollywood, but later Disney CEO Bob Iger had a different take.
“Quality needs attention. … It doesn’t happen by accident. Quantity, in our case, diluted quality,” the entertainment exec said later at an industry summit. “There wasn’t as much supervision on the set … where we have executives there really looking over what’s being done,” Iger added.
Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Disney
December: Taylor Swift Is Named Time’s ‘Person Of The Year’
Buda Mendes/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Pop star Taylor Swift dominated headlines all year thanks to her sold-out, worldwide The Eras Tour and various other activities. Swift also re-released two albums and took home a Grammy and 9 MTV Video Music Awards. She became Spotify’s most-streamed artist worldwide with 26.1 billion streams since January.
Her net worth crossed the $1 billion threshold thanks to the success of The Eras Tour and the movie version of the concert, which was released in theaters in October. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” became the highest-grossing concert film of all time in the U.S. and Canada within days of its premiere in theaters and has since raked in more than $250 million.
The singer also began a high-profile romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, which has only served to bring more attention to this massively popular celebrity. Many people were hating on Time for naming Swift ‘Person of the Year,’ but as even Matt Walsh admitted, no one deserved the title more (with the exception of possibly Elon Musk).
As Swift herself said, “Are you not entertained?”