You can always count on the stars to bring drama to any situation – and the last year has been no exception.
In fact, 2022 has been a rollercoaster of a year for entertainment, starting off with the biggest on-stage shocker of the last decade.
We take a look though some of the most memorable celebrity moments of the last year.
Will Smith slaps Chris Rock
The Annual Academy Awards are the biggest showbiz event of the year. So when one of the biggest stars of the night – Will Smith – slapped comedian Chris Rock in the face live on stage, the entertainment world went into a collective state of shock.
Many initially thought the whack was part a pre-planned skit, but Smith’s unscripted swearing, loudly directed at Rock as he left the stage, quickly persuaded viewers – both in the auditorium packed with stars, and those viewing the ceremony on TV as it was beamed live around the world – that it was all very much for real.
Adding to the drama, just minutes after the slap, Smith won his first Oscar.
While Smith swiftly apologised to the Academy (although notably not so swiftly to Rock), and resigned his membership, the Fresh Prince star was condemned by many for what was labelled “the ugliest Oscar moment ever”.
Smith has since called the incident, which was prompted after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, “a few horrific moments of indiscretion on my part”.
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Penance aside, this is Hollywood, and Smith already has a big new film out – Emancipation.
He’s said he hopes the movie won’t be “penalised” in the upcoming awards season as a result of his behaviour.
Should the film get any Oscar nods (which is currently looking unlikely), Smith won’t be making a comeback appearance quite yet – he’s been personally banned from any Academy events or programmes for 10 years.
Wagatha Christie
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The Wagatha Christie trial – explained
It was the social media whodunnit that captivated the nation and spawned a nine-day trial at the High Court.
Warring WAGS Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy slugged it out for all to see, in a case packed to the gills with tabloid style tell-alls, modern-day detective work and “a series of unfortunate incidents”.
Ultimately Rooney emerged victorious, and perhaps the most famous ellipses of the last century lived to see another day…
The judge who oversaw the case described Rooney’s evidence in the libel trial as “honest and reliable”, while labelling Vardy’s evidence “manifestly inconsistent… evasive or implausible”.
Rooney she was “pleased” the judge had found in her favour, adding: “It was not a case I ever sought or wanted”. Vardy insisted the judge had “got it wrong”.
In an age of social media obsession, users were reminded to think before they post, and take note of the risks.
But despite the public fascination with the case, many were left wondering if cash used to fund the multimillion-pound trial could have been better spent amid a cost of living crisis.
Meanwhile, the court case may be over, but it’s far from the end of the matter. The trial has already spawned a West End show, and in 2023 will be televised by Channel 4 as a two-part drama as well as forming a three-part documentary by Disney+.
Celebrity queue gate
When the Queen died in September, an entire nation went into mourning. The momentous occasion triggered a lengthy period of royal protocol, with 10 days to pay respects ahead of the late monarch’s funeral.
The queue – or The Queue as it became known – to see the Queen laying in state took on a life of its own, with social media accounts, live-streams and a draw so strong some people joined it twice.
With some members of the public queuing for more than 20 hours, discussion of how long one had spent waiting to see the Queen’s coffin became almost a badge of national pride.
And it was amidst all this, that squeaky-clean daytime TV presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield became public enemy number one.
When news broke that they had jumped the public line to pay their respects in Westminster Hall, many called for their sacking from This Morning, with an online petition receiving tens of thousands of signatures.
ITV bosses insisted the pair had full press accreditation and had been “misrepresented“.
Holly and Phil were left to address the backlash in a pre-filmed statement aired on This Morning, insisting they “respected the rules,” but “understood the reaction” because they realised “it may have looked like something else”.
Even Domino’s Pizza got drawn into the fray after tweeting a satirical post about the presenters skipping a queue to order one of its pizzas.
Meanwhile, David Beckham came out of the queue glowing after it came to light he’d queued for 13 hours to pay his respects. All good press for the former England star, especially ahead of his stint at an ambassador to Qatar for the World Cup, which was less well received.
Comedian ‘shreds’ £10k
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The moment Joe Lycett ‘shreds’ £10,000
One person who has been closely following Beckham’s work is comedian Joe Lycett.
The Birmingham-born star pledged to shred £10,000 of his own cash if Beckham failed to end his controversial multimillion-pound World Cup promotion deal with Qatar ahead of the tournament’s first match.
The hour came and went, and Beckham stayed silent. So, Lycett livestreamed himself tossing the cash into a wood-chipper, in what looked like an underground bunker.
However, all was not what it seemed. The following day, Lycett, who is known for his high-profile stunts, admitted it had all been a sham.
Calling Beckham’s Qatar World Cup deal “total b*******”, he said while the £10,000 he put into the wood-chipper was real, the shredded money that came out was fake. Instead, he said he had donated the money to LGBTQ+ charities long before the cash hit the fan.
For good measure, Lycett then shredded Beckham’s cover copy of Attitude – the first ever front cover of a gay magazine to feature a Premier League footballer – which he said was symbolic of the shredding of Beckham’s status as a gay icon.
Lycett divided his audience between those who thought he was an attention seeker and those who hailed him a hero.
Regardless, Qatar’s poor human rights record and ban on same-sex relationships got plenty of airtime thanks to Lycett’s hoax. The level of press coverage he received for his stunt would have cost in the region of £3m had it been a paid-for promotion. Quite the coup.
Reality TV meets politics
Image: Pic: ITV
When the must-watch reality show of the year meets one of the most controversial politicians of the last few years, you know there are going to be fireworks.
Jaws dropped when former health secretary Matt Hancock signed up for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Health secretary during the COVID pandemic, he stepped down in 2021 after breaching lockdown rules by conducting an affair in his ministerial office with aide Gina Coladangelo.
Reportedly paid £400,000 for his ITV appearance, many in Westminster were outraged, as were plenty of his constituents in West Suffolk.
Media watchdog Ofcom received thousands of complaints about the politician’s presence on the show, and during its second week, a COVID campaign group flew a nine-metre (30ft) protest banner over the camp demanding he leave.
Mr Hancock, 44, said his decision to enter the Australian jungle had been driven by a need to “deliver important messages to the masses” and “go where the people are” rather than “sit in ivory towers in Westminster”. He also said he wanted to raise awareness of dyslexia.
The public voted for him to do the first six bushtucker trials in a row, and during his 18 days in the camp he got stung by a scorpion, drenched in slime, custard and feathers, and buried in a coffin full of snakes. Additionally, he ate the anatomies of a camel and sheep, and a fisheye.
Ultimately, he wasn’t crowned king of the jungle, instead coming third behind Ex-Lioness Jill Scott and Hollyoaks actor Owen Warner.
Mr Hancock has since said he will not be returning to politics, telling the prime minister in a letter, he had “discovered a whole new world of possibilities which I am excited to explore”.
Not the first politician to dip their toe into the showbiz pool (step forward Nadine Dorries, Kezia Dugdale and George Galloway among others), he won’t be the last. And if you’re missing your nightly fix of Mr Hancock, fear not, he’ll be back on our screens in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins in January.
Harry Styles – did he or didn’t he spit on Chris Pine?
Image: Don’t Worry Darling cast (L-R): Harry Styles, Gemma Chan., Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde
Harry Styles, 28, has been notching up the column inches over the last year, largely due to his now defunct relationship with Olivia Wilde, 38.
They met while filming psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling – a film beset with rumours of cast fall-outs, including whispers of a feud between Wilde and her leading lady Florence Pugh.
Released in September to middling reviews, the film was somewhat overshadowed by repeated speculation about some of the cast members not getting on.
Twitter users questioned whether it showed the former One Direction star spitting in Pine’s lap before sitting down next to him, with Pine apparently looking confused and then laughing to himself.
Pine’s representatives denied the incident ever took place, calling it “a completely fabricated exchange” and blaming it on “some odd illusion of sorts”.
Meanwhile, Styles teased fans at his Madison Square Garden gig in New York the following evening: “I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine… but fear not, we’re back.”
A starry-spital attack caught on camera? Or some sort of collective hallucination amplified by social media? In the absence of conclusive proof either way, perhaps only Styles and Pine themselves will ever know the truth.
Tearful Adele cancels gigs
Image: A tearful Adele apologises for Vegas show cancellation
She was set to make more than £500,000 per show and follow in the footsteps of Madonna, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.
Instead, Adele was left “upset and embarrassed” after being forced to cancel her much-anticipated Las Vegas residency just 24 hours before the opening night. It would have been her first live concert in five years.
The 34-year-old singer blamed “delivery delays and COVID” for the cancellation, telling her fans the news in a tearful short video shared on social media.
Some fans had already shelled out thousands of pounds to travel to America to see her.
The Weekends With Adele series had been scheduled to have the singer performing two shows every weekend from late January until mid-April 2022.
Instead, her gigs were re-scheduled to November 2022 to late March 2023, with country star and husband to Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, stepping in to fill the slot at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace.
Adele later called the reaction to the cancellation “brutal”, admitting it left her “a shell of a person for a couple of months” while she dealt with the “grief” and “guilt”.
Better late than never, the postponed residency has been hailed “spectacular” by critics, earning five-star reviews, with fellow chart-topper Stormzy calling her show “the best he’d ever seen”.
End of an Aussie era
Image: The end of Neighbours spelled the end of an era. Pics: Fremantle
After nearly four decades on air, and 8,903 episodes, the much-loved Australian soap Neighbours was axed.
Depicting the lives of Ramsay Street residents since 1985, and coming to the UK the following year, the show launched the careers of stars including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Guy Pierce and Natalie Imbruglia.
Channel 5, who had been broadcasting it since 2008, announced the news to a collective sigh from those who grew up with it on the TV – a must watch after a long day at school.
At its height, viewing figures reached almost 20 million – levels now all but reserved for World Cup finals and royal weddings. However, in recent years the audience had dwindled to around one million viewers in the UK across its two daily showings.
Despite efforts, Channel 5, Freemantle Media (the TV production company behind the show) and Australian broadcaster Network 10 failed to reach a deal to secure the show’s future.
The double-episode finale at the end of July featured guest appearances from ex-cast members including Kylie and Jason, Margot Robbie, Jesse Spencer and Holly Valence.
However, like a boomerang, Neighbours has bounced back. Just months after news of the axe, the show revealed that Amazon Freevee was reviving the show.
A brand-new series will begin filming in Australia in 2023, with a world premiere expected to take place in the second half of the year. Watch this space.
Bennifer
In a love-story twist worthy of a movie script, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck made fans of early noughties nostalgia very happy by tying the knot – 18 years after they cancelled their wedding the first time around.
It was the culmination of a relationship which had stretched over two decades in two separate romances and headlined countless tabloid covers. They famously called off their engagement and split in 2004 – but reunited in 2021.
Lopez has since called their split the “biggest heartbreak” of her life, saying, “I honestly felt like I was going to die”. Luckily for her, heartbreak has now turned to happy ever after.
Their first wedding venue was a Las Vegas drive-through chapel – The Little White Chapel – complete with a “tunnel of love”.
As this is Hollywood, they had two ceremonies, later walking down a white carpet in the grounds of Affleck’s $8.9m (£7.5m) mansion in Riceboro, Georgia. Celebrity guests included Matt Damon, George Clooney and Renee Zellweger.
Lopez shared titbits of the big day on her website, her newsletter and on social media, while Vogue posted a full-length image of her Ralph Lauren couture gown, complete with cascading fishtail ruffles and a cathedral-length veil.
Affleck was previously married to actress Jennifer Garner, with whom he has three children – Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel – but they divorced in 2018 after 13 years of marriage.
Lopez shares twins Max and Emme, 13, with ex-husband Marc Anthony, who she divorced from in 2011. Lopez split from her fiance, former major league baseball star Alex Rodriguez, in 2021.
Depp sued Heard over a 2018 article she wrote for The Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser.
For six weeks, the messy and intimate details of their toxic relationship were poured over, with evidence including graphic photos of Depp’s severed finger and images of Heard with apparent bruises and marks to her face and body, and bald patches on her head where she said her hair was pulled out.
Numerous witnesses also gave evidence, including Heard’s sister Whitney, LAPD police officers, private nurses, and even a brief video appearance from Depp’s ex-girlfriend, Kate Moss.
A second airing of their personal affairs, the trial followed a three-week High Court between Depp and The Sun newspaper at the High Court in 2020, over the tabloid’s description of him as a “wife-beater”.
With Heard as their star witness, The Sun won that case, however Depp was to emerge victorious this time.
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What now for Johnny Depp and Amber Heard?
Once the highest paid actor in the world, Depp’s attempt to re-gain his reputation through a second microscopic exposure of his private life was an immense gamble.
But it paid off. He wasn’t in court for the conclusion of the cast, opting instead to continue his tour of the UK with musician Jeff Beck.
Heard, who had initially called for a re-trial and appealed the verdict, has since dropped her appeal, saying she has “lost faith in the American legal system”.
Royal ructions
Image: Prince Harry has more revelations up his sleeve
Revelations included the breakdown of Harry‘s relationship with his brother William and his accusation that the Daily Mail was to blame for Meghan‘s miscarriage.
Harry said the Prince of Wales had terrified him by screaming and shouting at him during a Sandringham summit, a meeting of senior royals called in early 2020 to discuss the couple’s choice to step back from their roles.
He also said Kensington Palace “lied to protect my brother” when it issued a statement denying a story William had bullied him out of the Royal Family.
And on the issue of Meghan’s miscarriage in 2020, Harry said: “I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what The Mail did. I watched the whole thing… Bearing in mind the stress that caused, the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was. I can say from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her.”
Neither Kensington Palace, which represents the Prince and Princess of Wales, nor Buckingham Palace have commented on the series.
Meanwhile, a column written about Meghan by Jeremy Clarkson following the series has become the most complained about ever.
Despite the stir, it’s reported that the couple will still be invited to King Charles’s coronation on 6 May, which is also the fourth birthday of Harry and Meghan’s son Archie.
And if the unprecedented TV access into royal private lives hasn’t been enough to satisfy, fear not, there’s more exposure to come. Prince Harry’s highly anticipated memoir, Spare, which promises “raw, unflinching honesty”, and is written by the novelist behind Andre Agassi’s award-winning autobiography Open, is out in January.
He’s reportedly been paid around £30m for a four-book deal with Penguin Random House, so while the Royal Family might be keen to draw a line under the drama, there’s likely to be more juicy revelations to come.
Kanye West admits he ‘likes’ Hitler
To say it’s not been a good year for Kanye Westwould be an understatement. His antisemitic comments – including criticism of Jewish people and praise of Hitler – have been roundly and rightly condemned and led to a swift termination from the majority of his working partners.
Social networks, including Instagram and Twitter, have repeatedly shut down his accounts (albeit temporarily) due to violation of their policies.
West – who has legally changed his name to Ye – posted on Twitter that he was “going death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE” before alleging he was not “antisemitic because black people are actually Jew also”. He also accused record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs of being controlled by “the Jewish people” in a post on Instagram.
He also shared an image of a swastika entwined with a Star of David, hours after an interview with the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in which West said “I like Hitler” and sees “the good things” about the dictator too.
His words – labelled mad and dangerous – have cost him, both in cash and reputation. No longer ranked as a billionaire, he’s been ditched by his talent agency and his bank, JP Morgan, as well as seeing brands including Balenciaga, Foot Locker, Gap and Adidas cut ties.
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Explained: Kanye West’s antisemitism controversy
Additionally, Adidas is currently investigating allegations of misconduct, including claims he showed pornography and explicit images of Kim Kardashian to staff members.
A completed documentary about him has also been shelved, and Madame Tussauds in London has removed its waxwork of him from public view.
And many looked on in disbelief as he wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt during Paris Fashion Week in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Previous controversial remarks made by West include suggestions slavery was “a choice” and calling the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast”.
His ex-wife Kim Kardashian has spoken out about his behaviour, saying: “Hate speech is never OK or excusable.”
Not to be phased by his fall from grace, West says he’ll be running for the 2024 US presidential elections and has asked Donald Trump to be his running mate.
Taylor Swift has announced her 12th studio album during an appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast.
The pop megastar, appearing on New Heights, did not say when the record, titled The Life Of A Showgirl, will be released.
Fans can pre-order the album in various formats now and Swift’s website says physical copies will be shipped by 13 October.
Image: Pic: New Heights
On Monday, Taylor Nation – an official branch of the singer’s marketing team – teased the release on TikTok with a slideshow of 12 images alongside the caption: “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…'”
Swift is seen wearing orange in every picture.
A special limited vinyl edition of the album will be released in “Portofino orange glitter”, according to a pre-order page on her site. A special cassette edition is also available for pre-order.
Image: Taylor Swift’s website features The Life of a Showgirl pre-order options. Pic: Reuters
A brief clip from the New Heights podcast, hosted by Swift’s NFL star boyfriend, Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, a former NFL player, was posted on Instagram early on Tuesday.
The video showed Swift pulling a copy of the album from a briefcase with the cover blurred.
The full podcast episode will be released at 11pm on Tuesday, UK time.
Swift is living up to her reputation as pop’s hardest-working star
You might think that after pulling off the highest-grossing tour in history, all while writing and releasing an unexpected record-breaking double album at the same time, Taylor Swift would be happy to take a little break.
But no. The singer-songwriter has announced her 12th album, her sixth in six years.
Since her self-titled debut in 2006, the longest period Swifties have had to wait is just three years, between 2014’s 1989 and 2017’s Reputation; the period in which the star took time out following her public feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
Over the past few years, Swift has also re-recorded and re-released four of her early albums in a (now resolved) battle over the rights to her master recordings.
With the new announcement, she’s living up to her reputation as the hardest-working star in pop.
Album number 12 is titled The Life Of A Showgirl, hinting at inspiration drawn from spending the best part of two years on the road – and perhaps a return to pop after embracing folk and her more gothic side.
Fans are now eagerly waiting to find out what Swift’s new era will bring.
New Heights had previously teased Swift’s appearance by posting an orange image on social media with a mysterious silhouette, which many correctly identified as the pop star.
The Life Of A Showgirl follows Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, released last year during her record-breaking Eras tour, which generated more than $2.2bn (£1.6bn) across two years and five continents, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time.
In an effort to regain control over her music in recent years, Swift has been re-recording and releasing her first six albums. The move was prompted by Hybe America CEO Scooter Braun’s purchase and sale of her early catalogue.
Some of the ‘Taylor’s Version’ releases have included new songs as well as Easter eggs and visuals to offer a deeper understanding of her work.
The four re-recorded albums released so far have been massive commercial and cultural successes, each one entering the Billboard 200 US album chart at number one, helping her become the woman with the most number one albums in history.
Harry and Meghan have signed a new “multi-year, first-look deal” with Netflix, following the deal they struck with the streaming giant five years ago.
Described by the Sussexes as “extending their creative partnership”, while the news quashes rumours the relationship might not be renewed, it would appear to be a less prestigious deal than their first.
Image: With Love, Meghan, has a second season out later this month. Pic: Jake Rosenberg/Netflix
As a “first-look deal” rather than an overall deal, the entertainment giant will be able to say yes or no to their content before anyone else, but they will not be under an obligation to stream it.
Several US outlets have suggested it is a downgrade from the Sussexes’ previous contract, which saw the streaming giant pay for exclusive rights for the content and was thought to be worth more than $100m (£74m).
British PR expert Mark Borkowski described the deal as a “downgrade” and suggested Netflix was “pivoting away” from Harry and Meghan.
Their partnership with Netflix had promised documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows and children’s television, but has so far only delivered documentaries and docuseries.
These include Harry & Meghan, a six-part series about their departure from the royal household, which is Netflix’s fifth most popular series of all time, and most recently, the lifestyle show With Love, Meghan, which is the streamer’s most-watched culinary show since its release earlier this year.
Speaking about the new deal, Meghan said: “We’re proud to extend our partnership with Netflix and expand our work together to include the As ever brand.”
As ever is Meghan’s lifestyle brand, launched in 2024, and rebranded this year, selling products including jams, shortbread and wine.
Meghan went on: “My husband and I feel inspired by our partners who work closely with us and our Archewell Productions team to create thoughtful content across genres that resonates globally and celebrates our shared vision.”
Image: (R-L) Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Mindy Kaling. Pic: Netflix
Netflix’s chief content officer Bela Bajaria called the Sussexes “influential voices” and said their stories “resonate with audiences everywhere”.
New output includes the second season of With Love Meghan later this month, and a Christmas special in December.
Archewell Productions is also working on a documentary about orphaned children in Uganda’s Masaka region, an area heavily hit by the HIV/AIDS crisis, titled Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within, and is developing a feature adaptation of the bestselling romantic novel by Carley Fortune, Meet Me At The Lake.
It comes as Harry has cut ties with his Sentebale charity but has said he still intends to do what he can to help young people in Lesotho, Botswana and Southern Africa.
While we’re all desperate to know what this new deal is really worth in dollars and pounds, one thing I can tell you for certain is that Prince Harry and Meghan want us to know they’re delighted that Netflix again wanted to get a deal done.
“Absolutely over the moon” is how it was described to me.
But they’ll also be aware of the attention it’ll attract as we all try to pick apart what it means.
Image: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Pic: Jake Rosenberg/Netflix
Firstly because of that ongoing fascination in how they’re making money since stepping away from royal life and losing financial support from the King, but also because of the recent reports that Netflix were intending to cut ties.
Yes this is a different type of deal from their original one in 2020. Some have argued that a “first look deal” looks like a demotion from what they previously signed up to.
With no real clarity on how much their original deal was worth, and no numbers being publicly thrown around this time, that is hard to judge.
But talking to those who know something about these kinds of deals you do get a sense it could potentially be more lucrative than it looks on face value.
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With first look deals, yes there is often financial commitments from the likes of Netflix to get that first exclusive look at projects and first refusal.
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Harry claims: War of words continues
But there could be other significant monetary incentives for the Sussexes to sign.
For example, when the Obamas signed a first look deal with Netflix, the streaming service agreed to pay the operational costs for their production company “Higher Ground”.
Could it be that Netflix are also now covering the costs of Archewell Productions?
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It’s stating the obvious to say that Harry and Meghan continue to divide opinions, some wanting to watch their programmes from a place of respect and fondness, others as a reason to grumble about them.
But signing on this latest dotted line shows Netflix still sees them as a power couple, who attract significant attention and are worthy of investment, whatever that really adds up to.