From Bad Bunny’s dominance of the world to that shocking Oscars moment; the haphazard press tour for “Don’t Worry Darling,” which culminated in Julia Fox’s ascension to stardom; We’ve covered a lot of pop culture in 52 weeks, from Beyoncé going disco to winning our hearts with “Abbott Elementary.”
We certainly did not forget about Elmo’s argument with Rocco or the Try Guys’ split. Relive the best, the worst, and the most embarrassing moments from 2022’s pop culture with us.
Bad Bunny ruled.
Since its release in May, “Un Verano Sin Ti” has charted, and it’s packed with songs to listen to while recovering from headbanging. For the past three years, Bad Bunny has been the artist on Spotify with the most streams worldwide. In addition, Benito is simply beautiful.
Twitter almost went bankrupt.
Do you remember that one November night when everyone thought Twitter was going out of business but it miraculously remained online? The prolonged demise of Twitter recalls a scene from “Titanic” in which we all play the violin frantically on the deck as the ship sinks. We’ve grown up with Twitter, and some of us have been using it for more than a decade. and aren’t quite ready to give up its memes yet.
Casting for “Funny Girl” was a disaster.
We all became musical theater insiders when Lea Michele abruptly replaced Beanie Feldstein in the Broadway revival of “Funny Girl.” Everything about it was controversial: Michele has been accused of abusing her co-stars, and Feldstein did not have the voice for the iconic role of Fanny Brice. Barbra Streisand, the original Fanny, is the only real winner in this contest.
Elmo fought Rocco.
Can you believe that this year marks the beginning of our obsession with Elmo’s one-sided feud with Rocco the rock? At the beginning of the year, we adults were delighted by the animosity between a lovable toddler Muppet and an inanimate stone, perhaps even more so than the viewers of “Sesame Street” who were children.
We were hooked on Wordle.
This creative yet simple word game was initially free. The New York Times then purchased it. For now, it is still free. Enjoy the moment. At the very least, the days of daily score sharing are over.
Our hearts were warmed by Abbott Elementary.
In just one year, we got two seasons of this delightful ABC primetime hit! How fortunate are we? Quinta Brunson, star and maker of the school-set mockumentary, implants all of her heart and mind into this organization jewel. It was sweet and well-deserved to see Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph, who played Barbara, accept Emmys for their work.
Kanye keeps alienating.
We aspire to forget. This year, in addition to his previous inflammatory statements, Kanye West made a number of antisemitic remarks. Because of his remarks, he lost several significant deals, most notably the Adidas-Yeezy partnership, which has become the final straw for many fans.
Surprised, the Oscars slap.
It was BIZARRE to observe this live. We thought it was a script until it became clear that it wasn’t. It was depressing that it dominated the news for so long, but maybe it’s a sign that awards shows do matter!
Steve Lacy took off.
Our beloved Steve Lacy was launched into the stratosphere by TikTok. His app success with his hit “Bad Habit” earned him a Grammy nomination for record of the year. Steve, you have our full support!
The big-budget movies are back.
We go to the movies for magic, as demonstrated by Nicole Kidman and her sparkly pantsuit in that AMC advertisement. This year saw a few major blockbusters, from Tom Voyage’s tactical festival “Top Weapon: Maverick” to Austin Butler was a nod to Tom Hanks’ performance in “Elvis.” Black Panther prowled, Batman brooded, minions did their thing, and dinosaurs were all over the planet.
