Royal lawsuits, affair allegations, birth announcements, and some extremely public,
and sometimes violent, disputes. 2022 featured
some of the most controversial celebrity moments of all time.
At one point, it seemed like Kanye West's messy divorce from Kim Kardashian would be his biggest
scandal of 2022, not to mention his social media feud with Kim's ex, Pete Davidson. But that was
before West unveiled his "White Lives Matter" t-shirts during Paris Fashion Week in October.
In an apparent attempt to quash the controversy, the rapper gave an interview to Fox News' Tucker
Carlson. However, West didn't manage to repair any of the damage he'd already done,
and instead stirred up even more controversy by baselessly alleging,
West also decided to equate Lizzo's empowering body acceptance with "the genocide of the Black
race." West then made a string of antisemitic remarks on both social media and in interviews.
He wound up being locked out of his Twitter account after posting his plans to go "death
con 3 on Jewish people," apparently misspelling "defcon," while claiming,
The situation worsened when unaired portions of the Carlson interview were leaked,
featuring even more antisemitic rhetoric. West subsequently ranted about what he
called a "Jewish underground media mafia" to Chris Cuomo. Meanwhile,
NBC News reported that West regularly expressed his admiration for Adolf Hitler,
something he shockingly did in a December 2022 interview with Alex Jones. West's offensive and
dangerous rants led to a number of companies severing ties with him, most notably Adidas.
In 2021, Spotify inked a deal, which was reportedly worth $100 million,
with comedian Joe Rogan, to make the streaming service the exclusive home of his wildly popular,
constantly controversial podcast. However, "The Joe Rogan Experience" host's remarks about the
COVID-19 vaccine raised the ire of rock icon Neil Young. Young took a hard line in January 2022,
accusing Spotify of allowing Rogan to propagate vaccine misinformation,
and he delivered an ultimatum. If Spotify didn't dump Rogan, Young said he'd remove
all of his music from the streaming service. Rogan ultimately offered an apology of sorts
in a 10-minute Instagram video, pledging to share a range of opinions on his podcast.
But Young was unmoved. His stance was then embraced by some other musicians,
notably India Arie, Joni Mitchell, and the other members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Young
even urged Spotify employees to quit in an open letter posted on his official website, writing,
"That just turned me off and I made an instant decision,
I didn't think about it at all, I said, 'Just take my music off."
Ultimately, Spotify chose Rogan, but Young has held fast. As of December 2022,
his music mostly remains absent from the streaming service. However,
whoever owns the rights to the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young discography relented, meaning that
the band's albums are available to stream, with some of Young's songs cherry-picked and removed.
Even though Johnny Depp and Amber Heard finalized their divorce in 2017, they haven't stayed out of
the news cycle since. In 2022, the exes each took the stand in their defamation trial,
in which Depp accused Heard of maligning his character in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed
about domestic abuse. Depp ultimately emerged victorious, awarded $15 million in damages,
including $5 million in punitive damages, which was later readjusted to $350,000. Meanwhile,
Heard was awarded $2 million. That wasn't the end of it, either,
as Depp later appealed Heard's win, while Heard appealed Depp's, per CNN.
While the trial featured no shortage of salacious moments, one of the most
memorable involved Depp's allegation that he'd discovered feces in their bed after
the two had an argument. As Entertainment Weekly reported, Depp accused Heard of being the pooper.
"I mean, I laughed."
However, Heard blamed the incident on their pet Yorkies, claiming one of them suffered
from chronic bowel-control issues after getting into Depp's weed stash as a puppy. Depp was
skeptical and insisted that the turd he saw was far too large to have come out of one of
the tiny dogs. Depp's testimony hit a whole new level of surprising when he introduced a
little-known euphemism into the proceedings while declaring that a human being had,
"Dropped a grumpy."
The 2022 edition of the Academy Awards was shaping up to be as long and arguably dull as usual
when comedian Chris Rock took to the stage to present an award. Addressing Jada Pinkett Smith,
who'd previously revealed her diagnosis with alopecia, Rock made a controversial joke
about her shaved-head, referencing Demi Moore's similar look in 1997's "G.I. Jane." Rock quipped,
That joke did not sit well with Jada's husband, Will Smith. Seconds later,
the "King Richard" star purposefully strode onstage and slapped Rock across the face,
before turning on his heel and returning to his seat. While ABC immediately cut the audio, an
uncensored clip made its way online. In a mixture of shock, surprise, and amusement, Rock said,
From the audience, Will Smith yelled out,
The incident became even more surreal when, just a few minutes later, Smith returned to the stage,
not to slap somebody else, but to accept his first Oscar. Smith was subsequently
banned from the Oscars for 10 years, while his popularity with the public took a nosedive.
Actors Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis met in 2011, and got engaged two years later. While
they never tied the knot, they did welcome two children together. The couple's relationship
had appeared solid and drama-free, but that changed in late 2020 when they announced they
were separating. In early 2021, rumors began swirling that Wilde had become romantically
entangled with pop star Harry Styles. In July 2021, Sudeikis spoke out about
the split for the first time, indicating that he was still feeling pretty raw, telling GQ,
In April 2022, Wilde was onstage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas promoting her film "Don't Worry
Darling," which stars Styles. As she read from a teleprompter, a man approached the stage and
handed her a manila envelope, per The Hollywood Reporter. She quickly examined the envelope's
contents and returned to her presentation. Deadline subsequently reported that she was
served with legal documents related to custody of her children with Sudeikis. The "Ted Lasso"
star allegedly had no knowledge that his ex would be served in such a humiliatingly public way and
later expressed regret in court documents obtained by the Daily Mail. Wilde's lawyers claimed that
Sudeikis had purposefully employed an "outrageous" legal tactic. Wilde later told Variety,
It would seem that James Corden isn't all that popular with the staff at New York City eatery
Balthazar. In October 2022, the restaurant's owner, Keith McNally, shared an Instagram post
revealing that Corden had been banned for life from his restaurants. He explained,
In the allegations, McNally claimed that Corden yelled at a server about an imperfect omelet,
and angrily demanded a free round of drinks when he discovered a hair in some food. In
a follow-up post, McNally revealed that he'd unbanned Corden after the
talk show host had apparently called him to apologize. Corden addressed McNally's
allegations in a subsequent interview with The New York Times, declaring,
That irked McNally, who returned to Instagram to admonish Corden for claiming to be blameless. He
even offered to let Corden dine on the house at Balthazar for a decade if he would simply
apologize to the servers he'd apparently insulted. With the controversy escalating,
Corden issued an on-air apology for his behavior in a monologue in his late-night show, saying,
"I made a rude comment. And it was wrong. It
was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server."
That was enough for McNally to officially bury the hatchet, and he wrote on Instagram,
Few humans have taken that Biblical advice to go forth and multiply and run with it as
successfully as Nick Cannon. In 2011, Cannon and his then-wife Mariah Carey welcomed twins
Moroccan and Monroe. In 2017, Cannon fathered son Golden with Brittany Bell, and the pair
then welcomed daughter Powerful Queen in 2020. In June 2021, Cannon announced the arrival of
twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir with Abby De La Rosa. Just nine days later, Cannon welcomed
a son called Zen with Alyssa Scott. Tragically, Zen died of brain cancer at five months old.
"I think we're grown and everyone has love and respect and we'll be fine."
Already a father of seven, Cannon welcomed son Legendary Love with Bre Tiesi. In July 2022.
And in September 2022, he fathered daughter Onyx Ice with LaNisha Cole. That same month,
he welcomed his third child with Brittany Bell, son Rise Messiah. Then, in October 2022,
he announced that he was expecting another child with Alyssa Scott. A couple of weeks later, Cannon
revealed that he'd welcomed Zeppelin Cannon, his third child with De La Rosa, and his 12th overall.
"I like children, dammit!"
Prior to his marriage to Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew was reportedly dubbed "Randy
Andy" by the British press for his playboy ways. The Duke of York's reputation seemingly
caught up with him when he was found to have a friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey
Epstein. Virginia Giuffre subsequently alleged that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her at
one of Epstein's homes while she was underage. Giuffre launched a lawsuit against the prince,
with a judge ruling that she was within her rights to sue a member of the royal family.
By January 2022, the serious scandal had caused Prince Andrew's royal status
to be publicly downgraded. As BBC News reported, Andrew was stripped of all of
his military titles and royal patronages, and he was also forced to relinquish the
title His Royal Highness. In addition, a Buckingham Palace statement declared,
In February 2022, the prince settled Giuffre's
lawsuit for an undisclosed sum after failing to get the case dismissed.
"Prince Andrew's pay-off is confidential."
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 2005,
when he was just 21. His fame exploded in February 2021 when "Big Little Lies"
star Shailene Woodley confirmed that she was engaged to Rodgers.
"Yes, we are engaged, we are engaged."
The controversy started when the NFL star refused to reveal his vaccination status,
which left him benched. However, in August 2021, NBC Sports reported that Rodgers had finally
confirmed he'd been vaccinated, allowing him to play again. That wasn't the end of it, though.
Strangely, a few months later, Rodgers revealed that he actually wasn't vaccinated,
and claimed that he'd simply said he was immunized. Appearing on "The Joe Rogan
Experience" in August 2022, Rodgers explained that he'd used a holistic doctor to undergo
what he called an "immunization process." It's also worth noting that he seemingly
didn't bother to correct press reports that incorrectly equated immunized with vaccinated.
"Getting vaccinated was not on the top of my list."
In the midst of this vaccination drama, his relationship with Woodley imploded,
and in February 2022, InTouch reported the two had called off their engagement. Speculation arose
that Rodgers' vaccination wordplay could have been the culprit, although this was never confirmed.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen shocked just about everyone when a September
2022 story in Page Six claimed that they'd each retained divorce lawyers.
Brady confirmed the marriage was over in late October when he shared a post on his
Instagram Story announcing that their divorce had been finalized.
While neither party has publicly addressed the reasons for the divorce,
rumors suggested that Brady's decision to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 40 days
after announcing his retirement may have contributed to the split. In hindsight,
Brady's 2020 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" may provide some clues, as he told the host,
At the time, Brady ultimately realized that
he needed to put his family ahead of football, saying,
"Anytime we get him home we're just so excited.
Football season we don't see much of him, he's very focused."
In September 2022, the death of Queen Elizabeth II was a worldwide media event. In addition
to mourning his late grandmother, Prince Harry's tell-all memoir had been scheduled to be published
in late 2022, after the prince previously signed a multimillion-dollar book deal. With
this arguably inopportune timing, the publication date was subsequently pushed back to January 2023,
purportedly out of respect for the late monarch. Royal expert Shannon Felton Spence
revealed that the rest of the royal family was bracing for impact, telling Fox News,
The royals' were reportedly apprehensive about the dirt that Prince Harry may dredge
up in his book. An apparent attempt was made to demonstrate family unity when
the Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined Prince William and Kate Middleton on a
walkabout outside Windsor Castle to greet mourners. As a source described to People,
Meanwhile, according to the Daily Mail, Harry decided to pen a brand-new chapter for his book,
covering his grandmother's death and his experience at the funeral.
In April 2022, TMZ was the first outlet to report that Tish Cyrus had filed papers to divorce
country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, her husband of nearly 30 years. As the outlet pointed out,
this wasn't the first time the pair had split. Billy Ray filed for divorce in 2010,
and Tish later filed in 2013, but the pair reconciled both times.
Another reconciliation seemed to be out of the question when the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer
became romantically involved with someone else. Billy Ray was linked to up-and-coming
singer Firerose, who is nearly 30 years his junior, per People. In August 2022,
the pair went Instagram official, and Firerose was later seen wearing a huge diamond ring in the
photo. In November 2022, Billy Ray confirmed to People that the two were engaged. It was
later revealed that Billy Ray and Firerose had met over a decade earlier on the set
of "Hannah Montana," the Disney Channel TV series on which he co-starred with daughter Miley Cyrus.
"We actually met ten years ago on the set of 'Hannah Montana.'"
In March 2022, Prince William and wife Kate Middleton embarked on a tour of the
Caribbean. While the royals probably expected to be greeted by adoring fans, the excursion began
on a controversial note when they arrived at their first stop, Belize. Kate and William were forced
to cancel a visit when they learned they'd be greeted by protesters, not fans, per The Guardian.
By the time they arrived in Jamaica, they were met
with more protests demanding reparations from the British monarchy for its role in slavery,
per People. Meanwhile, the country's Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the royals
that Jamaica intended to free itself from from British colonialism, saying,
"We are moving on."
The Bahamas National Reparations Committee
subsequently issued a statement seeking reparations, writing,
The Independent was among many news outlets to describe the entire tour
as "tone deaf." But the controversy didn't end when the couple returned to the U.K. As
the Mirror reported, outrage erupted again as the controversial trip cost more than $277,000.
Adam Levine's reputation took a major blow in October 2022 when a woman named Sumner Stroh
posted a since-deleted TikTok video claiming she'd had an affair with the Maroon 5 frontman.
The video also contained screenshots of what she alleged were text messages from Levine.
The timing of Stroh's claims was particularly awkward as Levine's wife, model Behati Prinsloo,
had recently revealed that she was pregnant with the couple's third
child. Levine responded with a statement he shared via his Instagram Story, saying,
Reports later claimed that Levine and Prinsloo were trying to work things out,
with a source telling Entertainment Tonight,