Now that 2023 has come to an end, it’s time for our annual trip down memory lane with a look back at the biggest pop culture moments of the year.
Once the New Year hits, most of us reminisce about everything that happened over the past year – taking note of all the changes in our own lives. But it’s equally fun to look back at the biggest moments that defined us all.
So, with that in mind, here’s my take on the 23 most memorable pop culture moments of 2023.
23 Biggest Pop Culture Moments of 2023
A LOT happened this year. But, we’d be here all day if we tried to recap everything. So, instead, we’ll just recap the biggest, boldest, craziest things that stood out.
Without further ado, here are the 23 most memorable pop culture moments of 2023! Drum-roll please……
1. Taylor Swift
Between her epic Eras tour and her TIME magazine accolade, Taylor Swift basically was 2023. She dominated almost every aspect of the media this year, so much so that future generations will likely remember 2023 as The Year of The Swifties.
2. Jennifer Coolidge Wins
Jennifer Coolidge won at the Golden Globes and proceeded to give the most Jennifer Coolidge-esque speech imaginable.
3. Nepo Babies
Sure, the conversation around Nepotism in Hollywood started back in 2022, but celebs weren’t done talking about it in 2023! Hailey Bieber even sparked a viral moment when she was spotted wearing a tiny ‘Nepo Baby’ tee. The font may have been small but the impact was huge!
4. Kylie Jenner’s Epic Lion Dress
The “self-made” billionaire made waves at Paris fashion week when she wore a Schiaparelli dress featuring a giant, lifelike lion’s head.
5. Angela Bassett Did The Thing
At the Bafta Awards, host Ariana DeBose performed a rap number in which she sang the line, “Angela Bassett did the thing.” It went viral, prompting a slew of Angela Bassett did the thing memes.
6. Rihanna at the Super Bowl
Was it the greatest half-time show? No, let’s be honest (the lip-syncing was beyond noticeable). But was it an iconic moment that’ll go down in pop-culture history? Yep!
7. Jared Leto at the Met
The Met Gala is (supposedly) the pinnacle of fashion, but if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that Jared Leto will don something cringe. And this year, he certainly didn’t disappoint.
He showed up in a giant, white cat costume – the theme was centered around late designer, Karl Lagerfeld, so of course, it only made sense to dress up as Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette.
8. Barbenheimer
Two major blockbusters – Barbie and Oppenheimer – released on the same day became a cultural moment in itself.
9. The Barbie Press Tour
Speaking of Barbie, Margot Robbie’s red carpet recreations of classic Barbie doll gowns became a thing in itself.
10. Scandaval
Even if you didn’t watch Vanderpump Rules before, the Tom Sandaval/Raquel Leviss affair damn near broke the internet.
11. Hollywood on Strike
Between the writer’s going on strike in May and then the actor’s going on strike in July, Hollywood was effectively shut down for about six months.
12. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Ski Crash Trial
She lost half a day of skiing but the world gained some much needed entertainment
13. Succession Finale
An amazing end to one of the decade’s best show’s on television. Succession was a lot of things, but boring was never one of them.
14. A New King is Crowned
In May, King Charles III was officially crowned at the age of 73. As an American, I may not totally get the monarchy, but there’s an undeniable fascination with the royal family that has a cross-cultural appeal. And that I DO understand.
15. HBO’s Worst New Show
In June, The Idol premiered on HBO to absolutely awful reviews. The Idol was trash television in the absolute worst possible way.
16. Troye Sivan
Speaking of The Idol, Australian singer Troye Sivan had a supporting role on the show. And while that didn’t help make the series any better, it did help elevate Sivan to greater heights. On top of that, his song, Rush and the accompanying music video went viral.
17. Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet
If you had this celeb couple on your 2023 bingo card, you’re either from the future or… from the future because, yeah, it was that unexpected.
18. Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour
Bey slayed, as expected, but perhaps the most notable thing about this tour was the fact that Blue Ivy made her on-stage debut performing alongside her mother.
19. The Original Supermodels Return
In the fall, the world’s first “supermodels” – Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington – reunited for the first time in over 30 years. The iconic quartet appeared on the cover of Vogue, just in time to promote Apple TV’s docuseries, The Super Models.
20. Britney Spears Tells All
In November, Britney’s much anticipated memoir, The Woman in Me, hit shelves. For the first time in 13 years, Britney Spears had the freedom to tell all – and it was juicy as hell!
21. Toxic Gossip Train
Over the summer, Colleen Ballinger was “canceled” due to her problematic behavior with fans. In response, she made what has to be the worst “apology” video of all time
22. Crazy Airplane Lady
The crazy airplane lady gave us one of the wildest viral moments of the year. Inevitably, her airplane outburst – and the explanations she gave in the months afterwards – led to a slew of conspiracy theories.
23. Tayvis
Well, we started with Taylor, so it seems only fitting that we end with Miss Swift as well.
In 2023 her love life became front and center once again. First, she and Joe Alwyn broke up after six years together – a complete shocker in itself – and she found a rebound in the worst partner ever. Luckily, the Matty Healy thing didn’t last long and before long, she debuted an epic romance with Travis Kelce.
Since then, Tayvis has effectively dominated the news cycle.
