The Most Jaw-Dropping Pop Culture Moments of 2025 Revealed
The year is almost done, done, done, so it’s our moment to relive 2025’s major stories. From engagements (Zendaya, Taylor Swift) to career wins (we see you, Hailey Bieber), gotta drink every drop.
Nothing but the truth now. Nothing but the proof of what we are: We have reached the end of 2025 and we still don’t really get the whole six-seven thing. Sorry, youths.
But we’re definitely up, up, up on all the other big stories of the year.
Between Netflix’s runaway hit KPop Demon Hunters showing us all how it’s done, done, done and holding space for Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo to wow us with Wicked: For Good, we’ve been shattering the silence for months now.
And, yes, those were our screams of joy that you heard when we learned our English teacher and our gym teacher are getting married. And while we absolutely will be knocking on wood to score an invite to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce‘s future nuptials, that’s not the only celebrity wedding on our Wi$h Li$t.
We’d happily accept the great responsibility of attending Zendaya and Tom Holland‘s wedding. And while we can take ourselves dancing, we’d much rather do it while celebrating the marriage of Miley Cyrus and Maxx Morando.
These past 12 months also saw some couples realize they can love themselves better than their partner can (we know you tried, Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini).
But for others, now the sky is opalite.
“I think the universe literally said, ‘Oh yeah, by the way. You two belong together, you’ll figure it out eventually,'” JoJo Siwa explained to E! News of realizing her friendship with Celebrity Big Brother UK Chris Hughes was no longer platonic. “And we did! We’ve both been in relationships prior, but I think that’s why this feels easy because it’s very right. We have fun and we keep things light.”
And they’re not the only ones making their own sunshine.
Jenna Bush Hager found her forever friend in Today cohost Sheinelle Jones, Gigi Hadid keeps proving she’s far from the shallow with boyfriend Bradley Cooper and Hailee Steinfeld is ready to add to her squad with new husband Josh Allen.
So, yes, we expect that 2026 is gonna be, gonna be golden. But first, it’s our moment to relive the biggest stories of the past year.
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage; Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/ShutterstockTom Holland Proposes to Zendaya
Jan. 5: Fans’ spidey senses began tingling when Zendaya accessorized her burnt orange custom Louis Vuitton Golden Globes gown with a 5-carat cushion-cut diamond.
Tom Holland’s father Dominic Holland later confirmed that the Spider-Man: Homecoming actor had been given the great responsibility of marrying his former costar.
“Tom, as you know by now, was very incredibly well prepared,” Dominic shared in a Patreon post. “He had purchased a ring. He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter. Tom had everything planned out … When, where, how, what to say, what to wear.”
Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesHugh Jackman and Sutton Foster Hard Launch Their Romance
Jan. 6: Hugh Jackman didn’t need 76 trombones or 110 cornets right behind to parade The Music Man costar turned girlfriend Sutton Foster through Santa Monica, Calif.
Their dinner date followed months of speculation that the newly single Broadway powerhouses (he announced the end of his 27-year marriage to actress Deborra-Lee Furness in September 2023; she filed to end her nearly decade-long union to screenwriter Ted Griffin in October 2024) had elevated their friendship. Still, it’d be nine more months before they’d take their places together on a red carpet.
AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP via Getty ImagesLos Angeles Experiences Devastating Fires
Jan. 7: Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag, Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia were just a few of the stars who watched their homes burn down as wildfires raged across much of L.A. In all, more than 50,000 acres of land were destroyed as firefighters worked to fight the strong Santa Ana winds and contain the massive flames in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena and other neighborhoods.
Instagram/Bonnie BlueBonnie Blue Sets a Dubious Record
Jan. 12: OnlyFans model Bonnie Blue got busy, sleeping with 1,057 men in 12 hours to break a record previously set by adult film star Lisa Sparks in 2004. “Gang bangs after gang bangs to start with,” she later detailed on TikTok. “The room was absolutely full.”
Then, eager to give people more time, she continued, “One person would watch whilst I was with somebody, and then it would literally just be like a rotating circle.”
Photo by Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty ImagesBrittany Mahomes and Patrick Mahomes Add to Their Squad
Jan. 12: As quarterback Patrick Mahomes was leading his Kansas City Chiefs to a third straight Super Bowl, he called a brief timeout to join wife Brittany Mahomes as she welcomed their fam’s latest teammate. And, yes, their daughter Golden Raye Mahomes was shining bright alongside older sister Sterling and brother Bronze when Patrick took the field at Super Bowl LIX.
Amanda Edwards/Getty ImagesJessica Simpson Ends Her Marriage to Eric Johnson
Jan. 13: While Jessica Simpson did wanna love Eric Johnson forever, they announced the end of their 10-year union. “Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage,” the mom to Maxwell, Ace and Birdie told E! News in a statement. “Our children come first, and we are focusing on what is best for them.”
NINA PROMMER/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockJessica Alba Breaks Silence on Cash Warren Break Up
Jan. 16: In other less-than-fantastic news, Jessica Alba confirmed reports that she’d ended her 16-year marriage to Cash Warren. “I’ve been on a journey of self realization and transformation for years – both as an individual and in partnership with Cash,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m proud of how we’ve grown in our marriage over the last 20 years and it’s now time for us to embark on a new chapter of growth and evolution as individuals.”
Nine months later, the mom to Honor, Haven and Hayes revealed her new costar, hard launching her romance with Captain America: Brave New World actor Danny Ramirez on Instagram Nov. 9.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording AcademyKanye West Pulls Focus at the Grammys
Feb. 2: Baby, I got a plan, run away fast as you can. That’s what we’re assuming Kanye West told wife Bianca Censori on the Grammys red carpet. Though it was rumored that the “Famous” rapper and his scantily clad bride of two years were kicked out of the awards show, E! News learned that they simply chose to make an appearance that lasted FourFiveSeconds.
Harold Cunningham/Getty Images for IWC Schaffhausen; Instagram/Valente BrothersGisele Bundchen Gives Birth
Feb. 5: Gisele Bündchen welcomed a new angel, with news breaking she’d given birth to her third child—her first with boyfriend Joaquim Valente.
“I’ve been quiet over here but very busy living life,” the super model, who shares Benjamin and Vivian with ex-husband Tom Brady, along with his and Bridget Moynahan’s son Jack, wrote in a May Instagram post featuring her youngest son. “Sometimes, the most beautiful moments aren’t shared—they’re simply lived.”
Christy Carlson Romano/InstagramChristy Carlson Romano Gets Shot in the Eye
Feb. 7: Even after Christy Carlson Romano was shot in the face in five different places, she was able to see the bright side. Taking husband Brendan Rooney out to shoot clay pigeons to celebrate his birthday, another party “unsafely fired in the wrong direction and shot me in the face,” the Austin-based actress detailed on Instagram. And, yet, her takeaway, the Even Stevens alum added, was that she “got shot in the face and lived to tell the tale. Be grateful for every day.”
Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Splash NewsSelena Gomez Addresses Emilia Pérez Controversy
Feb. 9: Who says Selena Gomez shouldn’t be proud of the work she put into Oscar contender Emilia Pérez? While the controversy caused by costar Karla Sofía Gascón’s offensive tweets meant “some of the magic has disappeared,” Selena acknowledged during a Q&A at the 2025 Santa Barbara Film Festival, “I choose to continue to be proud of what I’ve done, and I’m just, I’m just grateful and live with no regrets.”
Ashley St. Clair/X; Kevin Lamarque – Pool/Getty Images; Shivon Zilis/XAshley St. Clair Claims She Had Elon Musk’s Baby
Feb. 14: Roses are red, violets are blue and on Valentine’s Day, conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair had a little sharing to do about her relationship with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. “Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world,” the Elephants Are Not Birds author wrote on X of her son Romulus. “Elon Musk is the father,”
Weeks later, her rep called on Elon to “publicly acknowledge his parental role with Ashley,” prompting him to address the matter on social media. “I don’t know if the child is mine or not, but am not against finding out,” Elon wrote in a post on X March 31, adding, “Despite not knowing for sure, I have given Ashley $2.5M and am sending her $500k/year.”
By that point, he and Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis had also revealed they’d welcomed their fourth child together, bringing his tally to 14.
Instagram / Katie ThurstonKatie Thurston Reveals Cancer Diagnosis
Feb. 15: Valentine’s Day was light on romance for Bachelorette Katie Thurston. She and now-husband Jeff Arcuri had plans to travel the world, she shared in an Instagram post. Instead, having received a breast cancer diagnosis, “my Vday was spent coordinating a place to live as I have to go back to LA for more testing and treatment.”
Keeping fans apprised of her journey, the reality TV alum revealed in April that her disease had progressed to stage four, then shared in July that her tumors had shrank. As she told E! News in October, “I’m doing good, all things considered.”
NBC/Kevin Mazur/NBC via Getty ImagesSaturday Night Live Marks 50 Years
Feb. 16: Live from New York, it was basically everyone who ever appeared on Saturday Night Live. When the Lorne Michaels-helmed sketch series marked its big birthday (some seven months before the actual Oct. 11 anniversary of the premiere) Kim Kardashian, Blake Lively, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and countless more stars turned up to celebrate in Studio 8H.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc NationSerena Williams Makes Moves at the Super Bowl
Feb. 17: Of course Serena Williams served up the perfect response when critics said she only appeared in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show Feb. 9 to irritate ex Drake.
“Gosh I’m so late to the game (I’ve been sick) & busy investing in billion dollar companies and running @WYNbeauty,” she wrote in a post on X. “Def not dancing to be petty lol.”
Drake and Kendrick may have been in their feelings, but her crip walk was “bigger than the music,” her husband Alexis Ohanian wrote in his own social media missive. “Some of y’all have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago and it shows.”
Henry Lamb/Photowire/BEI/ShutterstockMichelle Trachtenberg Dies at Age 39
Feb. 26: We already knew we loved her, but the tributes and XOXOs from fans came pouring in after Gossip Girl alum Michelle Trachtenberg died at the age of 39 following a liver transplant.
“Michelle, listen to me,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer onscreen sister Sarah Michelle Gellar wrote in a Feb. 27 tribute, a callback to when her character sacrificed herself for Michelle’s Dawn. “Listen. I love you. I will always love you. The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you.”
Jeffrey Mayer/WireImageGene Hackman Found Dead With Wife and Dogs
Feb. 27: Weeks after legendary Oscar winner Gene Hackman was found dead in his Santa Fe home along with wife Betsy Arakawa and one of their dogs, the tragic mystery was solved. Betsy died of respiratory illness hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Chief Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell told reporters.
The actor apparently lived another week before he died of heart disease, according to the coroner, his pacemaker last showing activity on Feb. 18. What’s more, added the medical examiner, he was in an “advanced state of Alzheimer’s,” meaning “it’s quite possible that he was not aware” his wife was dead.
Meghan Trainor/InstagramMeghan Trainor Makes Fans Do a Double Take
March 6: Yep, Meghan Trainor would bet she made fans look when she showed off the results of her breast implant surgery on Instagram. And she wasn’t lyin’, lyin’, lyin’ when she said she was “obsessed” with how she looked.
“I’ve always struggled with loving my boobs before I got them done,” explained the mom of two, noting they “were always sagging my whole life. These breast implants are the only ones in the world with smooth silk, a surface designed to minimize inflammation so the tissue around the implant stays soft. Honestly, they look and feel amazing.”
Maarten De Boer/Getty ImagesLauren Graham Reveals the Father of Mae Whitman’s Baby
March 10: Sometimes mamas can’t help but brag. Such was the case when Lauren Graham—who played mom to Mae Whitman‘s Amber on Parenthood—stopped by former costar Dax Shephard‘s Armchair Expert podcast.
“They’re in New York now,” the Gilmore Girls alum explained of Mae and Miles, the son she welcomed in August 2024. Also trying to get some shut-eye in the city that never sleeps, added Lauren, was Mae’s “baby daddy” Carlos Valdes. He’s “on Broadway in Hadestown, which I feel happy to plug,” she explained, “because he’s fantastic in it.”
The Hapa Blonde/GC ImagesGigi Hadid Goes All in on Bradley Cooper
March 11: Tell us something, Gigi Hadid. Are you happy in this modern world with boyfriend Bradley Cooper? More than a year into their romance, the duo were far from the shallow.
“I think just getting to the point where knowing what you want and deserve in a relationship is essential,” she explained to Vogue of their partnership. “And then to find someone that is in a place in their life where they know what they want and deserve…and you both do work separately to come together and be the best partner that you can be.”
MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty ImagesAstronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore Splash Down
March 18: After nine months at the International Space Station astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore finally came back down to Earth. While their stay was more than eight months longer than their initial eight-day mission, both bristled at the idea they were lost in space.
“We’ve got food, we’ve got clothes, we have great crew members up here,” Suni stressed to CNN. “Of course, it was a little bit longer stay than we had expected, but both of us have trained to live and work on the International Space Station and I think we’ve made the most of it.”
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording AcademyMegan Fox Gives Birth
March 27: Megan Fox and former fiancé Machine Gun Kelly kicked off a new chapter in their story when they welcomed daughter Saga Blade Fox Baker. “She’s finally here!!” the musician shared on Instagram. “Our little celestial seed.”
Jinger & Jeremy Vuolo/YouTubeThe Duggar Baby Boom Continues
March 29: Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar have 39 grandkids…and counting. Jinger Duggar and her husband Jeremy Vuolo added another branch to the tree when they welcomed their third, son Finnegan Charles Vuolo. Jeremiah Duggar and wife Hannah Duggar added to the tally in May with their third baby, daughter Emery, as did Jessa Seewald, giving birth to her sixth child, son Edward, with husband Ben Seewald in July.
Still in bloom? Jana Wissman, set to welcome her first with husband Stephen Wissman in January, and Abbie Duggar, expecting her third with husband John-David Duggar.
Will Heath/NBCMorgan Wallen Flies Out of SNL
March 30: Get him to God’s country. Country singer Morgan Wallen made a quick exit from Saturday Night Live after his second gig as musical guest, later posting a shot of his private jet.
Not content to let it fly under the radar, Colin Jost joked about the move during the April 5 edition of Weekend Update, cracking, “Money is leaving the stock market faster than Morgan Wallen at ‘goodnights.'”
Teddi Mellencamp/InstagramTeddi Mellencamp Announces Her Cancer Is Stage 4
April 2: Good thing diamonds don’t crack under pressure. Diagnosed with multiple brain tumors in February that spread to her lungs, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp confirmed her cancer had progressed to the most advanced stage.
“I gotta tell you, some days I feel really, really strong and some days I feel really, really sad and alone,” she detailed in an Instagram Stories video. “And I think that’s a normal part of what any of us are going through, and that’s okay. Stage 4 cancer can be scary.”
Six months later, she delivered a more reassuring update, revealing on the Oct. 3 episode of her Two T’s in a Pod podcast, “I had my immunotherapy yesterday and I did my scans and at this point there is no detectable cancer.”
MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockMichelle Obama Breaks Silence on Divorce Rumors
April 9: No, she won’t. As in, Michelle Obama isn’t leaving her husband of 33 years or apologizing for protecting her peace.
Acknowledging the split chatter that began when she chose not to attend former President Jimmy Carter‘s Jan. 9 funeral or President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration alongside former President Barack Obama, the former First Lady noted that people “couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty ImagesEric Dane Shares ALS Diagnosis
April 10: Former Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane revealed the doctor had become the patient, telling People he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working,” the actor detailed, “and am looking forward to returning to the set of Euphoria next week.”
Blue OriginKaty Perry Heads Out of This World
April 14: Katy Perry visisted a whole ‘nother world, a different dimension when she joined the all-female crew embarking on Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission to space. Jeff Bezos’ now-wife Lauren Sánchez assembled the team, welcoming Katy, Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn aboard.
Christopher Willard/Disney via Getty ImagesPeter Krause Bids Farewell to 9-1-1
April 17: Peter Krause’s Captain Bobby Nash went out a hero on 9-1-1. Infected with a deadly virus, he gave Kenneth Choi’s Chimney a shot at living by giving him the sole vial of the vaccine.
“I’ve heard that many fans are upset by this loss and they have a right to be,” the actor later told Variety in a statement. “That said, it was more than a bold creative choice on a bold show. Bobby Nash was written in sacrifice and he was built for this.”
Instagram / Elizabeth Hurley / Billy Ray CyrusElizabeth Hurley and Billy Ray Cyrus Debut Romance
April 20: So much for that achy, breaky heart. Three years after filming Christmas in Paradise together, costars Elizabeth Hurley and Billy Ray Cyrus found utopia on his Tennessee farm, hard-launching their romance with an Easter Instagram post.