The Year In Superlatives: Best Pregnancy Reveal, Most Surprising Couple and More
The cast of Rent was right: How do you measure a year? Through TikTok trends? Celebrity scandals? Days on strike? In a year like 2023, it might just take all of the above and then some. We celebrated girls, found a way to watch both Barbie and Oppenheimer, went to economy-boosting concert tours, and somehow made ancient Rome relevant again. From Rihanna’s epic Super Bowl pregnancy reveal to whatever quiet luxury was, here are the pop culture moments and trends that had a hold on us in 2023.
Theme of the Year
Girlhood
Girlies. Girl dinner. Girl math. Being a girl’s girl. Hot girl walks. All things girl, from bows to friendship bracelets, thrived in 2023. Part of that is thanks to cultural sensations like Barbie and the Eras tour, which celebrated femininity and brought back the joys of our adolescence. And perhaps another part of that is a very real exhaustion with the realities of being a woman and an adult, especially after the #Girlboss era and post-COVID. As Isabel Cristo recently wrote in The Cut, 'In 2023, the only way to have fun, it seemed, was by turning away from adult womanhood wholesale and toward a breezy, bright alternative.' The trend might have been easily commodified, but at least it was something we could all enjoy together.
Best Real-Life Rom-Com
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Flights to football games and concerts abroad, lyric changes, and viral kisses: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s love story came out of nowhere after Kelce’s failed meet-cute. It then escalated into the most captivating romance of the year with movie-like outings and developments.
Taylor Swift And Travis Kelce: The Timeline
Best Way to Silence a Crowd
Beyoncé’s Mute Challenge
'Look around everybody on mute' became shorthand for 'shhh!' thanks to a trend Beyoncé started on the Renaissance World Tour. As she ventured from city to city, fans dutifully obeyed to an impressive degree, with some even shushing the unknowing audience members who cheered during the silences.
Best Comeback After Almost 2,000 Years
The Roman Empire
Rome may have fallen in 476, but it lives on in the minds of men everywhere, apparently. A viral TikTok trend uncovered that guys across the internet think about the Roman empire with an eerie frequency, some as often as once a week.
Most Convincing Confidence Boost
Delusion
2023 was the year delulu became the solulu. We can finally normalise lying to yourself, ignoring social decorum, and believing anything is possible. But when it comes to execution, think more Tube Girl and less George Santos.
Best Pregnancy Reveal
Rihanna at the Super Bowl
Revealing you’re expecting your second child on a glass platform suspended over a football stadium? Only Rihanna could do it. Her subtle announcement was unintentional, but became instantly iconic with Rih decked out in an all-red Margiela jumpsuit. The proud mom ultimately welcomed her bundle of joy in August.
100+ Of Rihanna's Most Jaw-Dropping Fashion Moments
Best Handbag Model
Jacob Elordi
From Fendi to Burberry and Bottega Veneta, Hollywood’s favourite heartthrob is seldom photographed without a designer handbag in tow. And we truly love to see it.
Best Dancer-Turned-Secret-Creative-Director
Blue Ivy Carter
The 11-year-old’s dance solos instantly became the highlight of Beyoncé’s tour, making us all feel like proud aunts and uncles as she took the stage (and got better with every performance). And as Bey’s concert film revealed, Blue had some influence behind the scenes too; we have her to thank for keeping 'Diva' in the setlist.
Most Surprising Couple
Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet
This was one of those pairings you couldn’t believe at first—until they made things official at a Beyoncé concert, that is (so you know it’s real). After relationship rumours dropped this spring, they’re still going strong; Jenner has even apparently gone to multiple Wonka screenings.
Best Underdog Moment
Ke Huy Quan winning an Oscar
The Cinderella story that bubbled up throughout 2022 got its happy ending at the Academy Awards earlier this year. Ke Huy Quan was a child star who quit acting for decades, thinking his moment had passed for good. But when he returned to the screen in Everything Everywhere All at Once, he got nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar — and won. Re-watch his acceptance speech if you need a good cry.
Most Haunting Dance
The M3GAN Dance
A killer robotic doll body rolling and cartwheeling across the hallway? The stuff of nightmares. The release of this horror film at the very top of the year sent 2023 off to a chaotic start.
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Best BFF Duo
Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri
This pair of rising stars have been friends since their days at NYU, and thanks to the summer comedy Bottoms, the world got to see their friendship on full display. We couldn’t be more obsessed.
Hardest Celeb Trend to Get Behind
Breaking Up
Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner. Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn. Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello. Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson. Cardi B and Offset. Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness. Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez. Billy Porter and Adam Smith. Jeremy Allen White and Addison Timlin. Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth. Meryl Streep even confirmed that she and her husband of 45 (!) years, Don Gummer, separated six years ago.
Celebrity breakups happen every year, but something about this year’s splits—many of them divorces—hit extra hard.
Best Lyric Change
'Karma Is the Guy on the Chiefs'
One of the best days on the internet this year came after Taylor Swift changed the lyrics to her single 'Karma' during the Buenos Aires stop of her Eras Tour. Instead of singing, 'Karma is the guy on the screen,' (a nod to her ex Joe Alwyn), she sang, 'Karma is the guy on the Chiefs,' (a nod to her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce), all while a certain NFL player sat in the audience. She was then filmed running offstage straight into said football player’s arms and kissing him like she didn’t have thousands of fans watching. Honestly, bless these two. As the poet Mary Oliver said: 'Joy is not made to be a crumb.'
2023 Was The Year Of Taylor Swift
Best Couple That Isn’t Actually a Couple
Amelia Dimoldenberg and Andrew Garfield
Want a master class in casual flirting? Watch any of Dimoldenberg (host of Chicken Shop Date) and Garfield’s many run-ins on the red carpet. The banter, laughs, the awkward charm...it’s magic. Here’s to hoping for more reunions this upcoming award season.
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Best Place to Find Your Favourite Celeb This Summer
The Picket Line
This year, the Writers Guild of America was on strike for 148 days, while SAG-AFTRA was on strike for 118. This marked the first time both unions were on strike at the same time since 1960. And both were able to reach agreements around residuals and transparency in the streaming landscape, plus better protections against AI. The demonstrations saw countless familiar faces, with many actors lending their star power to the cause: Mark Ruffalo, Kerry Washington, Susan Sarandon, Colin Farrell, Jon Hamm, Anya Taylor-Joy, Florence Pugh, Pete Davidson, and many more.
But it wasn’t just Hollywood; 2023’s 'hot labour summer' reflected labour movements aiming for better conditions and wages across industries, from hotel employees to auto workers and beyond.
Biggest Clutch-Your-Pearls Moment
'Seven' by Jung Kook
Jung Kook, of the usually squeaky-clean BTS, sent jaws dropping when he released the uncensored version of his single 'Seven' this year. The hook—'I’ll be fuckin’ you right seven days a week'—left fans in shambles, not necessarily in a bad way.
Most Unexpected Beef
Sabrina Carpenter vs. the Catholic Church
When it came out that Carpenter filmed her 'Feather' music video in a New York City church, the Archdiocese of Brooklyn was in uproar. The local bishop was 'appalled at what was filmed,' according to a statement. The pop star then clarified in Variety that she got approval ahead of the shoot, and added that 'Jesus was a carpenter.'
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