(NEXSTAR) — Now that 2023’s almost over, no doubt you’re seeing lots of “best” and “worst” lists. And while some celebrities, like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, had undoubtedly great years (as far as we know), not everyone got so lucky.
Below are eight celebrities who might be glad this year is finally over.
Elon Musk
Even though he’s the richest man in the world, there are some things even a net worth of $257.8 billion can’t buy.
This year, the Tesla CEO fully moved into his role as owner of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter after purchasing it for $44 billion last October. Results have been… likely not what Musk hoped for. In October of this year, the company valued itself at $19 billion — a 55% year-over-year loss.
Money aside, users fled the platform under Musk’s watch. As Axios reports, “user churn” increased 30% from September 2022 to September 2023. This means there was a 30% increase in users who stopped using the app altogether. Meanwhile, downloads of the app dropped 38% globally, per Sensor Tower estimates.
Decreases in web traffic (and concerns over the rise of hateful content on Twitter, as it was then called) led to more than half of the company’s biggest advertisers to pause or pull out from dealings with the company starting early this year. Then in November, Musk inadvertently renewed advertiser hesitation after he appeared to endorse an antisemitic post — prompting companies like Apple, IBM and Sony to pull their ad spending.
In response to this, Musk lashed out during a New York Times event, when he accused advertisers of trying to blackmail him by pulling their ads, telling them: “Go f— yourself. Is that clear? Hope it is.”
Unfortunately for Musk, the meant-to-be-serious rant was widely ridiculed and only resulted in even more major advertisers removing their ads.
And that’s not even to mention:
- a string of Tesla vehicles catching fire and/or exploding
- reportedly refusing to follow through on a cage fight he initiated with Mark Zuckerberg
- getting “roasted” by rapper Ice Cube
- getting roasted by John Oliver
- getting roasted by Twitter users (a lot)
- getting roasted by Taylor Swift fans
- getting roasted by Grok, X’s AI chatbot
Sean “Diddy” Combs
Things seemed to be going great for Sean “Diddy” Combs just months ago.
In September, he returned to music with his first album in 17 years, the same day he received the keys to the city by New York Mayor Eric Adams. The 54 year-old father of seven had a new family reality series in the works with Hulu.
Diddy’s major troubles began in November, when his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit claiming Combs physically and sexually abused her for over a decade. Though Combs’ denied the allegations through his attorney, the two parties reached a settlement agreement just one day later for an undisclosed sum. Though the settlement helped Combs avoid a public trial, three more women filed lawsuits claiming he had raped them at different points, including one woman who said the incident happened when she was just 17.
Combs released a statement denying all allegations against him, saying in part: “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
In light of the allegations, Hulu ended development of Combs’ series and fellow rapper 50 Cent announced his production company was producing a “Surviving R. Kelly”-style documentary about Combs’ alleged victims, with profits benefiting them. Meanwhile, the Recording Academy said in a statement, that despite being nominated for one Grammy Award this year, the organization is “evaluating” the artist’s invitation to the ceremony.
Lizzo
Rapper Lizzo built her persona and music career around positivity and bodily autonomy — which is why a lawsuit filed against the “Truth Hurts” artist, alleging the star helped create a “hostile, abusive work environment” shocked many.
A trio of Lizzo’s tour dancers accused her of contributing to a “sexually charged” atmosphere, with the women alleging they were pressured to engage in both a nude photo shoot and an incident with nude dancers in a night club. Additional details of the lawsuit included claims Lizzo — whose work champions body size diversity — made “thinly veiled” comments about the women’s weight gain.
Lizzo denied the claims, saying in part: “Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed.”
Within 24 hours of the lawsuit news, the four-time Grammy Award winner lost over 150,000 Instagram followers and just one week later, the Philadelphia-set Made in America Festival — which the singer was meant to co-headline — was cancelled, with organizers citing “severe circumstances.”
The nature of the claims, which harshly clash with the rapper’s brand, disappointed many fans but it’s still too early to tell the extent to which her career will be damaged in the long run.
Justin Timberlake
In the annals of pop culture history, up until 2023, it would have appeared Justin Timberlake came out on top when it comes to his very public breakup with Britney Spears back in 2002. While Timberlake enjoyed a decade of film and music success after the split, Spears’ life was marred by trouble after trouble, culminating in a 13 year-long conservatorship that she didn’t escape from until November 2021.
But in 2023, Spears reclaimed much of the narrative about her life and herself — and recalibrated some of the public’s perceptions of the people who have come into and out of her life. And that includes her former boyfriend, who makes several appearances in Spears’ bestselling memoir “The Woman in Me.”
Though some of long been known to many who followed the Spears-Timberlake history, for some of the public it was brand new news to hear that Spears felt betrayed by Timberlake, who Spears said had cheated on her often yet promoted the idea that their breakup was due to her cheating. While Spears explained that she did once make out with choreographer Wade Robson, she wrote she did so out of anger over Timberlake’s affairs.
According to Spears, Timberlake forwarded the misrepresentation with his song “Cry Me A River,” and its music video, both of which took very thinly veiled jabs at Spears and portrayed her as a cheater and him as a victim.
Among other of Timberlake’s behavior asserted by Spears are that he:
- Broke up with her via two-word text (Per Spears: “It’s over!!!”)
- Gave her a breakup letter that he had framed
- Publicly revealed details of the couple’s sex life
- And most notably, Spears revealed for the first time that during their relationship, she’d become pregnant by Timberlake. Though she was in her early 20s at the time, Spears said she was happy about it — but says Timberlake “definitely wasn’t happy” and pressured her to have an at-home medical abortion that Spears calls “agonizing.” In the story, Spears claims Timberlake and her assistant refused to take her to the hospital, even after she was in pain, out of worry that the press would find out
All of this added context led to a re-evaluation of Timberlake, who has also previously faced criticism for his treatment of singer Janet Jackson, who faced the vast majority of backlash for an incident involving them both.
Adding insult to injury, Spears’ book also contained one particularly embarrassing anecdote. While explaining how, in her opinion, Timberlake and his then-pop group *NSYNC tried hard to be cool around Black artists, she recounting a time when she and Timberlake encountered R&B singer Ginuwine.
According to Spears, Timberlake attempted to greet the star by saying, “Oh yeah, fo’ shiz! Fo’ shiz. Ginuwine! What’s up, homie?”
The story — and the snippet of Oscar nominee Michelle Williams reading it from the audiobook — went viral. Though Ginuwine said he doesn’t remember the incident, he told People, “If Justin would’ve did something like that, I probably would’ve looked at him like, ‘Why are you acting like that?'”
In the wake of the book’s release, Timberlake turned off comments on his Instagram posts and canceled a series of promotional tour dates for an upcoming album.
Colleen Ballinger
Mega-star YouTuber Colleen Ballinger rose to fame in the late 00s through her video blogs and skits as the character Miranda Sings, which were widely popular with tweens and teens. At its height, Ballinger’s Miranda Sings-specific YouTube channel boasted over 10 million subscribers and more than 2 billion views. The success of her comedy helped Ballinger make the transition from YouTube to more traditional media, with the star landing her own two-season Netflix show, “Haters Back Off” and appearances in films and other TV shows.
In 2017, Ballinger was even named no. 5 among Forbes’ Top Entertainment Influencers.
But things took an unexpected turn this year, however, when old and new allegations of inappropriate conduct with underage fans came to a head this summer. In addition to claims Ballinger, who is 37, shared “private details” of her love life with a fellow YouTuber beginning when he was 13, the now-17-year-old said Ballinger had also sent him underwear in the mail.
Meanwhile, a 16 year-old fan said she felt pressured by Ballinger to participate in a section of the comedian’s live show which involved Ballinger spreading the girl’s legs. The fan, only identified by the name “Becky,” told Huffington Post she was also not dressed for such a display. “I looked up to her so much and I just trusted her so much that I did it. I laid down and she just spread my legs wide open for everybody to see,” the girl told HuffPost.
Ballinger had previously addressed the underwear incident in a video, saying the “joke” was taken out of context. But in June, Ballinger finally addressed all the situations, delivering a bizarre 10-minute “apology video” from her personal YouTube channel in which she played the ukelele and sang an original song defending herself, now known as “The Toxic Gossip Train.”
Unfortunately for Ballinger, the video went viral for the wrong reasons. The video became an immediate meme, with many (including “America’s Got Talent” host Howie Mandel) creating their own parodies. Ballinger stayed away from the internet for several months following the video and emerged only in late November with another, more sincere-seeming video. “Obviously, the last video that I posted on here is really embarrassing. … I was being accused of some pretty awful things, and I just was mad,” Ballinger explains.
In the video, titled “fall vlog,” Ballinger says she regrets how she handled the situation and extended further apologies for her actions. She said she hopes to continue making content and that she appreciates anyone who wants to support her.
Jonathan Majors
Jonathan Majors was on the verge of mega-stardom.
After a role in the high-profile, “Creed III” and the acclaimed-but-short-lived HBO series “Lovecraft Country,” Majors, 34, was set to be given the keys to the Marvel Cinematic Universe kingdom. This year, Majors made his official debut as Kang the Conquerer in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and was being positioned by Marvel as the main antagonist of the MCU’s entire next phase of films.
Then March 2024 happened.
Majors’ then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari accused him of assaulting her in the back of a cab in New York City. Majors was arrested the following day and charged with assault and harassment.
News of the arrest put Marvel’s plans for him in jeopardy and Marvel and Disney officially dropped Majors until he was found guilty of the charges earlier this month. The verdict came after several days of disturbing details about Majors’ behavior were revealed in court.
His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 6.
Drew Barrymore
This year, Drew Barrymore went from America’s Sweetheart to pariah overnight over her decision to resume filming of her talk show despite the ongoing Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
The 48 year-old host of “The Drew Barrymore Show” faced immediate backlash after the announcement in a now-deleted Instagram post. There, the star explained, in part: “I am making the choice to come back for the first time in this strike for our show, that may have my name on it but this is bigger than just me… I own this choice.”
Barrymore acknowledged the importance of the strikes and reaching satisfying resolutions for writers but the words rang hollow for many since she was re-starting her show without writers.
The WGA East called out the decision on X, formerly Twitter, saying: “‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ is a WGA-covered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers. The Guild has and will continue to, picket-struck shows that are in production during the strike. Any writing on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ is in violation of WGA strike rules.”
Swift backlash led Barrymore to post an also now-deleted tearful video to Instagram where she apologized for the situation and said she accepted responsibility. But to many people’s surprise, Barrymore continued by saying the show would still be returning. This only made the situation worse for her and more backlash followed.
Days later, Barrymore announced she would cease taping new episodes until strike negotiations were over. In another now-deleted Instagram video, Barrymore explained she had “listened to everyone” and come to the decision to stop.
“I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today,” Barrymore said.
Taping of “The Drew Barrymore Show” resumed Oct. 16, once the strike ended, though all three show writers declined to return. In October, the show hit a 22-week ratings high, with an average of 1.1 million viewers, as reported by The Wrap. It’s unclear whether any long-term damage will be done to Barrymore’s career.
Rudy Giuliani
The former New York City mayor and former attorney to former Pres. Donald Trump faced a series of embarrassments and losses this year.
Back in May, Giuliani, 79, was sued by a former off-the-books employee, Noelle Dunphy, who claims Giuliani sexually harassed her and coerced her into having sex. Though Giuliani and his legal team deny the allegations, Dunphy also claimed to have audio of Giuliani making lewd comments to her. Though the audio has not been released, transcripts of some of the alleged audio appear in court filings and include claims Giuliani called Dunphy, “big t-ts,” in reference to her breasts and claimed “These breasts belong to me.”
Elsewhere on the alleged tape, Giuliani is said to call actor Matt Damon a homophobic slur and made comments on the size of Jewish men’s genitalia. Dunphy is seeking $2 million in damages.
But that’s not the end of Giuliani’s troubles.
Earlier this month, Giuliani was ordered to pay $148 million in damages to former Georgia election workers, whom Giuliani previously falsely accused of sneaking in ballots and tampering with voting machines during the 2020 election. Shortly after the judgement, Giuliani filed for bankruptcy, which led to the exposure of his financial records — and several hundred millions in liabilities, per the filing.
Giuliani still faces a criminal case in Georgia related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. As explained by The Hill, while the bankruptcy filing will likely stall any civil cases he’s currently fighting, bankruptcy won’t stop money he’ll be forced to pay due to “willful and malicious” conduct,” if he’s found guilty.
