The biggest celebrity stories of 2017
Never has there been a year where tragedy and happiness have featured together so heavily in the celebrity news. From the countless Kardashian pregnancies to Selena Gomez’s successful kidney transplant, we have a look back over the biggest stories of 2017.
Getty ImagesAnd the Oscar doesn't go to...
In what has to be the biggest blunder in the Academy Awards’ history, La La Land was incorrectly announced as the winner of the night’s principal prize, Best Picture. Warren Beatty had been handed the wrong card and the cast and crew of La La Land were already celebrating on stage when someone had to tell them that, unfortunately, it was actually Moonlight that had picked up the gong. Cue a few red faces and a lot of angry words.
Rex FeaturesWomen V President Trump
President Trump’s inauguration was overshadowed somewhat by the Women’s Marches against him in January. Around 4.5 million people were thought to have turned out in what became the largest and most peaceful day of protest in American history. Celebrities were well represented among the marchers with Madonna, Emma Watson, Amy Schumer, Kristen Stewart, Katy Perry and America Ferrera all showing their support.
Getty ImagesGender-neutral awards
The MTV Movie Awards became the first major ceremony to adopt gender-neutral categories, and Emma Watson saw off competition from the likes of Hugh Jackman and James McAvoy to bag the award for her role in Beauty & The Beast. She told the excited crowd that to win the prize was “very meaningful”, adding: “the first acting award in history that doesn’t separate nominees based on their sex says something about how we perceive the human experience.” We couldn’t agree more.
Getty ImagesCheryl & Liam’s baby Bear
Babies featured heavily in 2017 and among them was Cheryl and Liam’s new addition, Bear. It’s been over eight months since the little tot entered the world but the furore around him doesn’t seem to be dying down. When Liam revealed in an interview that his nickname is Cub and his middle name is Grey, Twitter went into meltdown.
Getty ImagesPippa says "I do"
After all the debate and discussion following her turn as bridesmaid at the Royal Wedding, it was with eager anticipation that the world watched Pippa Middleton walk down the aisle. The nuptials saw Prince George and Princess Charlotte as page boy and bridesmaid and guests included Prince Harry, Ben Fogle and Tim Henman. When details of the day started to emerge, it certainly seemed like a wedding fit for a family of party planners: entertainment came in the form of a spitfire display to greet guests and a game of ping pong with Wimbledon ace Roger Federer, while for nourishment there was £40,000 worth of caviar and £75 bottles of sparkling wine.
Getty ImagesDouble trouble
Celebrities don’t do anything by halves and that seems to go for childbirth too. Not content with giving birth to one baby, several A-list couples did the double and had twins this year. First up was Amal Clooney, who welcomed Ella and Alexander in June, then came Beyoncé, who gave birth to Rumi and Sir Carter a few weeks later, and then came Ronaldo’s twins, born via surrogate also in June (what were they putting in the water?). Special mention should also go to Pharrell’s wife Helen Lasichanh, who casually welcomed triplets in January.
Rex FeaturesLove Island love-in
In 2017, we sure needed a guilty pleasure and that came in the shape of [Love Island](https://beautysale.store/topic/love-island). There was sex, drama and bromance, plus, the addition of the second villa and 11 new islanders was a twist that no one saw coming!
Getty ImagesThe Manchester terrorist attack
Tragedy struck on 22nd May in Manchester. At the end of an Ariana Grande concert, a homemade bomb went off at the MEN Arena, killing 22 people and injuring 500 others, many of them teenagers. Ariana returned to Manchester to visit the injured and organised the One Love benefit concert, which she performed at along with Chris Martin, Liam Gallagher, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and the Black Eyed Peas. They raised £10m for the victims of the attack.
Getty ImagesGoodbye London
After performing 123 dates on her world tour, Adele was forced to cancel the last two gigs of her Wembley show when her vocal cords couldn’t take the strain. In a heart-felt statement, she wrote: “Who the f**k cancels a show at Wembley Stadium?... I’m sorry. I’m devastated.” As is her way, the notoriously-private singer is now taking a well-earned break so we might not be seeing or hearing from her for a few years.
Swift’s savage return
Taylor Swift burst back into the charts the only way she knows how: with drama aplenty. In her return single 'Look What You Made Me Do', she sang that “the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now” and broke the record for the most streams on Spotify in 24 hours in the process. Her album, Reputation, quickly followed and showed Taylor has well and truly ditched her girl-next-door image for a darker side. Watch this space.
Getty ImagesSolo Direction
As One Direction, we were hooked on their catchy pop and tuneful ballads but this year we got to see what the band members could offer us individually – and it was all rather telling. Harry Styles’ 'Sign Of The Times' had something of the Robbie Williams about it; Louis Tomlinson went more dance; Niall Horan’s offering Slow Hands had a bit of the Bieber and Liam Payne sounded like a funky Ed Sheeran.
@Selenagomez / InstagramSelena gets a new kidney
When Selena Gomez went quiet this summer, we assumed she was taking a well-deserved rest but, it turns out, there was a more serious reason for her absence. In September, the singer revealed that she’d undergone a kidney transplant following complications connected to Lupus. Selena’s best friend Francia Raisa acted as donor and the pair posted a snap of them both tied up to machines as they recovered from the operation. "There aren't words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend," Selena wrote. "She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis."
Getty ImagesRoyal baby number three
It’s certainly been a busy year for the Middletons. No sooner had we digested the excitement and extravagance of Pippa’s wedding than the Duchess of Cambridge announced she was expecting her third child. As with her two other pregnancies, Kate suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, meaning she had to miss several engagements and Prince George’s first day at school. Fortunately the Duchess recovered quickly and the royal baby, who will be fifth in line to the throne whether girl or boy, is due in April 2018.
Getty ImagesHugh Hefner’s last hurrah
Hugh Hefner, one of the most controversial and colourful media figures of our time, passed away this year, aged 91. The founder of Playboy and owner of its famous mansion was seen by some as a champion of sexual liberation and freedom of expression, while to others he was exploitative of women and no more than a purveyor of porn. On his death, Hugh left a wife Crystal Harris, 60 years his junior, as well as a coterie of Playboy bunnies.
Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi ad leaves a sour taste
Kendall Jenner was left red-faced after appearing in a Pepsi ad that appeared to trivialise demonstrations and suggested that any differences between the police and protesters could be sorted with a high-calorie, sugary drink. Pepsi apologised, admitted that they “missed the mark” and pulled the advert. Though, at the time, Kendall stayed silent, on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, she discussed the situation with her sister, saying: “I feel like my life is over”.
Getty ImagesSplitsville
2017 hasn’t been a great one for love with more than a fair few break-ups. It started off with Kylie Minogue and Joshua Sasse, after rumours emerged that he’d cheated on her, and they were quickly followed by Scarlett Johansson and husband Romain Dauriac, whose split quickly turned acrimonious. There wasn’t much “Summer Lovin’” either as Anna Faris and Chris Pratt announced they were separating as did Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson. With the autumn came more bad news, with Robert Pattinson and FKA Twigs calling it quits, along with Jennifer Lawrence and Darren Aronofsky, and Davina McCall and Matthew Robertson.
Getty ImagesThe Kardashians are multiplying
Just when you think you can name all the Kardashians, they go and make more. The world’s most glamorous brood are adding three to their number as Kylie and Khloe are rumoured to be pregnant with their first child and Kim is having a third via a surrogate. Expect cute kiddie snaps Kardashian-style come 2018.
Top TV
We all became couch potatoes in 2017 and with good reason: the shows on telly this year were second to none. We had sci-fi horror from Stranger Things , dystopian drama from The Handmaids Tale and A-Listers galore in Big Little Lies . It was TV to watch at home and then talk about in the office. Let’s hope 2018 promises more of the same.
Getty ImagesThe Weinstein scandal
2017 will forever be remembered as the year that scandal rocked Hollywood. It all started in October when The New York Times published an article alleging years of sexual harassment by movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein. Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan came forward saying they had been victims, and initially the producer apologised, admitting he had "caused a lot of pain" although, simultaneously, he threatened The New York Times with a lawsuit. More actresses quickly joined them in accusing Weinstein, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Romola Garai, Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevingne. As Hollywood started to examine its behaviour, Kevin Spacey, Ed Westwick and Ben Affleck, among others, found themselves at the centre of sexual harassment and abuse claims.
Getty ImagesHarry puts a ring on it
After weeks of speculation, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they were indeed engaged. The pair, who started dating in July 2016, candidly revealed that they had been set up by a mutual friend and had gone on a romantic camping trip to Botswana after just two dates. Prince Harry said of their romance that the “stars were aligned” when Meghan “literally tripped and fell into my life”. Ahh, bless.
