Key Takeaways
- 2025 was a year filled with wild and memorable pop culture moments, including celebrity engagements, reality TV shows, and controversial songs.
- JoJo Siwa found love on "Big Brother" with Chris Hughes, while Taylor Swift released a raunchy song about her relationship with Travis Kelce.
- Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez had a lavish foam wedding party, and Katy Perry left Earth on a brief trip to space.
- A Mormon wife found redemption on "Dancing with the Stars," and NicOlandria truthers were vindicated when the couple from "Love Island USA" got together.
- The year was marked by internet-breaking moments, including a jeans ad that sparked controversy and celebrities going all out at parties.
Introduction to 2025 Pop Culture
The year 2025 was a whirlwind of pop culture moments that traveled far outside entertainment news circles. From celebrity engagements to reality TV shows, the year was filled with moments that made us scratch our heads and do a double-take. With the year coming to a close, it’s time to take stock of all the wonderful, wild, and ridiculous moments that defined 2025. Whether it was JoJo Siwa finding love on "Big Brother" or Taylor Swift going a little too much information on her latest album, the year was marked by moments that sparked conversation and controversy.
JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes’ Relationship
One of the most surprising moments of the year was when JoJo Siwa, the children’s entertainer turned queer icon, went public with her relationship with Chris Hughes. The two had starred alongside each other in Season 24 of "Celebrity Big Brother UK," and many speculated that their friendship bordered on romantic. Despite the rumors, the news that Hughes and Siwa were officially an item still shocked fans. The pair appears to be taking it in stride, posting happily on social media and appearing to shine on any think pieces on sexuality, age gap relationships, or anything in between.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Wedding Party
Before renting out a large chunk of Venice for his Gilded Age-style wedding, Jeff Bezos proved that the billionaire class need not be classy with a foam party on his 417-foot mega yacht. The images of Bezos, Sanchez, and their guests in swimsuits, playing with foam that bubbled up on the deck, served as a lightning rod for an already sparking class anger over the lavishness of the affair. The foam party was just the beginning of a year marked by excess and controversy, and it set the tone for the rest of Bezos’ wedding celebrations.
Taylor Swift’s Latest Album
Taylor Swift is known for her no-holds-barred approach to songwriting, and her latest album, "The Life of a Showgirl," was no exception. With songs like "Wood," a thinly veiled opus to Travis Kelce’s manhood, Swift reached a new level of intimacy with fans. Some fans were shocked by the raunchiness of the track, given Swift’s penchant for a PG-tone. However, Swift has always been one to push boundaries, and her latest album was no exception.
NicOlandria Truthers Win Vindication
Season 7 of "Love Island USA" was marked by memorable and viral moments, including the legions of fans who became obsessed with a potential pairing between contestants Nic Vansand Olandria Carthen. Coupled with different partners for the majority of the show’s run, couch-bound quarterbacks insisted that they were fated, and after a shock elimination, a racism scandal, and claims of producer meddling, that wish came true. The pair may not have won the show, but they certainly won the invisible competition for influence, as their early supporters doggedly tracked their romantic progress.
A Mormon Wife’s Redemption on Dancing with the Stars
Defying the network television odds, "Dancing with the Stars" rose to new heights of popularity in 2025, drawing in a young fanbase with celebrities they recognized from their TV screens and a seemingly endless stream of TikTok content. At the center of it all was Whitney Leavitt, a star of Hulu’s "Secret Lives of Mormon Wives." Leavitt impressed judges with her ballroom chops and divided the internet over her reality TV villain status. When she was eliminated alongside partner Mark Ballas, "Call Her Daddy’s" Alex Cooper stepped in as a de facto fairy godmother, producing their finale dance on her own and airing it with a blockbuster interview. Leavitt has since gone on to land a guest role on Broadway, and it seems she has the last laugh.
Katy Perry Leaves Earth and Orlando Bloom
The "Firework" singer, 41, delighted some fans and drew mocking from others when she kissed the dirt after a brief trip to space alongside television host Gayle King and Jeff Bezos’s then-fiancee Lauren Sanchez Bezos. The trip, billed as a salute to feminism, was made up of all female astronauts and "astronaut" stars who boarded a Blue Origin capsule for an 11-minute flight. Perry’s jaunt kicked off a tumultuous year for the pop star, including a middling review for her "Woman’s World" tour and a shocking split from longtime partner Orlando Bloom. Perry has since rebounded with a former Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the two went Instagram official in December.