12
Seth Rogen – For Alzheimer’s Treatment

We all know how much Seth Rogen loves marijuana and we have seen him smoke up in movies such as “Pineapple Express” and “This is The End”. There are some actors who fake being stoners, but Rogen is proud to admit that he is indeed a pothead.

Seth also believes strongly in the benefits of cannabis for Alzheimer’s prevention. In particular, Rogen’s passion circulates around the legalization of CBD for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Rogen’s mother-in-law, Adele Miller, had an early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. He saw first-hand the way how the illness changed her and left her unable to care for herself.

Appearing in front of Congress in 2014, Rogen documented these changes and the impact the disease had on his family’s life. He argued in support of legislation to increase federal funding for care and research of Alzheimer’s.

11
Alessandra Ambrosio – For a Good Night’s Sleep

Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio swears by CBD to help her with sleep and anxiety. In an interview, she mentioned that it’s important to get eight full hours of sleep to be ready for a runway show. However, with the stress of an upcoming fashion show, it can be difficult to calm the mind enough sleep easily. When Ambrosio gets anxious, she uses CBD oil to feel more relaxed and peaceful. She also drinks CBD water for an extra cannabis-powered boost.

10
Whoopi Goldberg – For Good Living and More

Whoopi Goldberg is a talk show host of The View, actress, performer, comedienne, and cannabis advocate. In fact, many would agree that she is an outspoken cannabis advocate. Goldberg proudly supports CBD as a health supplement.

Whoopi speaks highly of cannabis and its counterparts for various health issues not just feminine. She’s used a vape pen for years for pain, stress and glaucoma. Whoopi has also admitted to consuming CBD when she cannot get THC. She supports people consuming CBD at work as the compound is non-psychoactive.

Last year, she and Maya Elisabeth started Maya & Whoopi – which sells edibles, tinctures, salves, and more.

9
Woody Harrelson – For Art and Commerce

Woody Harrelson, a marijuana advocate and actor, has tried and failed to gain a permit that would allow him to open his own marijuana dispensary in Hawaii. A hugely versatile actor, Harrelson has appeared in countless popular tv series and films such as Cheers, Natural Born Killers, White Men Can’t Jump, Zombieland, The Hunger Games, and Seven Psychopaths, to name a few.

Marijuana has even cropped up in his film career. He narrated a weed documentary named Grass and appeared in another documentary by the same director called Go Further. He co-starred with fellow marijuana enthusiasts Matthew McConaughey and Willie Nelson in the stoner comedy Surfer, Dude before popping up in another documentary called Hempsters: Plant the Seed.

Here’s betting Harrelson will get his dispensary in the future!

8
Mike Tyson – It’s a Good Investment

Former boxer Mike Tyson is also constructing Tyson Ranch, a project to build a pot farm in California City, approximately 50 miles from Los Angeles. Rob Hickman, an investor backing Tyson Ranch, told CNNMoney that Tyson “doesn’t drink anymore, he’s a heavy CBD and a heavy marijuana user.” “The news of Mike Tyson setting up a cannabis farm caught many by surprise because he’s not necessarily a figure that you would associate with cannabis use,” said John Kagia, a cannabis industry analyst for New Frontier Data.

7
Gene Simmons – Purely for Business

Aside from advocating the amazing benefits that CBD has to offer, many celebrities also invest in the cannabis industry. Gene Simmons invested $10 million in Invictus, a Canadian cannabis grower. Although he’s never smoked pot, he’s quoted as saying that he believes in cannabis. For Simmons, it’s purely a business move. “I’ve got $10 million wrapped up in the stock because I believe in it,” Simmons told CNNMoney. Invictus went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange last month with a ticker bearing his name: GENE.

6
Montel Williams – A Veteran’s Recovery

Montel has been famous for years for his acting career, but in 2016 the cannabis community won a huge victory while he was travelling through the Frankfurt airport. Police found cannabinoids in his luggage, but after he proved that it was CBD prescribed as a medical use product by a licensed doctor, he was released. Williams suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and has been a proponent of legalization ever since he tried it and found relief. He has been an outspoken advocate since 1999.

Eighteen years ago, television celebrity Montel Williams couldn’t have imagined he’d one day be standing in a sleek Santa Ana dispensary chatting with fans about his new line of cannabis products. Long before California’s modern “green rush,” back when medical marijuana patients still risked having their homes seized for giving cannabis to needy friends, Williams was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He was also in constant pain, downing a dozen opioids a day and battling depression that left him suicidal.

In 2001, a doctor quietly recommended that Williams try medical marijuana to ease the chronic nerve pain and muscle spasms that accompany his incurable autoimmune disease. Williams says he found immediate relief, and he’s taken cannabis products almost daily since.

He’s also become one of the most high-profile proponents of medical marijuana, supporting legalization initiatives throughout the country even as threats of a crackdown by the Trump administration are looming.

“I feel no one has a right to get into the middle of a conversation between a doctor and a patient,” he said. “If a doctor recommends cannabis, then everyone else needs to shut up and get out of that conversation.”

Williams is passionate about ensuring that serious medical patients such as himself – who need super clean, easy-to-consume products with precise ratios of particular compounds – don’t get forgotten as the more-profitable recreational marijuana movement spreads.

That mission led him Wednesday to Bud and Bloom dispensary in Santa Ana, where the trim 61-year-old in a bright paisley shirt was introducing the first two products available from his new California-based company, LenitivLabs.

5
Melissa Etheridge – “Marijuana is Medicine”

Singer Melissa Etheridge realized that marijuana is medicine when she had breast cancer 13 years ago. She has been a recreational marijuana smoker since early adulthood.

After Melissa received her first round of chemotherapy 13 years ago, her whole viewpoint on cannabis changed. Whereas she has previously seen marijuana as something to use for fun, she discovered that it helped to alleviate the terrible suffering caused by chemotherapy. It helped with the pain, and it helped her with depression. Now she is fully recovered and even smokes pot with her adult children!

4
Rihanna – For the People

Truly music royalty, Rihanna has won nine Grammy Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, and 12 American Music Awards. She has sold over 250 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling musicians of all time, and there seems to be no end in sight to her output. Rihanna is open about her use of marijuana and continues to advocate for its wider legalization and usage.

If there’s one thing that Rihanna doesn’t care about, it’s what people have to say about her. Her public display of affection towards marijuana has been publicized and criticized — even more so since the singer hopped on Instagram in 2011 — still instead of paying mind to the comments section, she rolls up a blunt for the haters. We can’t be mad at that. You love who and what you love, right?

Rihanna’s relationship with weed sparked rumors in 2010 of the singer being banned from a Barbados hotel for heavy pot smoking. Before we knew it, the singer was an advocate for greenery through countless Instagram selfies, showing her with a blunt either between her red-hued lips or between her fingertips.

3
Michael J. Fox – Parkinson’s Relief

Best known for starring in the Back to the Future trilogy and the original Teen Wolf, Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at the age of 29. He has since begun using CBD as a means of alleviating his Parkinson’s symptoms. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has found that a high amount of cannabinoid receptors are found in the human basal ganglia, a group of brain cells responsible for movement and affected by Parkinson’s disease. Several studies funded by MJFF have found that cannabinoids, like CBD, may help to protect brain cells via antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.

2
Jim Belushi – Back to the Earth

Jim Belushi is an American actor, comedian, farmer, singer and musician. He is the younger brother of the deceased comic actor John Belushi.

Jim’s happy place is growing pot in Oregon. He describes a spiritual connection to the marijuana he’s growing on his 93-acre spread near Eagle Point. Belushi started his cannabis enterprise three years ago with a 48-plant medical marijuana grow that has expanded into the greenhouses, equipment and manpower to compete in an ever-changing cannabis industry.

1
Morgan Freeman – For Chronic Pain

Morgan Freeman is an American actor, producer, and narrator. What many fans of his legendary acting don’t realize is that Freeman is using his voice to fight for cannabis legalization. That’s correct, Freeman has pushed for medical marijuana legislation, and arguably way before it was a popular social movement. His advocacy for cannabis use has helped normalize the conversation.

Based on his more recent interviews on the subject, we can safely assume that Freeman has been using cannabis, at least recreationally, since Woodstock. It seems as if the plant’s potential medicinal applications were suggested to him only in 2008, though, after a severe motor vehicle accident left him with chronic pain.

The post 12 Celebrities Who Swear by CBD Oil appeared first on Thats Whats Up.

20
Rihanna’s Net Worth Skyrocketed With The Creation Of Fenty

She’s already conquered the world of music, and this year Rihanna took two major forays into the worlds of film and beauty. Sure, she played the the brilliant hacker Nine Ball in Ocean’s Eight, but that wasn’t even her biggest accomplishment of the year. After initially launching her Fenty Beauty line in 2017, Rihanna was its success skyrocket in 2018. The brand successfully addressed a major gap in the beauty market, which is notorious for offering less options for darker skin tones. The aptly dubbed “Fenty Effect” has led many other beauty brands to scrabble as they seek to claim a piece of the market Fenty has claimed. Time reports that the brand made $100 million in its first 40 days, and is now available in 29 countries. Basically, Rihanna never has to sing again.

19
Kayne West Had His Most Controversial Year Yet

Kayne was at it again this year with the controversial tweets and odd behavior. It’s as much a part of his brand as clothes with holes and narcissism, but this year he took it to a whole nother level. In addition to aligning himself with the highly controversial American president, Kayne forced many of his friends to publicly toe the line between being loyal to their friend and agreeing that he had, in fact, given them plenty of reason to worry. Many find it ironic that Kayne’s ever so loyal wife Kim Kardashian has done more for the people than he has in ages, and rumors are that she too has struggled with his endless twitter ramblings. Because he has one of the most loyal fan bases in music, Kayne remains a Hollywood staple. Still, he’s never come closer to ending his own career. We imagine his team will recommend he pull back in the new year.

18
Camila Cabello’s First Solo Album Went Platinum

Former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello’s solo career did not launch uneventfully. A plethora of rumors surrounded her departure, which her band mates seemed unhappy about despite pursuing solo endeavors soon after. It seems that the dust still hasn’t settled between the women, but it’s unlikely Camila has any regrets considering how well she’s fared on her own. Her admirably honest debut Camila features a balance between catchy pop hits (we still can’t get “Havana” out of our heads) and vulnerable ballads. After debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200, the album went platinum, as did the single “Havana.” Only one thing allowed Camila to trump this massive career success: former President Barack Obama declaring Havana one of his favorite songs. We’d say this former harmonizer made the right choice.

17
Kevin Hart Had To Step Down From Hosting The Oscars

Kevin Hart may still be a wildly successful comedian, but he certainly had a fall from grace this year. After coming back from the scandal of cheating on his pregnant wife, he manged to stay off the radar for most of the year. We said most. Soon after Thanksgiving, Kevin and his wife found themselves in hot water after throwing their son a Cowboys vs. Indians party. Kevin chose not to apologize for the incident, and instead went into a long-winded defense on his radio show Straight From The Hart. Most of the public quickly forgot, and weeks later Kevin was announced as next year’s Oscar host. Upon the announcement, a series of homophobic tweets Kevin had made in the past came to light. Again, Kevin opted not to apologize, thus leading to him being forced to step down as the Oscars host. Clearly, his career is considerably resilient, but we can only imagine that he doesn’t have too many strikes left.

16
Awkwafina Starred In Two Of The Summer’s Biggest Blockbusters

Among Rihanna’s famed costars in Ocean’s 8 was comedian, rapper, and actress Awkwafina. After initially making her debut into the entertainment world with the comedy rap track “My Vag,” she began a career as an Internet creator.  She begin venturing intro traditional media afterwards, and had arguably the most successful year of her career in 2018. In addition to Ocean’s 8, the star also played Goh Peik Lin in Crazy Rich Asians. Starring in two of the year’s most successful films certainly boads well for the star, and she’s already planning to follow up her success with her sophomore album, in addition to starring in the Angry Birds 2 movie, Rolling Stone reports.

15
Matt Damon’s  Insensitive Comments Angered A Lot Of Female Celebrities

Considered a Hollywood staple and classic heartthrob by many, Matt Damon’s recent controversies have served as a reflection of changing times. While older generations swear by the actor, 2018 has not been so fond of him. After his bromance partner Ben Affleck and his brother Casey Affleck ended up on the wrong side of the MeToo movement, Matt added fuel to the fire by angering a great deal of female celebrities. Matt made some comments questioning how far the movement would go and why it wasn’t choosing to applaud men that hadn’t done anything wrong (presumably himself) and female celebrities in turn  questioned his eagerness for a reward. Actresses Alyssa Milano, Evan Rachel Wood, and Minnie Driver (an ex) all went to Twitter to speak their minds. Matt eventually apologized on the Today show, but we still haven’t forgiven him for The Great Wall. Tsk, tsk.

14
Ariana Grande Had Her First Number One Single

We know, it seems like a typo. “Thank u, next” was in fact Ariana Grande’s first number one single. Between “The Way,” “God Is A Woman,” “Problem,” “Dangerous Woman,” and so many more hits, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. Ariana has had considerable success in the music industry since “The Way;” this year’s Sweetener was her third number one album, but it’s still significant that she’s finally received her first number one single. Not only is “Thank u, next” iconic because of the film references and cameos in the music video, it also allowed the singer to turn her personal struggles into career success. This year, Ariana broke up with Mac Miller, began dating and quickly became engaged to Pete Davidson, mourned the loss of Mac after his overdose, and broke off her engagement with Pete. Most people would take a break after all she’s experienced, instead, she’s buried herself deeper into her work, and it’s paid off.

13
Pete Davidson Struggled Under The Spotlight

Pete Davidson’s relationship with the public this year has been almost as tumultuous as his romantic life. His whirlwind romance with Ariana Grande certainly required some getting used to.  First people were confused by the pair, then Pete’s disregard for political correctness quickly angered the masses, and somehow this has all culminated in sympathy as the public have refocused on his transparency about his mental health struggles. Nothing changed about the man, but in dating one of the world’s biggest pop stars, his spotlight grew. Living under a larger microscope has clearly exacerbated Pete’s mental health struggles (he’s taking a break from social media) and resulted in greater criticism of everything he does. The world can’t seem to decide how it feels about him, and there’s no telling what that may do to his career.

12
Idris Elba Was People’s Sexiest Man Alive

He was many people’s sexiest man alive even without the title, but the formality was still significant. Forty-six year old Idris is many people’s pick for the next Bond. He’s starred in both TV and big screen hits like The Wire and Thor and so far, he’s kept himself scandal free. Considering what a year 2018 was in Hollywood, this in itself was an accomplishment. Early this year, Idris proposed to his girlfriend Sabrina Dhowre at a film premiere, People reported. No word yet on whether the actor will be playing the iconic Bond role, but with such a successful year under his belt, anything could happen.

11
Roseanne Barr Had Her Show Renewed And Canceled

For many, Roseanne was a nostalgia-inducing cult classic. Many were onboard with the reboot, as dreaded as reboots often are, this one seemed to be fairing well. That is, until people realized it was best to leave an actress like Roseanne Barr in the past. Quickly, people protested against a “humorous”past photoshoot she’d done in the likeness of Adolf Hitler.  It wasn’t enough to end her career, but Roseanne decided to remind the world that her views hadn’t altered much, after openly identifying as a member of the alt-right, her fatal tweet was predictably racist and Islamophobic. This time, ABC was quick to pull the plug, Forbes reported. Instead, the show was re-rebooted to exclude Roseanne. Both the character and the actor’s fate were sealed.

10
Cardi B Broke A Ton Of Music Records

Like Ariana, Cardi had a great of deal of career success counteracted by a complicated personal year. The rapper became engaged and married to Migos rapper Offset. They had a daughter together, and months later Cardi announced she was filing for divorce (it seems Offset had cheated on her multiple times throughout the course of their relationship). While Cardi seems to be making as many headlines for the drama that surrounds her as for her music, she has broken quite a few records. Her number one  debut album, Invasion of Privacy, made her only the fifth female rapper to top the Billboard albums chart and gave her the largest streaming week for a female artist’s album ever. 

9
Scarlett Johansson Had To Back Out Of A Controversial Role

It’s not the first time Scarlett has faced controversy over taking a role that many found her unfit for. In 2017 Scarlett took on the role of a lead character in a live-action remake of a Japanese manga series. There were rumors that Paramount and Dreamworks contemplated using technology to make the actress look more Asian, which apparently seemed easier that casting an Asian actress. The movie did not do as well as expected and Scarlett just barely addressed the controversy. This year, Scarlett found herself in a familiar pickle when she was cast to play a transgender character in the upcoming film “Rub & Tug.” Initially, Scarlett addressed the controversy unapologetically and instead chose to highlight other cisgender actors that had previously played transgender characters, like Jared Leto. She eventually changed her tune when she realized she wouldn’t be able to get away with keeping the role this time around. Scarlett remains a successful Hollywood actress, but if she pulls a stunt like this again, we’d expect it to be her last chance.

8
Geoffrey Owens Had A Career Revival After Being Filmed At Trader Joe’s

Geoffrey Owens starred in The Cosby Show as Sondra Huxtable’s husband Elvin in the 80s and 90s. He fell off most people’s radar after that famed role and was spotted again this year while working at Trader Joe’s when a  customer decided to record him. Celebrities are often shamed for taking on “regular people” jobs after being on the big screen, but Geoffrey was lucky enough to have a lot of big names rally around him. Soon after the incident, he was interviewed on a number of talk shows. He explained that he was still acting and teaching, but had to fill in the gaps (presumably, the loss of residuals from The Cosby Show also affected his income). Nicki Minaj generously donated $25,000 to the actor (who then donated it to the Actor’s Fund) and Tyler Perry gave him a job. He’s set to star in “The Haves and The Have Nots,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” and a new film starring Hillary Swank, USA Today reported.

7
“Jersey Shore” Star Mike Sorrentino Was Sentenced For Tax Fraud

Maybe he wasn’t the biggest star, but Jersey Shore’s “The Situation” could have had things go another way for him this year. He celebrated three years of sobriety this year and tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend. However, things kind of derailed when he was sentenced to eight months in prison for tax evasion. In reality, the sentence was a long time coming for Mike, who was indicted on tax offences in 2014, along with his brother. In 2017, more charges were added to the list. His brother was sentenced to two years in jail. The Situation is expected to begin his sentence in January 2019, People reports.

6
K-Pop Group BTS Was Tweeted About More Than Kayne West And Trump

If you’re not an “internet person,” you may have never heard of the K-pop band BTS, but rest assured they’re a pretty big deal. Gone are the days when BTS stood for behind the scenes, now it refers to the record-breaking boyband. On top of being this year’s most tweeted about celebrity for the second year in a row, the band also broke the record for most Youtube views in 24 hours with their “Idol” music video, after beating out Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” This year BTS also became the first Korean artists to top the Billboard 200, showing that 2018 was a big year for the group internationally.

5
Kathy Griffin Sparked Outrage Over Her Political Commentary

Comedian Kathy Griffin is known for sparking controversy, and despite being among the long list of celebrities that have spoken out against Donald Trump, it seems many thought she took it too far. After posing with a mask depicting his severed head, Kathy was scolded by the man on Twitter. Kathy was fired from her New Year’s Eve co-hosting job at CNN and even became the focus of a Secret Service investigation, E News reports. The comedian has spent most of 2018 trying to come back from the scandal while dealing with death threats and the president’s scorn.

4
Sandra Oh Made History As An Emmy Nominee

After spending years playing the beloved character Christina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy and being arguably underappreciated, Sandra Oh left the show. She went on to star on the majorly successful BBC show Killing Eve, where she plays the title character Eve. For this role, she was nominated for an Emmy and became the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for best lead actress in a drama series. Even though she didn’t win, the nomination has incredible historical significance, and will surely elevate her status as an actress. Additionally, it was only the show’s first season, so there is much time for her to be nominated again.

3
Keegan Michael Key And The Stars Of The Predator Film Came Under Fire

Olivia Munn followed up on her pledge to the MeToo movement this year by speaking up when she discovered that one of the film’s actors was a registered sex offender that plead guilty in a case involving an underage female relative. After alerting her male costars, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan Michael-Key, Augusto Aguilero, Jake Busey, and Trevante Rhodes, the actress found herself ostracized from the group. Only after the news came to light about the sex offender, and the fact that Olivia was being ignored by the rest of her costars, did they publicly speak up on the matter. The film fell short of its predecessor in earnings its first week, and while Olivia’s costars will certainly get second chances, this scandal will likely reemerge when more is tacked on to their lists.

2
Noah Centineo Became Everyone’s New Fave Heartthrob

After starring in “To All The Boys I’ve Loved and Sierra Burgess Is A Loser” for Netflix, Noah Centineo became many people’s internet boyfriend. Netflix seems to be single-handedly bringing back the rom-com genre, and it’s been a long time since US audiences have had a go-to male for this type of role. Noah previously starred on the Freeform drama The Fosters but this year marked his big debut. As admirers continue to muddle the line between the actor and his nice-guy roles, Noah’s star promises to rise, as long as he doesn’t disappoint.

1
Lena Dunham Continued To Tarnish Her Brand

Actress and Girls creator Lena Dunham was praised when she first rose to the scene, but since then she’s continued to be involved in a number of small, yet concerning scandals. This year she was forced to apologize for defending a former Girls writer against sexual assault allegations, shortly after declaring that women should be believed. In the past, she’s had to issue an apology to Odell Beckham Jr. after making a number of assumptions because he didn’t speak to her at an event (the two do not know each other). She was also involved in an odd situation where she claimed she had to give up her rescue dog because it was aggressive, but the shelter she adopted the dog from disputed her claims. This is just a glimpse into the number of situations Lena has had to explain/apologize for during her career, and every year people seem to be a little less willing to listen to her side of things.

References:

Time, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Slate, People, Forbes, Billboard, Teen Vogue, E News, CNN, NY Times, CNBC

The post 10 Celebrities Who Almost Ruined Their Careers In 2018 & 10 Who Thrived appeared first on Thats Whats Up.

20
Rihanna’s Net Worth Skyrocketed With The Creation Of Fenty

She’s already conquered the world of music, and this year Rihanna took two major forays into the worlds of film and beauty. Sure, she played the the brilliant hacker Nine Ball in Ocean’s Eight, but that wasn’t even her biggest accomplishment of the year. After initially launching her Fenty Beauty line in 2017, Rihanna was its success skyrocket in 2018. The brand successfully addressed a major gap in the beauty market, which is notorious for offering less options for darker skin tones. The aptly dubbed “Fenty Effect” has led many other beauty brands to scrabble as they seek to claim a piece of the market Fenty has claimed. Time reports that the brand made $100 million in its first 40 days, and is now available in 29 countries. Basically, Rihanna never has to sing again.

19
Kayne West Had His Most Controversial Year Yet

Kayne was at it again this year with the controversial tweets and odd behavior. It’s as much a part of his brand as clothes with holes and narcissism, but this year he took it to a whole nother level. In addition to aligning himself with the highly controversial American president, Kayne forced many of his friends to publicly toe the line between being loyal to their friend and agreeing that he had, in fact, given them plenty of reason to worry. Many find it ironic that Kayne’s ever so loyal wife Kim Kardashian has done more for the people than he has in ages, and rumors are that she too has struggled with his endless twitter ramblings. Because he has one of the most loyal fan bases in music, Kayne remains a Hollywood staple. Still, he’s never come closer to ending his own career. We imagine his team will recommend he pull back in the new year.

18
Camila Cabello’s First Solo Album Went Platinum

Former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello’s solo career did not launch uneventfully. A plethora of rumors surrounded her departure, which her band mates seemed unhappy about despite pursuing solo endeavors soon after. It seems that the dust still hasn’t settled between the women, but it’s unlikely Camila has any regrets considering how well she’s fared on her own. Her admirably honest debut Camila features a balance between catchy pop hits (we still can’t get “Havana” out of our heads) and vulnerable ballads. After debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200, the album went platinum, as did the single “Havana.” Only one thing allowed Camila to trump this massive career success: former President Barack Obama declaring Havana one of his favorite songs. We’d say this former harmonizer made the right choice.

17
Kevin Hart Had To Step Down From Hosting The Oscars

Kevin Hart may still be a wildly successful comedian, but he certainly had a fall from grace this year. After coming back from the scandal of cheating on his pregnant wife, he manged to stay off the radar for most of the year. We said most. Soon after Thanksgiving, Kevin and his wife found themselves in hot water after throwing their son a Cowboys vs. Indians party. Kevin chose not to apologize for the incident, and instead went into a long-winded defense on his radio show Straight From The Hart. Most of the public quickly forgot, and weeks later Kevin was announced as next year’s Oscar host. Upon the announcement, a series of homophobic tweets Kevin had made in the past came to light. Again, Kevin opted not to apologize, thus leading to him being forced to step down as the Oscars host. Clearly, his career is considerably resilient, but we can only imagine that he doesn’t have too many strikes left.

16
Awkwafina Starred In Two Of The Summer’s Biggest Blockbusters

Among Rihanna’s famed costars in Ocean’s 8 was comedian, rapper, and actress Awkwafina. After initially making her debut into the entertainment world with the comedy rap track “My Vag,” she began a career as an Internet creator.  She begin venturing intro traditional media afterwards, and had arguably the most successful year of her career in 2018. In addition to Ocean’s 8, the star also played Goh Peik Lin in Crazy Rich Asians. Starring in two of the year’s most successful films certainly boads well for the star, and she’s already planning to follow up her success with her sophomore album, in addition to starring in the Angry Birds 2 movie, Rolling Stone reports.

15
Matt Damon’s  Insensitive Comments Angered A Lot Of Female Celebrities

Considered a Hollywood staple and classic heartthrob by many, Matt Damon’s recent controversies have served as a reflection of changing times. While older generations swear by the actor, 2018 has not been so fond of him. After his bromance partner Ben Affleck and his brother Casey Affleck ended up on the wrong side of the MeToo movement, Matt added fuel to the fire by angering a great deal of female celebrities. Matt made some comments questioning how far the movement would go and why it wasn’t choosing to applaud men that hadn’t done anything wrong (presumably himself) and female celebrities in turn  questioned his eagerness for a reward. Actresses Alyssa Milano, Evan Rachel Wood, and Minnie Driver (an ex) all went to Twitter to speak their minds. Matt eventually apologized on the Today show, but we still haven’t forgiven him for The Great Wall. Tsk, tsk.

14
Ariana Grande Had Her First Number One Single

We know, it seems like a typo. “Thank u, next” was in fact Ariana Grande’s first number one single. Between “The Way,” “God Is A Woman,” “Problem,” “Dangerous Woman,” and so many more hits, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. Ariana has had considerable success in the music industry since “The Way;” this year’s Sweetener was her third number one album, but it’s still significant that she’s finally received her first number one single. Not only is “Thank u, next” iconic because of the film references and cameos in the music video, it also allowed the singer to turn her personal struggles into career success. This year, Ariana broke up with Mac Miller, began dating and quickly became engaged to Pete Davidson, mourned the loss of Mac after his overdose, and broke off her engagement with Pete. Most people would take a break after all she’s experienced, instead, she’s buried herself deeper into her work, and it’s paid off.

13
Pete Davidson Struggled Under The Spotlight

Pete Davidson’s relationship with the public this year has been almost as tumultuous as his romantic life. His whirlwind romance with Ariana Grande certainly required some getting used to.  First people were confused by the pair, then Pete’s disregard for political correctness quickly angered the masses, and somehow this has all culminated in sympathy as the public have refocused on his transparency about his mental health struggles. Nothing changed about the man, but in dating one of the world’s biggest pop stars, his spotlight grew. Living under a larger microscope has clearly exacerbated Pete’s mental health struggles (he’s taking a break from social media) and resulted in greater criticism of everything he does. The world can’t seem to decide how it feels about him, and there’s no telling what that may do to his career.

12
Idris Elba Was People’s Sexiest Man Alive

He was many people’s sexiest man alive even without the title, but the formality was still significant. Forty-six year old Idris is many people’s pick for the next Bond. He’s starred in both TV and big screen hits like The Wire and Thor and so far, he’s kept himself scandal free. Considering what a year 2018 was in Hollywood, this in itself was an accomplishment. Early this year, Idris proposed to his girlfriend Sabrina Dhowre at a film premiere, People reported. No word yet on whether the actor will be playing the iconic Bond role, but with such a successful year under his belt, anything could happen.

11
Roseanne Barr Had Her Show Renewed And Canceled

For many, Roseanne was a nostalgia-inducing cult classic. Many were onboard with the reboot, as dreaded as reboots often are, this one seemed to be fairing well. That is, until people realized it was best to leave an actress like Roseanne Barr in the past. Quickly, people protested against a “humorous”past photoshoot she’d done in the likeness of Adolf Hitler.  It wasn’t enough to end her career, but Roseanne decided to remind the world that her views hadn’t altered much, after openly identifying as a member of the alt-right, her fatal tweet was predictably racist and Islamophobic. This time, ABC was quick to pull the plug, Forbes reported. Instead, the show was re-rebooted to exclude Roseanne. Both the character and the actor’s fate were sealed.

10
Cardi B Broke A Ton Of Music Records

Like Ariana, Cardi had a great of deal of career success counteracted by a complicated personal year. The rapper became engaged and married to Migos rapper Offset. They had a daughter together, and months later Cardi announced she was filing for divorce (it seems Offset had cheated on her multiple times throughout the course of their relationship). While Cardi seems to be making as many headlines for the drama that surrounds her as for her music, she has broken quite a few records. Her number one  debut album, Invasion of Privacy, made her only the fifth female rapper to top the Billboard albums chart and gave her the largest streaming week for a female artist’s album ever. 

9
Scarlett Johansson Had To Back Out Of A Controversial Role

It’s not the first time Scarlett has faced controversy over taking a role that many found her unfit for. In 2017 Scarlett took on the role of a lead character in a live-action remake of a Japanese manga series. There were rumors that Paramount and Dreamworks contemplated using technology to make the actress look more Asian, which apparently seemed easier that casting an Asian actress. The movie did not do as well as expected and Scarlett just barely addressed the controversy. This year, Scarlett found herself in a familiar pickle when she was cast to play a transgender character in the upcoming film “Rub & Tug.” Initially, Scarlett addressed the controversy unapologetically and instead chose to highlight other cisgender actors that had previously played transgender characters, like Jared Leto. She eventually changed her tune when she realized she wouldn’t be able to get away with keeping the role this time around. Scarlett remains a successful Hollywood actress, but if she pulls a stunt like this again, we’d expect it to be her last chance.

8
Geoffrey Owens Had A Career Revival After Being Filmed At Trader Joe’s

Geoffrey Owens starred in The Cosby Show as Sondra Huxtable’s husband Elvin in the 80s and 90s. He fell off most people’s radar after that famed role and was spotted again this year while working at Trader Joe’s when a  customer decided to record him. Celebrities are often shamed for taking on “regular people” jobs after being on the big screen, but Geoffrey was lucky enough to have a lot of big names rally around him. Soon after the incident, he was interviewed on a number of talk shows. He explained that he was still acting and teaching, but had to fill in the gaps (presumably, the loss of residuals from The Cosby Show also affected his income). Nicki Minaj generously donated $25,000 to the actor (who then donated it to the Actor’s Fund) and Tyler Perry gave him a job. He’s set to star in “The Haves and The Have Nots,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” and a new film starring Hillary Swank, USA Today reported.

7
“Jersey Shore” Star Mike Sorrentino Was Sentenced For Tax Fraud

Maybe he wasn’t the biggest star, but Jersey Shore’s “The Situation” could have had things go another way for him this year. He celebrated three years of sobriety this year and tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend. However, things kind of derailed when he was sentenced to eight months in prison for tax evasion. In reality, the sentence was a long time coming for Mike, who was indicted on tax offences in 2014, along with his brother. In 2017, more charges were added to the list. His brother was sentenced to two years in jail. The Situation is expected to begin his sentence in January 2019, People reports.

6
K-Pop Group BTS Was Tweeted About More Than Kayne West And Trump

If you’re not an “internet person,” you may have never heard of the K-pop band BTS, but rest assured they’re a pretty big deal. Gone are the days when BTS stood for behind the scenes, now it refers to the record-breaking boyband. On top of being this year’s most tweeted about celebrity for the second year in a row, the band also broke the record for most Youtube views in 24 hours with their “Idol” music video, after beating out Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” This year BTS also became the first Korean artists to top the Billboard 200, showing that 2018 was a big year for the group internationally.

5
Kathy Griffin Sparked Outrage Over Her Political Commentary

Comedian Kathy Griffin is known for sparking controversy, and despite being among the long list of celebrities that have spoken out against Donald Trump, it seems many thought she took it too far. After posing with a mask depicting his severed head, Kathy was scolded by the man on Twitter. Kathy was fired from her New Year’s Eve co-hosting job at CNN and even became the focus of a Secret Service investigation, E News reports. The comedian has spent most of 2018 trying to come back from the scandal while dealing with death threats and the president’s scorn.

4
Sandra Oh Made History As An Emmy Nominee

After spending years playing the beloved character Christina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy and being arguably underappreciated, Sandra Oh left the show. She went on to star on the majorly successful BBC show Killing Eve, where she plays the title character Eve. For this role, she was nominated for an Emmy and became the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for best lead actress in a drama series. Even though she didn’t win, the nomination has incredible historical significance, and will surely elevate her status as an actress. Additionally, it was only the show’s first season, so there is much time for her to be nominated again.

3
Keegan Michael Key And The Stars Of The Predator Film Came Under Fire

Olivia Munn followed up on her pledge to the MeToo movement this year by speaking up when she discovered that one of the film’s actors was a registered sex offender that plead guilty in a case involving an underage female relative. After alerting her male costars, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan Michael-Key, Augusto Aguilero, Jake Busey, and Trevante Rhodes, the actress found herself ostracized from the group. Only after the news came to light about the sex offender, and the fact that Olivia was being ignored by the rest of her costars, did they publicly speak up on the matter. The film fell short of its predecessor in earnings its first week, and while Olivia’s costars will certainly get second chances, this scandal will likely reemerge when more is tacked on to their lists.

2
Noah Centineo Became Everyone’s New Fave Heartthrob

After starring in “To All The Boys I’ve Loved and Sierra Burgess Is A Loser” for Netflix, Noah Centineo became many people’s internet boyfriend. Netflix seems to be single-handedly bringing back the rom-com genre, and it’s been a long time since US audiences have had a go-to male for this type of role. Noah previously starred on the Freeform drama The Fosters but this year marked his big debut. As admirers continue to muddle the line between the actor and his nice-guy roles, Noah’s star promises to rise, as long as he doesn’t disappoint.

1
Lena Dunham Continued To Tarnish Her Brand

Actress and Girls creator Lena Dunham was praised when she first rose to the scene, but since then she’s continued to be involved in a number of small, yet concerning scandals. This year she was forced to apologize for defending a former Girls writer against sexual assault allegations, shortly after declaring that women should be believed. In the past, she’s had to issue an apology to Odell Beckham Jr. after making a number of assumptions because he didn’t speak to her at an event (the two do not know each other). She was also involved in an odd situation where she claimed she had to give up her rescue dog because it was aggressive, but the shelter she adopted the dog from disputed her claims. This is just a glimpse into the number of situations Lena has had to explain/apologize for during her career, and every year people seem to be a little less willing to listen to her side of things.

References:

Time, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Slate, People, Forbes, Billboard, Teen Vogue, E News, CNN, NY Times, CNBC

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