Katt
Williams, crypto and
cat ladies: 2024
was the
year of unexpected
secondchances
Katt Williams, crypto and cat ladies: 2024 was the year of unexpected second
chances
From comedy to courtroom drama, if you thought you’d seen it all before,
that’s because this year … you had
Andrew Lawrence , Alaina Demopoulos and Matthew Cantor
Thu 26 Dec 2024 14.00 GMT Last modified on Thu 26 Dec 2024 14.03 GMT
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I f 2024 was defined by anything, it was a distinct feeling of deja vu. Donald
Trump ran and won, Death Cab and Janet Jackson headlined music festivals , and
aesthetes on social media• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Интернет-сообщество » Социальные сети lusted after Windows Vista• Информационные технологии » Информационно-коммуникационные технологии » Информационные технологии и телекоммуникации » Программирование » Платформы программирования » Операционные системы » Операционные Системы Майкрософт » Microsoft Windows » Windows Vista
• Информационные технологии » Информатика » Программирование » Платформы программирования » Операционные системы » Операционные Системы Майкрософт » Microsoft Windows » Windows Vista
• Высокие технологии » Информационные технологии и телекоммуникации » Программирование » Платформы программирования » Операционные системы » Операционные Системы Майкрософт » Microsoft Windows » Windows Vista design language circa
2007. Same old, same old – almost. Because 2024 was also the year of
unexpected second chances: in some very special cases, those who suffered a
fall from grace or otherwise unfortunate first run in the spotlight got
another shot at glory. Call it a comeback, a redemption, or deja vu all over
again … for better or worse, it was their year once more. .
The Menendez brothers
Before OJ Simpson, the Menendez brothers were America’s most ridiculed
defendants – the guys who killed their rich parents, seemingly for the money.
By the time both were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in
the mid-90s, the country had already moved on to gawking at the trial of the
century. It’s only since the brothers’ case was revisited in a Netflix
docuseries, a Ryan Murphy soap opera and a raft of other deep-dive efforts
this year that they have become a justice reform cause for a gen Z crowd that
has much broader bandwidth for the nuances of the case than their forebears.
Thanks to these efforts, a Los Angeles county superior judge could decide to
free the brothers in January. It’s an ending no one would have seen coming
when Erik and Lyle were put on trial more than 30 years ago. AL
Sex and the City
View image in fullscreen
The real fantasy of Sex and the City may not be making it in New York, but
rather having a tight group of girlfriends to go through it with. Photograph:
Photo 12/Alamy
When Sex and the City hit Netflix this spring, many of us couldn’t help but
wonder: would gen Z be able to handle a decidedly unwoke 25-year-old series?
Turns out, they could: it feels like every woman under 35 watched or rewatched
the show this year, liking it much more than they thought they would.
Depressing, maybe, that Carrie’s perennial dating woes still feel relatable in
2024, or that the idea of four friends maintaining a close friendship into
adulthood feels aspirational. As young people battle a much-discussed
loneliness epidemic, the real fantasy of Sex and the City may not be making it
in New York or finding Mr Big, but rather having a tight group of girlfriends
to go through it with. AD
Cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта
Bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin was the next big thing – until it crashed. Then it rose again – and
slumped again. If you had invested, you were an idiot. No, wait, if you hadn’t
invested, you were stuck in the stone age. Actually, ethereum• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Ethereum was the better
move. Or Solana. Or an NFT• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » NFT - невзаимозаменяемый токен of Melania Trump’s eyes.
Through all the volatility, and despite the fact that any mention of it
signals the beginning of a miserable conversation, cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта has refused
to go away. Now it’s got a special place in the heart of our next president• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Государственное устройство США » Президент США
• Политика » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США
• Государство » Государственное устройство США » Президент США,
who promises to make America “the bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin superpower of the world”, and his
latest sidekick Elon Musk, who has named an as yet fictional agency, the
“department of government efficiency (Doge)”, after his favorite digital
currency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта. When fartcoin exists – let alone reaches a $1bn market
capitalization – it’s clear crypto is triumphant. MC
Millennials
They’ve always been the generation that got it from both sides: older
generations see them as coddled, entitled brats; gen Z uses them as the
definitive measure of uncoolness. They’ve been mocked for their pauses on
TikTok , their socks and their side parts. Meanwhile, they reached young
adulthood in a recession, had to move back in with their parents, and are
often described as the first generation that will earn less than those
parents.
But in 2024, a few things finally went their way. Side parts were deemed
acceptable again. Their financial prospects started to look a little better .
And millennials, for once, weren’t the ones taking heat after an election that
saw the majority of gen Z men – and an increasing number of gen Z women –
voting for Trump. As for coolness, a millennial named Charli xcx established
the year’s most talked about aesthetic . MC
Katt Williams
If you were making a best comedians list in 2023, there’s a good chance that
Katt Williams would have been overlooked entirely given how long it had been
since he held audiences captive with his Emmy-winning guest appearance in the
TV dramedy Atlanta. But then, three days into 2024, he roared back with a
vengeance with a nearly three-hour long interview that’s still breaking the
internet• Телекоммуникации и связь » Компьютерная сеть » Интернет. Chatting with the former football great Shannon Sharpe, Williams was
totally unfiltered, hitting out at rival comics and at Hollywood for
disrespecting him. But it was his P Diddy PSA (if he “wants you to party”,
Williams sniped, “you got to tell him no!”) that had the internet• Телекоммуникации и связь » Компьютерная сеть » Интернет calling him
a prophet once the hip-hop• Общество » Социальные группы » Субкультура » Реперы » Hip Hop mogul’s empire came crashing down mere months
later. The interview, viewed more than 85m times on YouTube• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на Yo » YouTube alone, paved the
way for Williams’s comedy special on Netflix and his acting return in One of
Them Days, the Keke Palmer-SZA buddy comedy that hits theaters in January. AL
Cat ladies
When JD Vance described Kamala Harris supporters as “childless cat ladies”, he
meant it as a diss. But the line quickly became a rallying cry, a
reappropriation in line with 2016’s “nasty woman” in pink pussy hats. Taylor
Swift signed her endorsement of Harris as “childless cat lady”, Etsy stores
began selling merch and social media• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Интернет-сообщество » Социальные сети feeds flooded with the term. Once
associated with batty, single women approaching midlife, being a childless cat
lady became a badge of pride. Dog people had their pandemic moment; cat
people, it’s your turn now. AD
Roasts
In an age when insult comedy is never more than a scroll away, the idea of a
modern roast seemed as antiquated as those old Dean Martin infomercials . But
if the past year made anything clear, it’s that the format can keep up with
the times – whether it’s Colin Jost emceeing the White House• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Государственное устройство США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Политика » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Государство » Государственное устройство США » Президент США » Белый дом (США) correspondents’
dinner (“We’re all here at nerd prom. Well, Matt Gaetz is at regular prom …”)
or Tony Hinchcliffe likening Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage” at
a Madison Square Garden• Архитектура » Архитектура по странам » Архитектура США » Здания и Сооружения США » Спортивные сооружения США » Madison Square Garden
• Архитектура » Архитектура США » Здания и Сооружения США » Спортивные сооружения США » Madison Square Garden rally for Trump without the punchline backfiring on
him or the now president• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Государственное устройство США » Президент США
• Политика » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США
• Государство » Государственное устройство США » Президент США-elect. But nothing marked the roast’s resurgence
quite like the Netflix showcase dedicated to trashing Tom Brady, which was
more viewed than standup specials from Dave Chappelle and Katt Williams. So it
fits that Netflix would close the year with a roast of 2024, hosted by
roastmaster general Jeff Ross. AL
View image in fullscreen
Mike Epps (left) and roastmaster general Jeff Ross attending one of 2024’s
great comebacks, Mike Tyson’s fight against Jake Paul. Photograph: Matt
Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024
Rats
Two years ago, Jessica Tisch, New York City’s then new sanitation
commissioner, uttered a phrase that would go down in TikTok infamy: “The rats
don’t run this city, we do.” To which the city’s approximately 3 million rats
replied: “Oh, really?” In 2024, rodents had their comeback – if we can use
that word to describe a perennial vermin. It came via the hot rodent boyfriend
, a meme used to describe men who look like Stuart Little (complimentary),
such as Timothée Chalamet, Jeremy Allen White and the Challengers star Josh
O’Connor. But also, literally, rats became a main character in NYC, which held
its first annual, multi-day National Urban Rat summit dedicated to their
removal. A true flex to be hated that much. AD
Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series
This was the year LA’s deeply beloved baseball team finally, definitively,
actually won it all. Perennial contenders, they’d made it to the playoffs
every year for more than a decade, and all the way to the World Series in 2017
and 2018 – only to lose it twice in a row. In 2020, they managed to win it
all! … after a Covid-shortened season in which their fans were literal
cardboard cutouts . There was no parade.
Finally, in 2024, they won the championship again, in the most definitive way
possible: beating baseball’s biggest juggernaut, the New York Yankees. This
time, the city got its parade, and made it count: more than 200,000 Angelenos
showed up to celebrate . MC
Mike Tyson
Iron Mike was in the last throes of his post-fight evolution – podcaster,
cannabis purveyor and tech bro thought leader – when Jake Paul, the YouTuber
who only picked up his boxing• Спорт » Виды спорта » Единоборство » Бокс gloves six years ago, started openly fantasizing
about taking on a man who won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout• Спорт » Виды спорта » Единоборство » Бокс » Нокаут.
When the 58-year-old took up the challenge, fight fans feared he was in for
another ear-biting low. While the actual match proved to be a damp squib –
with Paul taking pity on his boxing• Спорт » Виды спорта » Единоборство » Бокс idol, thank God – Tyson at least proved
less glitchy than Netflix; the streamer struggled to host the more than 120
million viewers who logged on to watch the spectacle. Meanwhile, Tyson netted
an estimated $20m . Next up: Jake’s brother, Logan. Maybe. AL
Gypsy Rose Blanchard
It feels like we’ve lived multiple lifetimes since Gypsy Rose Blanchard was
released from prison at the tail end of 2023, but for a few months, 2024
really was her year. Blanchard, who pleaded guilty to her role in the murder
of her mother, Dee Dee, turned into an unexpected It girl upon re-entry,
garnering 7 million Instagram• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Интернет-сообщество » Социальные сети » Instagram followers, jetting to Paris for fashion week,
starring in a Lifetime docuseries and posting colorfully about life with her
then husband, Ryan Scott Anderson. (One comment she made about her sex life –
“the d is fire” – really had us all in a chokehold for a day or two.) Then she
shunned the limelight, deleting social media• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Интернет-сообщество » Социальные сети and divorcing Anderson, before
rekindling a romance with an old prison pen pal and returning to social media• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Интернет-сообщество » Социальные сети
to talk about her new memoir. The couple expects a baby in January – what a
year, indeed. AD
