Katt Williams, crypto and cat ladies: 2024 was the year of unexpected second chances | culture

IIf 2024 was defined by anything, it was a distinct sense of déjà vu. Donald Trump ran and won, Death Cab and Janet Jackson headlined music festivals, and social media aesthetes raved about the design language of Windows Vista from 2007. The same, the same – almost. Because 2024 was also the year of unexpected second chances: in some very special cases, those who fell from grace or were otherwise unhappy in the spotlight were given another chance at glory. Call it a comeback, a redemption, or déjà vu… for better or worse, it was her year all over again. .

The Menendez brothers

Before OJ Simpson, the Menendez brothers were America’s most ridiculed defendants – the men who apparently killed their rich parents for money. When both were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in the mid-1990s, the country was already looking forward to the trial of the century. Only since the brothers’ case was revisited this year in a Netflix docuseries, a Ryan Murphy soap opera and a number of other in-depth efforts have they become a justice reform cause for a Generation Z crowd that over has a much greater range for the nuances of the case than their forebears. Thanks to these efforts, a Los Angeles County judge was able to release the brothers in January. It’s an ending no one would have expected when Erik and Lyle were brought to justice more than 30 years ago. AL

Sex and the city

When Sex and the City debuted on Netflix this spring, many of us wondered: Would Generation Z be able to handle a decidedly unwoke 25-year-old series? Turns out they could: It feels like every woman under 35 has seen or re-watched the show this year and liked it a lot more than they thought they would. It’s perhaps depressing that Carrie’s perpetual dating woes still feel relatable in 2024, or that the idea of ​​four friends maintaining a close friendship into adulthood seems ambitious. As young people struggle with a much-discussed loneliness epidemic, the real fantasy of Sex and the City may not be making it to New York or finding Mr. Big, but rather having a close group of girlfriends, with which they can get through this. ADVERTISEMENT

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin was the next big thing – until it crashed. Then it rose again – and fell again. If you had invested, you would have been an idiot. No, wait, if you hadn’t invested you would have been stuck in the Stone Age. Actually, Ethereum was the better move. Or Solana. Or an NFT with the eyes of Melania Trump.

Despite all the volatility and despite the fact that any mention of it signals the start of a miserable discussion, cryptocurrency refuses to go away. Now it has taken a special place in the hearts of our next president, who promises to make America the “world’s Bitcoin superpower,” and his newest pal Elon Musk, who has named a still-fictitious agency the “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge )”, after his preferred digital currency. If Fartcoin exists – let alone reaches a $1 billion market cap – it is clear that crypto is triumphing. MC

Millennials

They’ve always been the generation that got it from both sides: Older generations see them as pampered, entitled brats; Generation Z uses it as the definitive measure of uncool. They were mocked for their breaks 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 to earn less than those parents.

But in 2024, some things finally went their way. Side panels were again found to be acceptable. Their financial prospects looked somewhat better. And for once, Millennials weren’t the ones coming out on top after an election in which the majority of Gen Z men — and a growing number of Gen Z women — voted for Trump. When it comes to cool, a millennial named Charli XCX has established the most talked-about aesthetic of the year. MC

Katt Williams

If you were making a list of the best comedians in 2023, Katt Williams probably would have been completely overlooked considering how long it’s been since he captivated audiences with his Emmy-winning guest appearance on the TV dramedy “Atlanta.” has captivated him. But then, three days into 2024, he roared back with a vengeance with a nearly three-hour interview that is still making waves across the internet. Williams had a completely unfiltered chat with former football great Shannon Sharpe and criticized rival comics and Hollywood for disrespecting him. But it was his P Diddy PSA (when he “want you to party,” Williams sniped, “you receive to tell him no!”), prompting the internet to label him a prophet when the hip-hop mogul’s empire collapsed just months later. The interview, which has been viewed more than 85 million times on YouTube alone, paved the way for Williams’ comedy special on Netflix and his return as an actor in “One of Them Days,” the Keke Palmer-SZA buddy comedy, which debuted in January comes to cinemas. AL

Cat ladies

When JD Vance described Kamala Harris’ supporters as “childless cat ladies,” he meant it as dissidents. But the line quickly became a catchphrase, a reappropriation in line with the “nasty woman” in 2016’s Pink Pussy Hats. Taylor Swift signed her endorsement of Harris as a “childless cat lady,” Etsy stores began selling merchandise Articles and social media feeds were flooded with the term. Once associated with crazy, single women in mid-life, being a childless cat lady became a mark of pride. Dog people had their pandemic moment; Cat man, now it’s your turn. ADVERTISEMENT

Fry

In an age where 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 has made anything clear, it’s that the format can change with the times – be it Colin Jost hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (“We’re all here at the nerd prom. Well, Matt Gaetz is at the regular prom.” …”) or Tony Hinchcliffe comparing Puerto Rico to a “floating island of trash” at a pro-Trump rally in Madison Square Garden, without the punchline being directed at him or the now president-elect and go. But nothing marked the resurgence of the roast like the Netflix show dedicated to destroying Tom Brady and seen more than stand-up specials from Dave Chappelle and Katt Williams. It’s fitting that Netflix is ​​closing out the year with a 2024 roast hosted by Roastmaster General Jeff Ross. AL

Rats

Two years ago, Jessica Tisch, then the new commissioner of sanitation in New York City, uttered a sentence that would end up in TikTok infamy: “It’s not the rats that run this city, it’s us.” The approximately 3 million rats in the city responded City: “Oh, really?” In 2024, rodents made a comeback — if we can use that word to describe a perennial pest. It came via the Hot Rodent Boyfriend, a meme used to describe men who look like Stuart Little (free), such as Timothée Chalamet, Jeremy Allen White and Challengers star Josh O’Connor. But rats also became a literal figure in NYC, where the first annual multi-day National Urban Rat Summit dedicated to eliminating their rats was held. A real flex to hate so much. ADVERTISEMENT

Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series

This was the year that LA’s wildly popular baseball team finally and definitively won. Perennial contenders, they made the playoffs every year for more than a decade and all the way to the World Series in 2017 and 2018 – only to lose them twice in a row. In 2020 they managed to win it all! …after a Covid-shortened season in which their fans were literally cardboard cutouts. There was no parade.

Finally, in 2024, they won the championship again, and in the most definitive way possible: defeating baseball’s greatest juggernaut, the New York Yankees. This time the city held its parade and didn’t miss it: more than 200,000 Angelenos came to celebrate. MC

Mike Tyson

Iron Mike was in the final throes of his post-fight evolution – podcaster, cannabis purveyor and tech thought leader – when Jake Paul, the YouTuber who picked up his boxing gloves just six years ago, openly dreamed of it began taking on a man who…won his first 19 professional fights by knockout. When the 58-year-old accepted the challenge, fight fans feared he was in for another deafening low. While the actual fight proved to be a damp slugfest – Paul, thankfully, felt sorry for his boxing idol – Tyson at least proved less flawed than Netflix; The streamer struggled to attract the more than 120 million viewers who logged in to watch the spectacle. Meanwhile, Tyson earned an estimated $20 million. Next up: Jake’s brother Logan. Perhaps. AL

Gypsy Rose Blanchard

It feels like we’ve lived several lifetimes since Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison in late 2023, but for a few months, 2024 was really her year. Blanchard, who pleaded guilty to her role in the murder of her mother Dee Dee, transformed into an unexpected It girl upon her re-entry, amassing 7 million Instagram followers, flying to Paris for Fashion Week, starring in a Lifetime docuseries, and posted colorful posts about life with her then-husband Ryan Scott Anderson. (A comment she made about her sex life — “the D is fire” — had us all in a stranglehold for a day or two.) Then she shunned the spotlight, deleted social media and divorced Anderson before getting a Rekindled romance with a former pen pal from prison, she returns to social media to talk about her new memoir. The couple is expecting a baby in January – what a year actually. ADVERTISEMENT