Reflecting on the past year in pop culture feels a bit like repeatedly bashing yourself over the head with a blunt object. In a social media trend cycle that moves at lightning speed, it’s difficult to fathom that the Coldplay Kiss Cam scandal, Katy Perry blasting off to space and the advent of the inexplicably nonsensical 6-7 meme all happened in the same 12 months. But yes — checks notes — they really did.
In 2025, social media became a truly horrifying place to be, if it wasn’t already before. This was the year that the term “brainrot” and “rage-bait” became part of our daily vocabulary, and AI slop — another delightful new term — infected every corner of social media with its surrealist and sometimes believable false footage.
It was a complete fever dream. But there were some lighter moments, thanks to the online ecosystem that churns out new memes for us to obsess over for days on end. Until the next one comes along, that is.
Below, we take a look back at the pop culture moments that got everyone talking this year.
Things got weird on the ‘Wicked: For Good’ press tour
How does one sum up the never-ending Wicked Press Tour? The movie’s stars, Cynthia Erivo (who plays Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (the pink-clad Glinda), have raised eyebrows for their sometimes bizarre interactions during interviews promoting Wicked and its sequel, Wicked: For Good, including their copious tears. One viral moment involved a helicopter passing overhead during an outdoor interview. What should have been a forgettable interruption instead saw Erivo cover her face with her hands and grow emotional, as Grande lifted both arms over her head as if she was trying to cast a protective force field around them.
Then we cannot forget Michelle Yeoh’s “Madam Morrible” moment, in which she enthusiastically explained — in every single press junket for the second film — that her character Madame Morrible has the initials “MM'” and if you flip it around, it shows as “WW” for Wicked Witch, indicating the role’s trajectory. The press tour ended on a rather sour note when a fan rushed a barricade at a Singapore premiere for the film, ran towards Grande and briefly put his arm around her before Erivo and others intervened.
Coldplay kiss-cam
One of the most viral moments of the year was born when a couple reacted in a very guilty manner after they were caught embracing on the kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert in Massachusetts. Singer Chris Martin joked about them having an affair, and internet sleuths followed suit: they quickly discovered they were the CEO and HR executive from an AI company called Astronomer. Both parties stepped down from their roles as a result. The story made worldwide news and has been re-enacted as a gag at various sports games, TV shows, with even Gwyneth Paltrow (Martin’s ex) weighing in.
Katy Perry in space
In April, the “Teenage Dream” singer embarked on a very fleeting trip to space (lasting a grand total of 11 minutes) with a group of women on board billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft, hosted by his wife Lauren Sánchez. When the singer and her glammed-up crewmates returned safely back to earth, Perry was widely mocked for kissing the earth beneath her — even fast-food chain Wendy’s came for Perry, posting on X: “Can we send her back?” Ouch.
… And dating Justin Trudeau
Labeled 2025’s “most surprising couple” by Grazia, the unlikely relationship between Perry and former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau caused intrigue and confusion in equal measure. The couple was first seen holding hands in the fall, before Trudeau was spotted in the audience at her concert. By Halloween, Trudeau was dressed as a shark, thought to be subtly referencing the scene-stealing shark dancers who performed with Perry during her 2015 Super Bowl halftime show. In December, the couple finally made it Instagram official, posting loved-up pictures in Japan. This romance wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card.
Justin Bieber standing on his business
When Justin Bieber decided to confront paparazzi with a passionate speech outside Soho House in Miami, he accidentally became a meme. Footage shows him, wearing a blue hooded sweater, telling a photographer: “You're not getting it, it's not clocking to you…It's not clocking to you that I'm standing on business.” After he cooled off, Bieber also leaned into the joke and poked fun at the moment — and even released a song on his latest album, Swag, titled “STANDING ON BUSINESS.”
The Labubu took over the world
You couldn’t walk down the street in 2025 without seeing the viral furry gremlin doll, the Labubu, dangling from a handbag belonging to a young woman. The character, which has a fuzzy coat, freckles, rabbit-like ears, and nine spiky teeth, has reached global ascendence and cultural ubiquity in the past year, thanks to Chinese retailer Pop Mart. There’s been the 24 karat gold Labubu. The Dubai Chocolate Labubu. The Labubu even took over New York City for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, blown up to 16 feet tall for the procession, with Labubu mascots riding around in the city in black SUVS. It was pure Labubu domination.
6-7 was… everywhere
I was on the bus just last week when a group of schoolboys sat nearby. Every other word they spoke was a reference to the latest slang phenomenon, “6-7.” After slightly eavesdropping out of pure curiosity, I realized the term has absolutely no meaning whatsoever. Originally popularized by rapper Skrilla’s song “Doot Doot (6-7),” referencing a 6’7” basketball player, the phrase then took on new meaning thanks to viral videos. 17-year-old basketball player Taylen Kinney went viral after he was asked to rank his Starbucks drink, and furrowed his brow in contemplation before answering, “six, seven” motioning his hands as if he were weighing up two options. In a matter of months, the young internet personality has already launched a 6-7 water brand, naturally. The New York Times has described the term as a type of conversational “nonsense grenade.”
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez got hitched
The wedding of the tech billionaire, one of the world’s richest men, and journalist Sánchez, happened during a flashy three-day takeover in Venice, with its rich and starry guest list ranging from Oprah Winfrey to Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Bill Gates and other cultural forces like the Kardashian/Jenner clan. It was controversial, too: Some Venetians, plus a group of anti-millionaires and climate activists, staged protests voicing their opposition to the nuptials and Bezos’ disproportionate wealth. Still, the wedding went ahead with the celebrities jetting across the city on motorboats.
Everyone was obsessed with the conclave
The process to elect a new Pope is one of the world’s most secretive and sacred elections. This year, it happened to coincide with the recent release of an Oscar-winning film on that very subject — Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes as a scheming cardinal. The internet, then, could not resist the fascination around this eight-century-old practice after Pope Francis died in April and was succeeded by Pope Leo XIV. Vatican pageantry was transformed into a meme: video compilations emerged of cardinals soundtracked to Charli XCX songs went viral, such as one clergyman lighting another’s cigarette.
A Minecraft Movie’s ‘Chicken Jockey’ chaos
There was absolute pandemonium at viewings of A Minecraft Movie in April when audiences responded raucously to Jack Black’s character exuberantly proclaiming, “Chicken jockey!” to introduce a new character. Young audience members went berserk, jumping up out of their seats, screaming and even throwing popcorn at the screen. Some cinemas cautioned attendees to behave, with one theater in New Jersey stipulating that children must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult.
Sydney Sweeney has ‘Great Jeans’
In July, 28-year-old Euphoria actor Sydney Sweeney became the face of American Eagle’s “Great Jeans” advert, which drew intense scrutiny over its use of “jeans” as a play on the word “genes.” Critics interpreted the wordplay as a reference to eugenics, the discredited and racist theory of improving humanity through selective breeding, which didn’t bode well considering that Sweeney is white, blonde-haired and blue-eyed. While American Eagle has maintained that the advert solely refers to its denim products, the MAGA camp quickly came to Sweeney’s defense: U.S. President Donald Trump praised the actor when he found out she was a registered Republican, writing on social media that she had “the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there.” Pure rage-bait or an innocent advertising mishap? You be the judge.
Nothing beats a Jet2Holiday…
A ubiquitous advert by the U.K. budget airline was turned into a TikTok trend that used the company’s cheery jingle, “Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday,” over chaotic summer holiday gone-wrong footage: raucous plane fights, extreme weather conditions, drunken disasters and water sports accidents.
In one TikTok video with more than 1.7 million likes, a woman almost drowns on a water slide in Tenerife, Spain, as the voiceover says: “Nothing compares to a Jet2holiday… and right now, you can save £50 per person, that’s £200 for a family of four!” The trend went a step further when young people would recite the advert’s signature script by heart. It turns out that any publicity is good publicity: Jet2 has since reported record passenger numbers and financial results.
Kim Kardashian launches a bush thong
Kim Kardashian’s underwear brand Skims blew up the internet with the sale of its most controversial product yet: a faux pubic hair thong called “The Ultimate Bush.” Launched in October with a video featuring models in a Seventies-styled gameshow called “Does the carpet match the drapes?,” the £34 thong features a triangle of hair made of synthetic fibers to mimic pubic hair, available in 12 hair color and texture combos. It sold out in under 24 hours. Spicy.
Mysterious fedora man at the Louvre heist
Hours after thieves carried out a daylight raid to steal the French crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris, it was a seriously dapper yet mysterious male photographed nearby that caught people’s attention. The image saw three police officers leaning on a silver car blocking a Louvre entrance, while the male dressed in a three-piece ensemble and fedora hat strides past — channelling a hint of Bugsy Malone meets film noir. Questions about his identity led people to suggest he was an old-school detective or even an AI-generated image. And here’s the punchline: he was actually unmasked as 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux, a French teenager who just really likes dressing in 1940s-style suits. A star is born.
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