Oscar Disaster:
It was easily the biggest flub in award show history: Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway stood on the stage at the Academy Awards on Feb. 26 and announced the wrong best picture winner. Warren opened the card first and looked at it somewhat blankly. He then handed it to Faye, who announced that “La La Land” had won. Oops! The actual winner was “Moonlight.” The duo had been given the wrong card — a backup envelope announcing best actress winner Emma Stone, who starred in “La la Land” — by a PricewaterhouseCoopers staffer who’d been tweeting backstage moments before. Faye simply saw the movie title next to Emma’s name and announced it. Chaos ensued and the Oscar statuettes were literally taken out of the hands of the producers of “La La Land” and placed into the hands of the “Moonlight” producers once the mistake was realized. The accounting firm later issued a statement claiming “full responsibility” for the debacle. What a mess!
Manchester Bombing:
A tragic and senseless act shook the entertainment world to its core on May 22. As fans exited Ariana Grande’s show inside the 21,000-seat Manchester Arena that evening, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the venue’s rotunda, killing 22 — including an 8-year-old girl — and injuring more than 60 others. British authorities quickly ruled it a terrorist It was reported that Ariana’s mother helped rush several fans backstage after hearing the bomb go off. Several hours later, Ariana flew home to Florida and tweeted: “broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.” On June 4, Ariana returned to Manchester for a charity concert, also included music heavyweights Coldplay, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams and the Black Eyed Peas. About $13 million was raised, with proceeds earmarked for victims and their families. “I love you guys so much, and I think the kind of love and unity you’re displaying is the medicine the world needs right now,” Ariana told the crowd of 50,000.
Clooney Baby:
George Clooney and Amal Clooney became parents to twins on June 6. The couple announced the pirth of their son and daughter in a statement that, as usual, employed a little humor at the actor’s expense. “This morning Amal and George welcomed Ella and Alexander Clooney into their lives. Ella, Alexander and Amal are all healthy, happy and doing fine. George is sedated and should recover in a few days,” the statement read. The twins, who both have dark hair, were born in London, where they will also be raised.
Jay-Z & Beyonce twins:
It seemed like it took forever to happen, but on June 13, Beyonce and JAY-Z welcomed their twins, a boy and a girl. The couple named them Sir and Rumi. A few days later, TMZ reported that the babies were born premature and were “under the lights,” which likely refers to the phototherapy that’s used on babies who have jaundice. The kids, however, are fine. Beyonce finally confirmed the births herself with an epic Instagram post on July 13.
Vegas Mass Shooting:
Country music will always remember Oct. 1, 2017. So will Las Vegas. On that day, while Jason Aldean was performing, capping off the three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Vegas, a gunman began firing down onto the crowd of roughly 25,000 people. After a flurry of gunshots, which went on for more than 10 minutes, finally ended, 58 people were dead and over 500 were injured. It was the worst mass shooting in United States history. The gunman, who was firing from his room on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel, took his own life. Afterward, Jason took to Instagram. “Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still don’t know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe,” he wrote. “My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate.” A few days later, Jason and his wife returned to Vegas to visit with victims in the hospital. Just six days after the shooting, he performed on “Saturday Night Live,” opening the show by stating, “This week, we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history. Like everyone, I’m struggling to understand what happened that night and how to pick up the pieces and start to heal. So many people are hurting. There are children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends — they’re all part of our family. So I want to say to them: We hurt for you and we hurt with you. But you can be sure we’re going to walk through these tough times together, every step of the way, because when America is at its best, our bond and our spirit, it’s unbreakable.”
Ben & Jen Split:
On April 13 — almost two years after she and Ben Affleck announced that their 10-year marriage was ending — Jennifer Garner finally filed for divorce. The split, as expected, was totally amicable. There is no prenuptial agreement so they’ll have to divvy up whatever they’ve earned during their marriage. Ben finally moved out of their family home in late April.
