Katt Williams, crypto and cat ladies: 2024 was the year of unexpected second chances
IIf 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 social media aesthetes coveted Windows Vista’s 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 fell from grace or otherwise had an unfortunate first time in the spotlight were given another shot at glory. Call it a comeback, a redemption or deja vu… for better or for worse, it was their year again. .
The Menendez brothers
Before OJ Simpson, the Menendez brothers were America’s most ridiculous defendants – the boys who murdered their wealthy parents, apparently for money. By the time both were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in the mid-1990s, the country had already begun staring at 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 series of other in-depth efforts have they become a cause for justice reform for a Gen Z audience that has a much broader bandwidth for the nuances of the matter than their ancestors. These efforts helped a Los Angeles Superior Court decide to release the brothers in January. It’s an ending no one could have seen coming when Erik and Lyle were brought to justice more than thirty years ago. AL
Sex and the city
When Sex and the City dropped on Netflix this spring, many of us wondered: Could Generation Z be able to handle a decidedly unwoke 25-year-old series? Apparently they could: it feels like every woman under 35 watched or rewatched the show this year and loved it a lot more than they thought. Depressing, perhaps, that Carrie’s perennial dating problems are still relatable in 2024, or that the idea of four friends maintaining a close friendship into adulthood feels ambitious. As young people battle a much-publicized 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 to hang out with. ADVERTISEMENT
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin was the next big thing – until it crashed. Then it rose again – and fell again. If you invested, you were an idiot. No, wait, if you hadn’t invested, you’d be stuck in the Stone Age. Actually, Ethereum was the better move. Or Solana. Or an NFT of Melania Trump’s eyes.
Despite all the volatility, and despite the fact that every mention of it signals the start of a miserable conversation, cryptocurrency has refused to disappear. Now it has a special place in the hearts of our next president, who promises to make America “the bitcoin superpower of the world,” and his latest sidekick Elon Musk, who has named a heretofore fictional agency the “Department of Government Efficiency ”. (Doge),” after his favorite digital currency. If fartcoin exists – let alone reaches a market capitalization of $1 billion – it is clear that crypto is triumphing. M.C
Millennials
They have always been the generation that got it both ways: older generations see them as coddled, short-sighted brats; Generation Z uses them as the definitive benchmark for uncoolness. They have been mocked for their pauses on TikToktheir socks and their side parts. Meanwhile, they entered 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, a few things finally went their way. Side parts were deemed acceptable again. Their financial prospects began to change look a little better. And for once, millennials weren’t the ones in the spotlight after an election in which the majority of Gen Z men — and an increasing number of Gen Z women — voted for Trump. As for coolness, a millennial named Charli xcx has created the most talked about aesthetic of the year. M.C
Cat Williams
If you were to make a list of the best comedians in 2023, chances are Katt Williams would have been completely overlooked, considering how long it’s been since he held audiences captive with his Emmy-winning guest appearance on the TV drama Atlanta. But then, three days into 2024, he roared back with a vengeance with a nearly three-hour long interview that’s still destroying the internet. While chatting with former football great Shannon Sharpe, Williams was completely unfiltered, lashing out at rival comics and at Hollywood for disrespecting him. But it was his P Diddy PSA (when he “wants you to party,” Williams snapped, “you received to tell him no!”), leading the internet to call 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 acting return in One of Them Days, the Keke Palmer-SZA buddy comedy that hits theaters in January is to see. 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 off on Harris as a “childless cat lady,” Etsy stores started selling merchandise and social media feeds were flooded with the term. Once associated with crazy, single women approaching middle age, the childless cat lady became a badge of pride. Dog people had their pandemic moment; cat people, now it’s your turn. ADVERTISEMENT
Roast
In an age when insult comedy is never more than a scroll away, the idea of a modern roast seemed as old-fashioned as that old Dean Martin infomercials. But if the past year has made anything clear, it’s that the format can change with the times — whether it’s Colin Jost hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (“We’re all here at the nerd ball. Well , Matt Gaetz is at the regular prom …”) or Tony Hinchcliffe comparing Puerto Rico to a “floating island of trash” at a rally for Trump at Madison Square Garden without the punch line backfiring on him or the now president-elect . But nothing marked the revival of the Roast quite like the Netflix showcase dedicated to trashing Tom Brady, which was viewed more than stand-up specials from Dave Chappelle and Katt Williams, so it’s fitting that Netflix would end the year with a roast of 2024, presented by roster master general Jeff Ross. AL
Rats
Two years ago, Jessica Tisch, then New York City’s new sanitation commissioner, uttered a line that would end up in TikTok infamy: “The rats don’t run this city, we do.” To which the city’s approximately 3 million rats responded, “Oh, really?” In 2024, rodents made their comeback – if we can use that word to describe a perennial pest. It came via the handsome 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 literally became a main character in New York, where a multi-day festival was held for the first time National Urban Rat Summit dedicated to their removal. A real flex that should be hated so much. ADVERTISEMENT
Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series
This was the year that LA’s much-loved baseball team finally won it all. Perennial contenders, they made the playoffs every year for more than a decade, 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 everything! …after a Covid-shortened season where their fans literally were cardboard cutouts. There was no parade.
Ultimately, they won the championship again in 2024, in the most definitive way possible: by defeating baseball’s biggest giant, the New York Yankees. This time, the city got a parade and made it count: more than 200,000 Angelenos showed up to celebrate. M.C
Mike Tyson
Iron Mike was in the final stages of his post-fight evolution – podcaster, cannabis purveyor and tech bro thought leader – when Jake Paul, the YouTuber who only picked up his boxing gloves six years ago, started openly fantasizing about taking on a man who won his first 19 professional fights by knockout. When the 58-year-old took on the challenge, fight fans feared he was in for another deafening low. Although the actual match turned out to be a sham—with Paul taking pity on his boxing idol, thank goodness—Tyson at least turned out to be less glitchy than Netflix; the streamer struggled to accommodate the more than 120 million viewers who tuned in to watch the spectacle. Meanwhile, Tyson scored one estimated $20 million. Next: Jake’s brother, Logan. Maybe. AL
Gypsy Rose Blanchard
It feels like we’ve lived multiple lives since Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison at the end of 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, turned into an unexpected It girl upon her return, amassed 7 million Instagram followers, flew to Paris for Fashion Week, starred in a Lifetime docuseries and posted colorfully about life with her then-husband, Ryan Scott Anderson. (One comment she made about her sex life – “the d is fire” – put us all in a stranglehold for a day or two.) She then shunned the spotlight, deleted social media and divorced Anderson, before pursuing a romance revived with another woman. old pen pal from prison and returns to social media to talk about her new memoir. The couple is expecting a baby in January – what a year indeed. ADVERTISEMENT