The biggest showbiz stories of 2023: From the Hollywood shutdown to Barbie
In a year when Hollywood ground to a halt due to the actors’ and writers’ strike, 2023 was still alive with a host of celebrity news.
The year saw a baby doll movie dominate the box office, Sir Elton John play his final tour show, and the Duke of Sussex had his day at court.
Here is a summary of the most important moments of the year:
– Actors and writers on the picket lines
Film and TV production has been halted around the world, including filming of Deadpool 3 and Wicked in the UK, due to a strike by the Sag-Aftra union, which lasted 118 days.
It also saw actors exiting premieres, including Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer, while stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon stepped out on the red carpet in London on July 14.
The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards were postponed from September until January before the strike ended on November 9 when a tentative agreement was reached between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
The deal was officially ratified this month and includes agreements on artificial intelligence and work with live streaming companies.
The actors’ strike came at the same time as the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which was disbanded in September when the guild agreed to a deal with studio bosses after 146 days of picketing.
-Barbenheimer
Barbie has become the biggest film of 2023 after surpassing 2022’s biggest hit, Top Gun: Maverick.
Starring Margot Robbie as the titular character and Ryan Gosling as Ken, the film about the Mattel doll is Warner Bros.’ most successful theatrical release ever.
It also became part of a popular culture phenomenon as moviegoers watched it back-to-back with Oppenheimer, a darker story centering on the director of the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and his efforts to build an atomic bomb.
The two films together were called Barbenheimer and were released on the same day, July 21.
The Beatles and Rolling Stones release new music
The Beatles released “Now And That” in November by concluding a piece originally written and sung by John Lennon in the 1970s, using technology to overlay music from living members Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr as well as the late George Harrison.
Following the release of a video, in which old footage of Lennon and Harrison alongside Sir Paul and Sir Ringo was added, the reworked song made history for the band as it became the work with the longest gap between two chart toppers.
The Rolling Stones had their 14th number-one album in October with Hackney Diamonds – the first release to contain new songs since the death of drummer Charlie Watts in August 2021.
– Taylor Swift and Beyoncé tour films released
Swift (34 years old) and Beyoncé (42 years old) topped the box office by releasing separate films about the concert in cinemas.
Renaissance: A Beyoncé Movie topped its December release week when it generated $21 million (£16.5 million) in ticket sales in North America, while Taylor Swift: The Tour of the Ages achieved the highest single-day ticket sales in a year to date. AMC Theaters is 103 years old, taking in $92.8m (£73m) in October.
Swift also broke Vue International’s record for the most tickets sold during a UK pre-sale opening week for a music event and Odeon had to add more performances.
– Fixed Girls Aloud, Take That, and Blur playdates
Take That headlined the BST Hyde Park Festival in July with their first show in four years.
The band also announced in September that they will tour the UK and Ireland in 2024 where they will release a new album next year.
In November, Girls Aloud announced that they would reunite for an arena tour in memory of late bandmate Sarah Harding.
Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, Harding and Kimberley Walsh previously reunited with new music to celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2012.
A second reunion was planned for their 20th anniversary before Harding died at the age of 39 in September 2021 after a battle with cancer.
In July, Britpop group Blur headlined their first UK show since 2015 at Wembley Stadium in London.
In the same month, Sir Elton played the final date of the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in Stockholm, Sweden, following a triumphant Glastonbury performance.
– Rihanna: Halftime show and baby announcement
Rihanna revealed her latest pregnancy while performing in a red outfit and stroking her belly at the Super Bowl halftime show in February.
The Barbadian singer, 35, gave birth to her first child with rapper ASAP Rocky – son RZA Athelston Mayers – in May last year.
According to reports, their second son, Riot Rose, was born on August 1.
Celebrities make headlines due to court cases
Gwyneth Paltrow was among the stars who faced legal action this year.
The Oscar-winning actress won a high-profile ski collision civil suit in March, and in December Awkward Productions presented a musical based on her legal battle with a retired ophthalmologist from Utah.
Due to the success of Gwyneth Goes Skiing, London’s Pleasance Theater has announced more shows for next year.
Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey was acquitted in July at Southwark Crown Court of a series of alleged sexual assaults.
The American Beauty and House Of Cards star, 64, was found not guilty of nine sex crimes involving four men between 2001 and 2013.
After the ruling, the Hollywood star said: “I am humbled by the result today.”
Earlier this month, the Duke of Sussex achieved partial success in his case against Mirror Group (MGN) newspaper titles.
A High Court judge ruled that phone hacking had become “pervasive and routine” and was practiced “even to some extent” during the Leveson inquiry into press standards.
Harry, who at the beginning of the year published a memoir that made headlines, called on police to investigate the tabloid publisher after he received compensation amounting to about 150,000 pounds sterling.
An MGN spokesperson said: “Where historical wrongdoing has occurred, we apologize unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation.”
– James Corden is leaving The Late Late Show
In April, the British actor and comedian hosted his final episode of The Late Late Show, for which he won multiple Emmy Awards.
The latest CBS show featured the appearance of star Harry Styles and actor Will Ferrell, and before the show a clip was broadcast with British singer Adele, who took on Corden’s role at Carpool Karaoke, driving him to work.
However, this wasn’t the last of Corden’s celebrity interviews as SiriusXM announced in November that he would host This Life Of Mine With James Corden.
– The man has been charged nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was shot
Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis was charged in September with the murder of rapper and actor Tupac Shakur after a 1996 drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip.
The former Los Angeles gang leader, originally from Compton, was one of the last living witnesses to the incident and denied the allegations.
– In other news…
The red carpet witnessed interesting outfits for British singer Sam Smith, who wore a black latex suit at the Brit Awards, rapper Dojo Cat covered in thousands of red crystals at a fashion photo shoot in Paris, and actor Jared Leto dressed as a cat at the Subway Gala. Expensive.
The UK hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in May, coming in second place with May Muller’s “I Wrote a Song”, and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage appeared on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Where he came in third place.
Farage – who was challenged over his views on Brexit and immigration during the ITV1 show – lost to former Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson in the final in December, which saw an average audience of 6.6 million followers on the night.
That’s down from the 10.1 million people who watched former England footballer Jill Scott beat former Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Hollyoaks actor Owen Warner to win the show last year.
