The tea was hot, hot, hot in 2019.
According Google’s 2019 Year in Search, people were living for the drama. Of course, it’s easy to see why considering we were flooded with celebrity scandals. Some of the biggest top trending searches from this year involve major stars who made headlines for their feuds, jaw-dropping controversies and more.
From Jussie Smollett‘s alleged attack case to James Charles‘ very public feud with fellow YouTube star, Tati Westbrook, 2019 will certainly be one to remember.
Along with the celebrities mentioned above, Jordyn Woods, Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman also made the cut for this year’s top trending searches.
In the Actor and People categories, Jussie was featured high on the list. As of right now, he’s currently facing a $130,000 lawsuit for his alleged attack case, in which he told Chicago police that two men attacked him, yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him, poured a chemical liquid on him and tied a noose around his neck. However, following an investigation into the incident, he was soon accused of staging the whole thing.
The Empire actor wasn’t the only celebrity to deal with legal troubles who made it onto Google’s list.
Back in March, news broke that Huffman and Loughlin were involved with the college admissions scandal. The two actresses, along with 40 other individuals, were charged in connection with an alleged college entrance scheme.
Phillip Faraone/WireImage; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs;Presley Ann/Getty Images for Lancôme x Vogue
The FBI affidavit stated that Huffman and her “spouse,” William H. Macy, made a hefty charitable contribution of $15,000 in order to participate in the scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter, Sofia Grace Macy. Additionally, the Desperate Housewives star “later made arrangements to pursue the scheme a second time, for her younger daughter, before deciding not to do so,” the document read.
Felicity pleaded guilty in court and served an 11-day prison sentence for her involvement. Part of her sentence also includes a supervised release for one year, 250 hours of community service and a $30,000 fine.
As for the Fuller House actress, she and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were taken into custody and later released on a $1 million bond.
In the FBI affidavit, it stated, “The Guannullis agreed to a pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team—despite the fact that they did not participate in crew—thereby facilitating their admission to USC.”
Loughlin and Giannulli both pleaded not guilty to each of the counts against them. They currently await trial.
Legal issues aside, 2019 also shook the beauty industry to its core when Tati released a 43-minute video that touched on her friendship with the 20-year-old YouTube star.
In her video, which has since been deleted, she expressed the hurt, pain and betrayal she felt from Charles. Back in April, the Tati Beauty founder revealed she was deeply saddened over the fact that her “sister” promoted a brand that was a direct competitor of her vitamin company.
In addition to feeling back-stabbed, Tati accused him of making sexual advances. “You are using your fame, your power, your money, to play with people’s emotions,” she stated in her video. “You’re threatening to ruin them. You’re threatening to embarrass them, and you’re doing that to have them behave sexually in your favor, even if they’re straight.”
However, the final straw for the 37-year-old star was when she alleged that James gave information to drama channels to make him look good in this situation.
“You sold out me, but you threw away our friendship. You lied to me, made up a story, you knew this would be embarrassing for me,” she expressed. “No, our relationship is not transactional. I have never asked you for anything in return.”
Charles recently revealed the drama between him and Tati is still affecting him, even months later.
“I’m not mentally in a place where I want to be,” he told PAPER magazine in a candid interview. “What’s even harder to swallow is that it’s been six months since all the drama happened. I thought by this time I’d be completely good—back to normal, if you will—and that’s not the case.”
Last but not least, people were glued to their screens when news broke that Tristan Thompson, who was still very much in a relationship with Khloe Kardashian at the time, was spotted making out with Jordyn Woods, Kylie Jenner‘s BFF.
It was the cheating scandal of the decade.
At the beginning of the year, the basketball athlete was seen kissing Woods at his house party, and she later shared details of that night on Red Table Talk.
“On the way out, he did kiss me. No passion. It was like a kiss on the lips,” the model explained. “I don’t think he’s wrong either because I allowed myself to be in that position and when alcohol is involved, people make dumb moves or people get caught up in the moment.”
Moreover, news of Tristan’s cheating was also aired in real-time on Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
“As much as these people hurt us, I also know that if this can make them better and if I can be that person then…Like, I know I’m strong enough to do that,” Khloe said in an episode. “It just sucks it has to be so public.”
“No one understands how I’m not just a TV show,” the Good American founder continued. “Like, this is my life and it breaks my soul and it’s happened so many times.”
With so many scandals that happened in 2019, it seems we’ll be closing this decade with a bang. With 2020 almost here, we’ll just have to see what the future holds.
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