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A year in review: 2018 entertainment

Nate Day
nday@vaildaily.com
As usual, the entertainment year was buzzing with news from music, movies, television and more, including arrests, cancelations and record-breakers.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash

A lot can happen in 365 days, especially in the world of entertainment. From the first moment of the year to the very last, the industry kept on churning out surprises, scandals and record-breakings. Here’s some of the biggest events that went down this year:

Weddings

In mid-May, England’s Prince Harry married American actress Meghan Markle. Not only was this a big deal because Markle comes from our own country, but she’s also a divorcee and is half black, both of those identities make for a radically progressive addition to the royal family.



Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra tied the knot in December in India. The actors and signers boast a notable age difference and only had a short engagement, but after meeting via mutual friends, the connection was instant.

Supermodel Karlie Kloss married Joshua Kushner, a businessman and the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of and advisor to President Donald Trump.

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R&B artist Miguel married his longtime girlfriend Nazanin Mandi in late November. Miguel is an award-winning musician, and Mandi is a model working her way into the music industry.

After “consciously uncoupling” with Chris Martin, Academy Award-winner Gwyneth Paltrow married producer and writer Brad Falchuk. Paltrow worked with Falchuk during her time on “Glee” and is working with him again for an upcoming television show called “The Politician.”

Births

Not only was there a royal wedding this year, but a royal baby was born as well. Prince William and Duchess Kate welcomed Prince Louis to the family. Louis is the couple’s third child. Kate’s sister, Pippa, also gave birth to a baby boy this year.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott gave birth to a baby girl, Stormi, in February. Jenner was able to hide her pregnancy from the world (save for some major speculation) until the baby was born.

Jenner’s sister Kim Kardashian also welcomed a baby girl, Chicago, with husband Kanye West.

Actress Gabrielle Union also successfully hid her pregnancy, and gave birth to a baby girl in November. The baby’s father is Union’s husband, Dwayne Wade.

Deaths

Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin passed away in mid-August. Franklin was a Grammy Award-winning musician, known for her massive impact on the industry, as well as civil and women’s rights.

Just before filming a Quentin Tarantino picture, legendary actor Burt Reynolds passed away. Reynolds was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “Boogie Nights.”

Comic book pioneer Stan Lee passed away this year. Lee wrote for Marvel Comics for decades, and made cameos in most Marvel movies produced over the last decade.

Actress-turned-director Penny Marshall died just last week at 74. Marshall starred in “Laverne & Shirley” and directed films like “Big” and “A League of Their Own.”

Rapper Mac Miller passed away of a drug overdose in early September. Miller was only 26.

Anthony Bourdain, a celebrated chef known for his ventures into television, passed away in June.

Crime

2018 was the year of MeToo, and that resulted in trials and convictions for both comedian Bill Cosby and producer Harvey Weinstein.

Movies

“Black Panther,” released in February, made over $1 billion at the box office. The film is part of Marvel’s expansive cinematic universe and starred Chadwick Boseman, Lupita N’yongo and more.

“Crazy Rich Asians” also made a splash in August, making over $200 million and earning two Golden Globe nominations

“Avengers: Infinity War” is the nineteenth movie in Marvel’s current franchise, and like “Black Panther,” it easily crossed the $1 billion mark.

Fourteen years after the release of the original film, “Incredibles 2” hit theaters in June, this time focusing on Elastigirl’s superhero career.

Television

ABC shocked everyone by canceling “Roseanne,” television’s most popular sitcom. The cancellation came about after star Roseanne Barr came under heat for racist tweets … which she blamed on Ambien.

“Queer Eye” made a triumphant return, this time airing on Netflix. The show follows five men as they help other men to come into their own via fashion, food, decoration, grooming and social behaviors.

Sandra Oh made history as the first woman of Asian descent to ever be nominated for an Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for “Killing Eve.”

Julia Roberts joined the world of television in Amazon’s “Homecoming.” This is Robert’s first leading role on television.

“Pose,” FX’s show about ballroom culture in 1980’s New York, broke records for having the largest number of transgender individuals in the cast of a television program.

Music

Eccentric rapper Cardi B released her debut album this year, which included the hit single “I Like It.”

Ariana Grande released “Sweetener,” which Rolling Stone called the Best Album of the Year, and just weeks later, released “thank u, next,” the lead single off of her next album.

“This Is America” by Childish Gambino took the country by storm in its depiction of racially-motivated violence in the U.S.

R&B artist Janelle Monae dropped “Dirty Computer,” which accompanied a 45-minute short film featuring the album’s music.


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