Beyoncé, Labubu and Sydney Sweeney's jeans: 15 viral moments that defined 2025

Beyoncé, Labubu and Sydney Sweeney's jeans: 15 viral moments that defined 2025 The last 12 months have delivered a huge number of viral moments - Taylor Swift getting engaged, a raccoon getting drunk, and the 6-7 trend driving teachers everywhere to early retirement. But those weren't the only moments that kept us entertained throughout the year. Here are 15 of the cultural highlights (and lowlights) that defined 2025. 1. Beyoncé's Grammy reaction "Wait, what? Me? I've won? I've won a Grammy? I've won this Grammy? Are you sure?" Beyoncé didn't actually say any of these words as she won country album of the year in February, but her facial expression and body language conveyed her understandable shock. There had been some well-documented snobbery towards Cowboy Carter within the country community, but it had a huge night, also winning Beyoncé album of the year for the first time. We'll skip over the fact that she should've won much sooner for Lemonade or Renaissance and just be grateful that Beyoncé got her trophy and the internet got a meme for the ages. 2. Sydney Sweeney's denim drama "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans." So said the strap line for an American Eagle advert in July that featured the Euphoria actress dressed head to toe in denim. Depending on your viewpoint, this was either a fun piece of wordplay in a harmless clothing advert, or a dog whistle for white supremacy and eugenics-era rhetoric. The publicity generated by the fallout duly prompted the company's sales to skyrocket. Sadly for Sweeney, it didn't result in a similar surge for her next film at the box office. The actress herself kept quiet throughout the controversy, but later clarified she "does not support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign", adding: "I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand." 3. Lily Allen's revenge It was an eventful year in music - Oasis got through their reunion shows seemingly without incident, the launch of a new Elvis experience was a blue suede shambles, and Coldplay's tour left two fans in Massachusetts wishing they'd stayed home. Meanwhile, there was an epidemic of plummeting pop stars. A giant car Beyoncé was floating in at her concerts tilted too far, almost tipping her into the audience, while a giant mid-air butterfly Katy Perry was sitting on plunged several feet. But it was Lily Allen's West End Girl that became the most talked about album of the year, thanks to its detailed description of the events that led to her divorce from Stranger Things actor David Harbour. Sample lyric, about setting the terms of an open relationship: "We had an arrangement / Be discreet and don't be shameless / There had to be payment / It had to be with strangers." 4. Adolescence: A one-shot wonder Netflix's series about a schoolboy accused of stabbing a female classmate was one of the biggest TV hits of the year, dominating conversation for weeks. "Did you know it...

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