From Doja Cat To Matt Rife, Here Are 12 Of The Most Memorable Celebrity Scandals Of 2023

"If you need friendships with women who are in unstable places... I am not the right partner for you."

It wouldn't be the end of another year without reflecting back on everything that's happened...

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And of course, in the celebrity world scandals are a monthly occurrence at this rate. So, without further ado, here are some of the biggest controversies that happened this year:

1. Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater

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After rumours began that Ariana and her now ex-husband Dalton Gomez had divorced, multiple conspiracies about why they split started circulating online. One of these rumours was a relationship between Ariana and her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, which has since been confirmed. This caused a breakout of reactions online, particularly when Ethan's ex-wife Lily Jay broke her silence about the pair dating: 

"Ariana’s the story really. Not a girl’s girl, my family is just collateral damage."

Lily shares a son with Ethan and was reportedly blindsided by him ending their relationship. Ariana and Ethan have been publicly spotted only a handful of times since their relationship was unofficially confirmed. Yeahhh, it all got a bit too messy.

2. Doja Cat

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2023 has been a year of multiple controversies for Doja Cat, but let's just cover a couple of them. Firstly, the singer was spotted with controversial Twitch streamer Jeffrey Cyrus who has been accused of emotionally abusing and manipulating his female Twitch stream moderators. After being called out by fans, Doja responded in her Instagram comments that she does not care what they think about her personal life, as well as blocking fans on X that informed her of his actions.

In October, Doja also uploaded a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt that had a picture of alt-right YouTuber, Sam Hyde. He has been known to donate money to a neo-Nazi website when they were sued for harassing a Jewish woman. Doja never publicly responded, but did take down the photo.

3. Jonah Hill

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Back in July, Jonah Hill's ex Sarah Brady released old text messages that she had received from the star highlighting the "emotional abuse" she received from him. In the screenshots, the messages show Jonah making a list of demands for the surfer to follow including deleting photos of herself wearing swimwear, and setting boundaries for her. These included not "having boundaryless friendships with men", "having friendships with women in unstable places", and "surfing with men" if she wanted to have a relationship with him.

4. Jada Pinkett-Smith

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Jada shocked fans by confirming that her and Will Smith have been separated for the last seven years, even thought Will hitting Chris Rock was only a recent controversy. Jada did reveal in an interview with Today that they are "working very hard at bringing our relationship, yes, bringing our relationship back together... back to a life partnership, yes."

5. Lizzo

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Former employees of the star spoke out about harassment, with these serious allegations going against Lizzo's message of body positivity and acceptance. Some of the claims in the lawsuit involved pressuring dancers into sexual situations, making them rehearse long hours without breaks, and veiled comments about a dancer's weight gain. Lizzo pushed back against these claims via Instagram: "My work ethic, morals, and respectfulness have been questioned... these [allegations] are as unbelievable as they sound." There hasn't been much of an update on this one yet, but it's not looking too good for the star.

6. The Weeknd

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Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye joined forces to create The Idol, a HBO series. The show received a lot of criticism and caused controversy, with some critics comparing it to pornography. After Amy Seimetz left the project, the whole show was scrapped and transformed, with claims that some in production disagreed with these changes, and that some scenes were dubbed as a "rape fantasy". Abel responded to the Rolling Stone publication who released these claims in a video he posted on X. Regardless of whether these claims are true or not, if you've watched The Idol then you'll understand just how uncomfortable it is to watch.

7. Justin Timberlake

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Britney Spears released her memoir The Woman In Me where she revealed that she had been pregnant with Justin's child, and consequently had an abortion. She wrote: "If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father." This led to an onslaught of online users criticising Justin for his previous behaviour of repeatedly shaming Britney in the media all while she went through "agonising pain" during the abortion.

8. Drew Barrymore

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Amid the Writers Guild of America strike, Drew Barrymore announced the decision that her show would resume filming. Of course, she was instantly barraged by criticism and released a statement on her Instagram: "I want to be there to provide what writers do so well, which is a way to bring us together or help us make sense of the human experience."

Chelsea White, a co-head writer on the show, had told Rolling Stone that this decision undermines a group effort for a fair contract. Drew then returned to Instagram to respond to the criticism: "There are so many reasons why this is so complex. I just want everyone to know my intentions have never been in a place to upset or hurt anyone. That's not who I am." The star continued by apologising to the writers and the unions, but the apology definitely didn't go down as well as she had hoped, and criticism was still rife in the comment section.

9. Selena Gomez

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Selena is another star who has had her fair share of trouble this year, from online feuding with Hailey Bieber, to her comments on Palestine, and more recently her relationship with Benny Blanco. Selena took to Instagram to defend her romance with Benny: "then why is he the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He’s still better than anyone I’ve been with."

This lead to fans criticising her approach, comparing it to the time that Selena called out Justin Bieber when he was reacting to fans comments about his relationship with Sofia Richie: "Don't be mad at your fans. They love you and supported you before anyone ever did."

10. Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas

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I'm sure we were all in shock when it emerged that these two were getting a divorce, and of course, rumours started to spiral. Sources quickly started painting Sophie as the villain, claiming that her partying lifestyle was to blame for the split, and that Joe was a devoted father. This started conversations about sexism online, and how women are unfairly judged and criticised in motherhood, yet men are praised for the bare minimum in fatherhood. Yup, looking after your own children is not ground breaking!!

11. Matt Rife

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The comedian sparked backlash over comments he made in his Netflix special Natural Selection where he started off by making a joke about domestic violence. When eating at a restaurant with a friend they notice their female server has a black eye, the friends wonders why they wouldn't have her work in the back and Matt jokes "Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye." Expectedly, the so-called "joke" generated tons of controversy online, and Matt issued a mock apology on his Instagram stories. He wrote: "If you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told, here’s a link to my official apology" with the link leading to a website that sells helmets for those with special needs. Yeah, did anyone see the part that was meant to be funny? 

12. Rachel Zegler

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During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor was teasing the plot to2024 live-action remake of Snow White, labelling the original 1937 version as "extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman is fit for." Another clip circulated online of Rachel discussing how "she's not going to be dreaming about true love. She's dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be." These comments created a discussion online, with many users questioning why women have to choose between love and success, why can't they have both? One TikTok user stated: "not every woman wants or craves power, and that's okay. It is not anti-feminist to want to fall in love." Due to the actor strikes, Rachel was unable to comment on the situation.

Was there any that didn't make this list? Let us know in the comments below!