It’s that time of year when you try to remember what happened in the last 12 months, only for your smooth brain to draw a blank. Who can blame you? Your eyes have probably been glued to screens of all sizes, depending on whether you’re reading the news, scrolling, working or watching reruns to escape the world’s madness. If it feels like your brain has been marinating in random TikTok trends and half-baked celebrity dramas, don’t worry – same. My memory and attention span are just as cooked.

Even the dictionary is calling out our excessive screen time. “Brainrot” was named the Oxford Word of the Year, referencing the “low-quality, low-value content found on social media and the internet, as well as the subsequent negative impact that consuming this type of content is perceived to have on an individual or society”. Ouch.

But let’s not get too worked up over that. After all, you’re here on dazeddigital.com, where we only treat you to high-value, good-quality content. Here we’ve rounded up the biggest and funniest pop culture moments of 2024 to remind you that, yes, you really did live through all of this.

THE CURSED WILLY WONKA EXPERIENCE

Back at the start of the year, the unlicensed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-themed event in Glasgow, meant to be “the place where chocolate dreams become reality”, quickly turned into a nightmare. Promoted as an immersive family experience, the event was held in a poorly decorated warehouse, far from the magical wonderland visitors had expected. Disappointed customers voiced their complaints, and the police were even called to the venue. Bless the green-haired Oompa Loompa, who looked like she was having the worst day of her life.

THE KATE MIDDLETON CONSPIRACIES

Kate Middleton’s absence from the public eye fuelled all sorts of conspiracy theories, from whispers of a troubled marriage with an impending divorce to the royal family secretly killing her off, fuelled in part by Kensington Palace’s unusual statement about the princess’s abdominal surgery and the subsequent publication of a Photoshopped image of Kate on Mother’s Day. 

Over two months later, Kate released a video revealing that she had cancer and that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy. In June, she reappeared in public, looking happier and healthier, but she’s reportedly “not out of the woods yet”.

LOOKING FOR A MAN IN FINANCE

“I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, 6’5, blue eyes” was this summer’s earworm, remixed into ‘Like a G6’. But you already knew that – what you might not have known is that Megan Boni, the content creator behind the song, was offered a music deal by Universal Music Group to make a whole album, but she turned it down.

CHALLENGERS

Luca Guadagnino’s film Challengers was released this year, instantly cementing itself in the cultural canon of hot people being messy. The film stars Zendaya as an ex-tennis prodigy who gets caught in a love triangle between her low-circuit tennis player ex-boyfriend (Josh O’Connor) and her tennis champion husband (Mike Faist). Its release spawned an avalanche of Challengers-related content online, with horny fancams of the trio going viral on TikTok.

HOT RODENT BOYFRIEND

Speaking of Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, this year also saw the rise of the hot rodent boyfriend (a term which was coined by Dazed, we’ll have you know). As well as the two Challengers boys, we also cited the likes of Kieran Culkin, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Allen White, and Matty Healy as prime examples of hot ratty men. Suddenly, sharp little faces and a scurrying charm became all the rage, spawning a whole bunch of viral articles and memes (and discourse – so much discourse).

BRAT SUMMER

Charli xcx’s album Brat really captured the moment this summer. This pop manifesto was the soundtrack to a summer of indulgence and hedonism, with the album’s acid-green aesthetic seeping into every corner of pop culture. Some of us still remember Charli from her indie-pop days, so it’s nice to see her get the recognition she deserves. She’s leaning into it too – her face is on the covers, and fashion and beauty marketing campaigns can’t get enough of her. As they say, go get that bag!

NARA SMITH’S FAMILY EMPIRE

2024 was the year of the TikTok creator, and one stood out the most – Nara Smith. The 23-year-old model, social media personality, mum of three (Rumble Honey, Slim Easy and Whimsy Lou) and wife to Lucky Blue Smith captivated millions of followers with her cooking and making-things-from-scratch videos. Her deadpan humour only adds to her charm. Though she’s previously been accused of promoting the “tradwife” lifestyle, she maintains that she just wants to share her family’s life online.

ED DAVEY’S ELECTION CAMPAIGN

It may seem like forever ago, but the UK had a general election this year, which saw a predictable landslide win for Labour. Yet it was Ed Davey’s campaigning antics which stole the show. Some highlights included braving a water obstacle course, bungee jumping from a crane and launching his manifesto at Thorpe Park. And it seemed to have paid off, with the Lib Dems bagging a historic number of seats.

MOLLY MAE AND TOMMY FURY’S BREAK-UP

Molly Mae Hague and Tommy Fury, also known as our generation’s Diana and Charles, went their seperate ways this year after allegations emerged that Tommy had been cheating on Molly Mae. In August, they announced their split in separate social media posts. Molly Mae didn’t mince her words: “I am extremely upset to announce that mine and Tommy's relationship has come to an end. After five years of being together, I never imagined our story would end, especially not this way.”

ELON MUSK WENT OFF THE DEEP END

Elon Musk has been taking up way too much space in all of our lives. It was bad enough when he bought X, formerly Twitter, turning it into an arena for bot farms with all the worst opinions. But then he joined Donald Trump’s campaign trail, trying to make “dark MAGA” a thing, and spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump win the election, controversially vowing to give a million away a day to someone who signs America’s PAC petition. Now, Musk has been tasked with leading incoming President Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Yes, really.

THE LESBIAN RENAISSANCE

The lesbian renaissance was in full swing in 2024, with queer girl representation flourishing across music, film, and culture. From Chappell Roan cementing her place as a pop sensation, to Billie Eilish releasing a song about eating a girl out, to the BBC’s hugely popular reality dating show I Kissed a Girl, there’s been a palpable cultural shift, offering a richer, more diverse portrayal of sapphic life than ever before.

RAYGUN AT THE OLYMPICS

The summer Olympics in Paris this year weren’t off to a great start when people threatened to shit in the Seine in protest against the government’s decision to spend billions on making the river clean enough to swim in. But the games certainly picked up at the Women’s Breaking, when Australia’s Raygun got worldwide attention for all the wrong reasons. Gunn, an academic with a PhD in the cultural politics of the sport, stunned everyone with her... interesting moves. I’m afraid you have to see it to believe it.

MOO DENG

A baby hippo in Thailand named Moo Deng (translation: bouncy pork), who loves nothing more than splashing around in water and getting belly rubs, became an internet sensation after zookeeper Atthapon Nundee began posting videos of her online. She was accurately described as having “the kind of face that launches a thousand memes”.

MILF FILMS

I don’t know what was in the water this year, but there were a LOT of films released about age-gap relationships – The Idea of You, A Family Affair, Babygirl, Lonely Planet, I Want Your Sex and more. All jokes aside, it was great to see films that challenge beliefs around ageing and desire.

THE LOOKALIKE CONTESTS

Worldwide, countless men gathered to see if they could win lookalike competitions of our favourite celebrities: Timothée Chalamet, Jeremy Allen White, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Dev Patel, Paul Mescal. There were so many that someone’s been keeping an up-to-date list. The most unhinged of them all had to be the Luigi Mangione lookalike contest (but, I mean, fair enough).

THE WICKED PRESS TOUR

There were many bizarre moments during the Wicked press tour, but the strangest moment of all had to be when a reporter mentioned to Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo that people were finding empowerment in the song Defying Gravity. “I’ve seen this week people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that,” she said. Erivo appeared touched, claiming that was what she “wanted”. The reporter then claimed she had seen it happening because she worked in “queer media.” Everyone appeared confused as Grande held onto Erivo’s finger for moral support. The two later laughed about the moment in a Variety interview and admitted that they had no idea what the reporter was talking about.

LUIGI MANGIONE

The internet went crazy after Luigi Mangione was identified as the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Johnson earlier this month. Many Americans, frustrated with insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare profiting off ordinary people’s misery, didn’t have much sympathy for the slain CEO and began hailing Mangione as a great hero. It also helped that Mangione is, to put it simply, hot. To this day people on social media are publicly lusting over his photos and analysing his social media accounts.