20 of the biggest pop culture happenings in January 2025

Bruno Mars started 2024 with a bit of controversy but ended strong with a #1 hit alongside Lady Gaga. In January 2025 he kicked off the new year with ROSÉ, earning the first number-one song on the Global Spotify Chart with “APT.”

Every year for some time now has kicked off with one of the most beloved and celebrated reality shows to date, RuPaul’s Drag Race and 2025 is no different as 14 new queens were introduced on the season 17 premiere.

As if the world didn’t have enough Kardashian content, Khloe started a new venture. Her podcast, Khloé in Wonder Land, kicked off January 9th with none other than her former in-law, Scott Disick. Oh, apologies, Lord Disick. It’s sure to make the family name another bajillion dollars.

Doechii’s Tiny Desk went viral, and to follow that up, the Florida-based rapper dropped a ‘90s sitcom-inspired music video for "Denial is a River" that had all social media platforms going wild and solidified Doechii as one to watch in 2025. 

The Golden Globes aired and there were a few big moments that went above and beyond the broadcast including Jeremy Strong’s suit, Demi Moore’s moving acceptance speech for The Substance, and some controversy over Emilia Pérez being a big winner of the night.

Those that rock with CNN know Wolf Blitzer’s game, but they likely did not know that their favorite CNN anchor is living in 2003. Well, they do now because while posing in his Buffalo Bills gear by his TV, he showed the world his entertainment center that looked like it was from the days of music on MTV. So cute though! The world loves a frugal man.

During the Beyoncé Bowl on Christmas Day in 2024, it was announced that on January 14, Beyoncé would make an announcement. Yes, an announcement for an announcement. Things didn’t go as planned as the Grammy-winner decided to postpone the announcement due to the multiple fires that broke out in the Los Angeles area throughout the early part of January.

Ever since Abbott Elementary premiered, fans have yearned for it to crossover with another hit series set in the Philadelphia area. It made no sense to fans of either show with one being a family-friendly sitcom on ABC, and the other - well, it’s none of that. However, both are hilarious and at the top of the comedy realm in the current TV landscape, so while it was a risk - it paid off. The crossover worked and was as beautiful as it was hilarious.

A woman was out over $800,000 when she fell for a scam in which someone allegedly used AI to create images of Brad Pitt in the hospital to get her to send them money for treatment. This happens more often than not, but the AI images should have raised a red flag (or three) because they weren’t too believable.

RuPaul’s Drag Race has been a hit in the US for over a decade now, and as the show grew, it spread its wings internationally. The first place the show landed was in the UK, and that iteration’s first winner was the multi-talented The Vivienne. Sadly, the world lost that shining star in January at the age of only 32.

Carrie Underwood ran into some technical difficulties when she performed at the 2025 Presidential Inauguration, but the American Idol winner proved the show always goes on. 

AppleTV+ took an interesting and creative approach to promote season two of their award-winning series, Severance. They sent the cast to sit in a glass cubicle in the middle of Grand Central Station in New York City. This had many fans claiming, “TV is so back.”

There is a lot of AI out there, but one that will hopefully spawn a lot of Halloween costumes in 2025 is the AI Barney that was fashioned after Mary J. Blige.

Katy Perry was one of the many celebrities doing what they could to help those impacted by the Los Angeles fires. The “Woman’s World” singer went as far as to say she’d donate the earnings from her 2024 release, 143. A great gesture, but it led to Perry’s goodwill being mocked as 143 didn’t fare too well in sales, being one of her worst-performing releases to date.

Bob the Drag Queen was the winner of season eight of RuPaul’s Drag Race and has since gone on to have an immaculate career that’s included a stint on HBO’s We’re Here, a stellar stand-up comedy career, opening for Madonna, and most recently appearing on the hit reality series, The Traitors. Well, Bob was a traitor, and when push came to shove, Bob took out Real Housewives fav, and that rattled that entire fanbase to go after the traitor queen. Reality TV is always dramatic.

TikTok was set to go offline in the US on January 19, and it did. Then, it came back less than 24 hours later. During that time, Americans reacted…let’s just say, interestingly. Some had funerals for the app, even giving eulogies. Some simply posted their tears, while others felt it was the end of days. Then it came back, and the endless scrolling commenced.

A countdown appeared on Lady Gaga’s official site in January, and her Little Monsters quickly noticed. It turns out it was counting down to a new album, Mayhem, her sixth and highly anticipated follow-up to 2020’s Chromatica, which drops on March 7, 2025.

The WWE made a major move as Monday Night Raw said goodbye to broadcast television and hello to the modern world of streaming as it found a new home on Netflix.

Trump decided that Hollywood needed ambassadors and chose Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight. Okay...

Opening at number one, beating the highly anticipated Wolf Man, One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA, was a critical darling right out of the gate with an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score, and audiences seem to love it too. Could this be the return of fun comedies in theaters?