Taylor Swift was up. Elon Musk was in, out, in and maybe out again. Tom Cruise was back. BTS stepped aside, and so did Serena Williams, and Tom Brady too — oops, scratch that. But the slap? The slap was everywhere. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t on the level of a moon landing, or selection of a pope. But henceforth all you need say is “the slap” and people will know what you mean — that moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the Oscars and a global audience said, “Wait, did that happen?” Even in the room itself — maybe especially in the room itself — there was a sense everyone had imagined it, which helps explain why things went on as normal, for a bit. The pandemic was over, phew! Well, of course it wasn’t. But live entertainment pushed forward in 2022, with mask mandates dropping and people rushing to buy things like, oh, Taylor Swift tickets! We’ll take any segue to mention Swift, who already had a big year in 2021, but just got bigger — heck, she broke Billboard records and then she broke Ticketmaster. (No word if she got her scarf back). It was a year of celebrity #MeToo cases like Harvey Weinstein (again), R. Kelly (again), Kevin Spacey, Paul Haggis, Danny Masterson. And the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial, its every excruciating turn captured on TV. On the big screen, there were big comebacks. Mourning its dearly missed star, Chadwick Boseman, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was a box office triumph. James Cameron’s “Avatar” made a splashy December return. Then there was Cruise, turning 60 in ’22 just like the Rolling Stones, swooping into Cannes with his most successful movie and showing, like those still-touring rockers, that when they tell you “The end is inevitable,” as they do in “Top Gun: Maverick,” you can always reply: “Maybe so, sir, but not today.” Read more: Will Smith’s ‘Emancipation’ role taught him lesson post-slap Will audiences one day find Cruise – or the Stones, for that matter – too wrinkled and past the sell-by date? Maybe so, but not this year. Our annual, totally selective journey through a year in pop culture: JANUARY It’s GOLDEN GLOBES time. But is a Globes with no telecast, boozy celebs or red carpet a Globes at all? The embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association, reeling from stunning failures over diversity, holds a private event and plans a comeback next year. Hey, remember the original wardrobe malfunction? Well, JANET JACKSON says she and JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE have moved on, and so should we. The New York Times buys Wordle, and we’re all thinking in five-letter words (though W-O-R-D-L-E is six, just saying.) Meanwhile, it’s a month of loss, heading off a year of loss: pioneering Black actor, director and activist SIDNEY POITIER dies at 94. What would a year in pop culture be without BRITNEY? Just months after her liberation from her restrictive conservatorship, Spears is reported to have signed a mammoth book deal, but at year’s end we’re still waiting for news. RIHANNA is pregnant! TOM BRADY retires! (Stay tuned, on that one.) TAYLOR watch: JAKE GYLLENHAAL speaks out, saying he really has nothing to do with that song. MARCH Quick, who wins Oscars this month? Well, “CODA” does, a feel-good drama with a largely deaf cast, and TROY KOTSUR becomes the first deaf actor to win an acting Oscar. Alas, all anyone can talk about is — you know. SMITH, who wins the best actor award not long after slapping Rock over a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, won’t truly address the issue until the end of the year, so keep reading. KARDASHIAN watch: Kim K is declared legally single again in her ongoing divorce with YE, the rapper formerly known as KANYE WEST. And BRADY, retired for 40 days, says, “Never mind!” APRIL It’s GRAMMY time, and JON BATISTE wins big, taking five statuettes. The musician’s huge year will later include performing at the first state dinner of the Biden administration, for French President Emmanuel Macron. The next day Macron will meet with MUSK (thanks for the segue, Monsieur le President) who begins his acquisition of TWITTER this month, leading to untold — and still unfolding — changes at the social media giant. MAY So imagine you’re sipping cocktails at the MET GALA and a musician comes sauntering through, playing the melodica — of course it’s BATISTE, because the Met Gala’s that kind of crazy party. The biggest splash of the night, though, is KARDASHIAN, on the arm of boyfriend PETE DAVIDSON, wearing the same sequined, skin tight gown MARILYN MONROE wore to sing “Happy Birthday” to JFK in 1962. In movies, “Top Gun: Maverick” opens, the highest-grossing domestic debut in CRUISE’S career, and his first to surpass $100 million on opening weekend. HARRY STYLES fans rejoice! His album, “Harry’s House,” is here. JUNE Stunning news for the global fanbase of BTS as the K-pop supergroup announces it’s taking a break to focus on members’ solo projects. On the legal front, a Virginia jury hands DEPP a victory in his very messy libel case over allegations of domestic abuse, finding that former wife HEARD defamed him in a 2018 op-ed. On a happier note, Britney gets married…. July Only one wedding, Britney? BENNIFER has two! Maybe what happens in Vegas usually stays in Vegas, but not when you have 227 million followers on Instagram. With a winking reference to being a “Sadie” (married lady) JENNIFER LOPEZ directs fans to her newsletter where she shares pics of her quickie wedding to BEN AFFLECK. “Love is beautiful,” she writes. “And it turns out love is patient.” Speaking of patience, fans of BEYONCÉ are rewarded for theirs with the release of her long-awaited “Renaissance,” her first solo album in six years. AUGUST So, we were saying ... Bennifer’s second wedding, on Affleck’s compound in Georgia, is bigger and fancier. One wedding, one split: KARDASHIAN and DAVIDSON are no longer. In other summer news, the world remembers PRINCESS DIANA, whose shocking death happened 25 years ago, and whose life is being rehashed for a new generation in the current season of “The Crown.” Only days after the anniversary, that same Netflix series will pause production as a mark of respect for QUEEN ELIZABETH II as Britain — and the world — mourn the beloved monarch, who dies at age 96 after more than 70 years on the throne. SEPTEMBER Mounting political intrigue in Europe, and by that we mean, did spit fly at the Venice premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling”? Either way the movie, directed by OLIVIA WILDE and starring her boyfriend (alleged spitter STYLES), is saddled – or blessed? – with more than its share of extracurricular drama. At the EMMYS, behold SHERYL LEE RALPH, who wins for “Abbott Elementary” and schools the crowd on the power of dreams and self-belief. “This is what believing looks like,” she says. You know what else believing looks like? Rachel Berry from “Glee” – aka LEA MICHELE – at last getting to play Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” on Broadway. In sports, with four rueful words that resonate with working moms everywhere, SERENA WILLIAMS says she’s stepping aside from tennis, because “something’s got to give.” Read more: Apple to release Will Smith's 'Emancipation' post-slap OCTOBER The second HARVEY WEINSTEIN trial opens in Los Angeles. ADIDAS drops YE, part of a cascade of companies that will sever ties with the rapper over his antisemitic and other troubling comments. The MUSK era begins at TWITTER as the world’s richest man carries a sink into the office, to “let that sink in.” HEIDI KLUM’s Halloween costume is a slimy, glistening rain worm. But before the month worms away from us, let’s cede it to SWIFT for dropping her new album, “Midnights” (Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day), then adding seven bonus tracks, then becoming the first artist to occupy all top 10 slots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Let THAT sink in! P.S. Celebrity divorce watch: BRADY and )GISELE BUNDCHEN split. NOVEMBER Did we say LAST month was Taylor Swift month? Well now, millions of eager fans crowd a presale for her much-awaited Eras Tour, resulting in crashes and endless waits. Ticketmaster cancels the general sale, citing insufficient stock. Multiple state attorneys general announce investigations. Takeaway: People want Taylor Swift tickets. At the multiplex, they also want their Wakanda. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” meets the double challenge of following up one of the biggest blockbusters in history and losing its biggest star. DECEMBER Love ’em or hate ’em, here come HARRY and MEGHAN again, with a Netflix documentary watched very closely by royalty across the pond. Over at Twitter, MUSK says he’ll step down as CEO — after polling users — once he finds someone “foolish” enough to replace him. Cameron’s “AVATAR” sequel finally appears, 13 years after the original broke records, and yes, moviegoers flock to Pandora once again. And bringing the year full circle, SMITH emerges to promote his new film, “EMANCIPATION,” hoping people will forget about … what was it? … at least enough to check out the movie. In this year of comebacks, will Smith’s be the biggest? Check back with us in 2023.  

Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday before she closed out the show with a surprisingly big announcement: Her new album. “I thought it would be a fun moment to tell you that my new album comes out Oct. 21,” said Swift after she won video of the year for her project “All Too Well: The Short Film" (10 minute version), which claimed best long form video. “I will tell you more at midnight.” Swift said on social media that her upcoming 10th studio album would be called “Midnights,” which she says will involve “stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” Her upcoming release comes after she released “Folklore” and “Evermore.” Both projects came out five months apart two years ago. “Folklore” won album of the year at the 2021 Grammy Awards. The pop star's reveal came at the end of her acceptance speech where she praised the other women in the category - which included Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo. “I know with every second of this moment that we wouldn’t be able to make this short film if it weren’t for you - the fans," she said. "I wouldn’t be able to re-record my albums if it wasn’t for you. You emboldened me to do that.” She spoke about creating her first short film, giving thanks to several including actors Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien who starred in the project. “We put our entire hearts into this,” Swift said. Rapper Jack Harlow made his mark throughout the entire show. He kicked off his performance inside a mock airplane walking down aisle while performing his hit song “First Class,” which was sampled by Fergie’s “Glamorous.” The rapper joined Fergie onstage - who wore a sparkling silver dress with the red words “First Class” - while she sang her 2006 jam. “Thank you to Fergie for coming out with me tonight and clearing this song,” said Harlow after “First Class” won the award for song of the summer later in the show. “The beauty of this song is that people don’t realize it’s so hip-hop because of the sampling. To bring Fergie into the mix in this way means the world to me. It’s truly full circle. ‘Glamorous’ was one of the most important songs of my childhood.” During the show, Depp made a surprise appearance as the Moon Man nearly three months after the verdict in his defamation trial with his former wife Amber Heard. The 59-year-old actor floated from the ceiling while wearing the iconic astronaut outfit with his face digitally inserted into custom’s helmet. “And you know what? I needed the work,” Depp told the audience at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Lizzo had Taylor Swift dancing out of her seat while she performed her new single “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready).” She won an award for video for good for “About Damn Time.” Harlow’s name was called to come right back onstage to collect the show’s first award for his guest appearance on Lil Nas X’s song “Industry Baby,” which won for best collaboration. Both Harlow and Lil Nas X are tied for leading nominees with seven apiece. Read: MTV VMAs ready to host, honor some of music's biggest acts “This one is for the champions,” said Lil Nas X before Harlow thanked him for the collaboration on the chart-topping single. The song propelled their nominations, landing them in competition for artist of the year along with Drake, Bad Bunny, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and Lizzo. Harlow, in addition to performing and winning awards, joined LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj as the show’s hosts. Minaj performed a medley of her career’s biggest hits from “Roman’s Revenge,” “Chun-Li,” “Moment 4 Life,” “Beez in the Trap,” “Anaconda” and “Super Bass.” After her set, the rapper accepted the show’s Video Vanguard award, which MTV has said she’s receiving for her artistry, barrier-breaking hip-hop and status as a global superstar. The honor is named after Michael Jackson. During her acceptance speech, Minaj paid tribute to other music icons such as Jackson, Whitney Houston, Lil Wayne and Kanye West. She spoke about the importance of mental health. “I wish people took mental health seriously, even when you think they have the perfect lives,” said Minaj, who later won best hip-hop for her song “Do We Have a Problem?” featuring Lil Baby. Harry Styles won album of the year for “Harry's House.” He was unable to attend the awards due to his show at Madison Square Garden in New York. Bad Bunny performed his hit “Titi Me Pregunto” from Yankee Stadium after he won artist of the year. “I have been saying it and I always believed from the beginning that I could become great," he said. "That I could become one of the biggest stars in the world without having to change my culture, my language, my jargon. I am Benito Antonio Martínez from Puerto Rico to the whole world, thank you!” Eminem and Snoop Dogg brought the metaverse to the VMAs as the duo performed “From the D 2 The LBC,” which was featured on Eminem's greatest hits album “Curtain Call 2.” The Red Hot Chili Peppers took the stage as the recipients of the Global Icon award after being introduced by Cheech & Chong as their “favorite band of all time.” The band - which consists of Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and John Frusciante - performed several songs including their hit “Can't Stop” from the the group's 2002 album “By the Way” and their recent hit “Black Summer,” which won best rock. Flea made a speech about his love for human beings along with cockroaches, trees and dirt. Smith, the band's drummer, dedicated the award to Taylor Hawkins, the late Foo Fighters drummer who died early this year. “I dedicate this to Taylor and his family,” he said. “I love them and I miss him every day.” Madonna, who is the most awarded artist in MTV history with 20 wins, became the only artist to receive a nomination in each of the VMAs five decades. She earned her 69th nomination for her 14th studio album “Madame X.”

Everyone wants you back. It seems every day of this late-stage pandemic era is marked with someone wistfully talking about Normal: going back to you, starting new with you. It’s all about norms and normalcy. All about you. As for me, I’m not so interested in Normal. I defer to Taylor Swift: We are never, ever, ever getting back together. It felt normal to want Normal back at first. Last year, in those first months, daydreaming of you was a constant daily escape from all of the endless dire possibilities. I wanted my life back. I wanted the control. Complaining about commuting or being too busy was the norm in the B.C. (before COVID) era. But in those early days, the mundane was what we craved. Packing into a subway car, grabbing an unplanned drink with a friend, hugging parents, striking up a conversation with a stranger. And yet all of those Normal desires felt entirely unfathomable. Would we ever be able to go to a crowded space? If we could, would we want to? The answer then felt like a definite no, especially with mortality and death constantly wailing in our ears. The fear of the unknown was like a weighted blanket, but one that provided no comfort or warmth. Also read : Global Covid-19 cases surge past 127 million It was then that I craved my Normal most. Mary Claire Lane, 86, left, a resident at Hellenic Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Canton, Mass., shares a hug with her daughter Anne Darling, of Attleboro, Mass., right, during a visit at the nursing home, in Canton. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) It wasn’t just me. Over the last year, our obsession with normalcy has shown up on Google, with the highest spike in searches around mid-April 2020, when it seemed we might have been able to resume life as we once knew it. Searching for normal went up again around the start of the school year in September and around the holidays in late November. But as the search trends show, these desires for normalcy ebb and flow, constantly fading and morphing. The collective yearning for normalcy was panic-inducing early on, around the time President Donald Trump was vowing to reopen America by Easter 2020. So much had already changed. Yet it felt then that we might just go back to Normal with the snap of a finger. Also read: 36 countries yet to get Covid jabs: WHO By June, the pandemic’s staying power was more clear, and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was saying, “We cannot go right back to normal. We need new routines.” Several months later, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said, “We’ll begin to again turn the spigot once more and get back to whatever normal will be.” By then, my brain was screaming: No way. Do others feel it, too, cringing every time new Normal, old Normal, any Normal is uttered? That to go back to you would mean we don’t question the ways things were, that we ignore the cracks that have been exposed, and that we forget the lessons — good and bad — that have been learned? The experience of living through the yearlong aberration feels like the rapid-fire history verses of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” — condensed into one tumultuous year. The world shuts down, a racial reckoning, a divisive election. Loss after loss after loss. A previously unimaginable attack on the peaceful American transfer of power. A jittery inauguration. Multiple vaccines — and a glimpse of a world beyond the pandemic. After living through all that, going back to Normal feels more and more like returning to a lover we just can’t seem to leave. Also read: Worrying Covid upsurge in Bangladesh: 3,908 new cases, 35 deaths B.C., adaptability sometimes felt a lot different. It let us recover from jetlag and get used to a new time zone in days, sometimes hours. It let us move from the warming layered looks of winter to — unimaginably — a spaghetti-strap dress when the heat of summer comes. It’s turning a new house into a home. The past year has given adaptability a new meaning. Many people have a new perspective of their capabilities. Impossible things became possible: Maintaining relationships online and enduring not seeing family and friends, or anyone, for extended periods of time. A whole crop of young people finding grace after being robbed of moments big and small. We got used to it. We normalized the unimaginable. Now, in late-stage pandemic life, the echoes of this unimaginable life creep into my dreams, leaving me wandering around a packed place like Walt Disney World maskless, or being the only exposed face in a sea of people wearing a mask. “It’s normal,” my therapist told me. “Everyone is having these dreams.” Well, great — more Normal I didn’t ask for. The thing about normalcy is that it’s never universal. My Normal is not yours. And because of that, it perpetuates life’s inequalities, many of which have been laid bare by the pandemic. These are problems that don’t have easy solutions and may not even be solved in our lifetimes. Sure, many people may want things to change. But will they commit to being part of that? Or will it be just like a resolution made at the start of a new year, one that is broken within a month or two? When we have a green light to start living life again, to enter a new Normal, what will we hold onto from this time? Will we really stay unbusy? Will we care more about work flexibility, employee protections, access to medical coverage? Will anti-racism efforts, once at the forefront of the zeitgeist, be prioritized or forgotten? Will mass shootings become the exception rather than a painful rule? Will there be any systemic change? Not likely, “Pandemic” author Sonia Shah said on a recent episode of John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight.” “We usually go right back to business as usual as soon as the thing ends, as soon as we have a drug, as soon as we have a vaccine,” she said. “We don’t really do the fundamental social change.” We’ve already experienced that. When life changed, there was a period of adjustment. It took a while to get used to it. Then we did. That’s happening again right now in the United States as more people are vaccinated and infection rates decrease. Already, the pulls of Normal are tugging. For all the growth and change and adaptation that has happened in the past year, it is hard to even define what a post-pandemic normalcy might mean. The dictionary defines it simply as conforming to a standard — usual, typical, or expected. Is that really what we want? “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be,” Maya Angelou once said. Without Normal, the path forward is more open, the opportunities perhaps broader. What if there’s a whole lot of amazing that stands to be lost if Normal returns? What if, instead of banking on normalcy, we focused on that one-of-a-kind ability to adapt and evolve? Maybe that’s the way forward, instead of simply reconciling with what was and trying to recreate something that’s already had its day. It’s too late, anyway. Remember, Normal: You and me, we already broke up.

Beyoncé and Taylor Swift had a historic night at the Grammys, where the top four awards were won by female acts.

Taylor Swift won her third consecutive artist of the year prize at the American Music Awards, but she missed the show for a good reason: She said she’s busy re-recording her songs’ masters after her catalog was sold.

Taylor Swift is canceling all of her performances and appearances for the rest of the year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift is helping out a Nashville record store closed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taylor Swift's father recently fought a burglar who broke into his $4 million Florida penthouse, a newspaper is reporting.

Taylor Swift said Thursday that she may not perform at the American Music Awards and may have to put other projects including a forthcoming Netflix documentary on hold because the men who own her old recordings won’t allow her to play her songs.

Bedminster, Sep 11(AP/UNB) — The man charged with breaking into singer Taylor Swift's Rhode Island mansion is accused of causing more than $20,000 damage to President Donald Trump's New Jersey golf course.