Top 10 Celeb Moments That Broke The Internet

There have been many controversies in the beauty pageant world over the years, but we still cannot shake this one off our minds. After crowning Ariadna Gutiérrez of Columbia as the winner of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, host Steve Harvey realized he had made a terrible mistake. The actual winner was, in fact, Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines. In a painfully embarrassing moment, the crown was then lifted from Gutiérrez’s head and given to Wurtzbach. The incident lit a firestorm on Twitter, with many making jokes targeted at Harvey, and some others coming to his defense. He later apologized to Gutiérrez and the two patched things up, with the model appearing as a guest on his show in 2018.

Before they became everyone’s favorite Hollywood couple, Tom Holland and Zendaya went on the “Lip Sync Battle” show to promote their then-upcoming movie “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” While Zendaya was already pretty popular in America, this was, for many people, their first glimpse of Holland’s playful side, and it couldn’t have been more spectacular. In his now iconic lip sync to “Umbrella,” Holland came out clad in a pleather leotard and wig, and pulled off an incredibly choreographed number that honestly gave Rihanna a run for her money. Even before the performance was over, Zendaya had already accepted defeat and the world was more infatuated than ever with the new teenage superhero.

Miley Cyrus’ timeline in the public eye can easily be broken down into two parts: pre and post-2013. Cyrus, who had broken out as the titular character on the Disney series “Hannah Montana,” underwent a stunning transformation after the show ended in 2011. While she had attempted to break free from her teen idol image as early as 2010, it wasn’t until the release of her “We Can’t Stop” music video that the change became apparent. Cyrus followed up the “Bangerz” single with a highly controversial performance at the 2013 VMAs. It became the most tweeted-about performance that night, and set the stage for her “Wrecking Ball” music video, which broke viewing records when it premiered just two weeks later.

On a list of most viral moments to ever occur at the MTV Video Music Awards, this one would definitely rank close to the top. When Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video at the 2009 VMAs, Kanye West stormed the stage and grabbed the mic from Swift to announce that Beyoncé deserved the award instead. West was booed off and kicked out of the show, but the damage was already done. The internet exploded with an avalanche of memes featuring West interrupting other events with his “I’mma let you finish” bit. The incident marked the beginning of a heavily publicized dispute between the two artists, which was alluded to in Swift’s 2018 song “Look What You Made Me Do”.

When the engagement of Prince Harry and Hollywood actress Meghan Markle was announced in November 2017, it quickly made headlines around the world. It was the first time since 1937 that a close successor to the British throne found a partner across the pond, and pairing sparked heavy online discussion. On the one hand, there were a lot of internet trolls and negative tabloids, but these were also matched with an outpouring of love and celebratory messages towards the couple. After choosing to step away from the royal family in 2020, the two sat down for an interview with Oprah, where they dropped several bombshells about the British monarchy that garnered extensive media attention.

The 86th Academy Awards were hosted by Ellen DeGeneres who, at some point in the ceremony, set the record for the most retweeted picture ever. Taking a selfie with more than ten people at once can be pretty difficult, but with the help of Bradley Cooper, DeGeneres managed to pull off a photo with some of the biggest stars in the room! Not only did it break the record for the most retweeted picture in the same night, it also caused the social media site to crash! The Oscars would, of course, make the internet go wild again just three years later, when the trophy for Best Picture was mistakenly given to “La La Land” instead of “Moonlight."

The defamation trial between Hollywood actors and former partners Johnny Depp and Amber Heard will go down in history as one of the defining internet moments of the 2020s. The case, which has been referred to as the “trial by TikTok” has generated billions of impressions on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram since the very beginning. As it is a heavily publicized case, it has drawn a lot of mockery from the general public and was even parodied on “Saturday Night Live.” If one thing’s for sure, jury duty had never before been so highly sought after.

There is no shortage of viral moments from the Kardashian family, but Kim’s appearance on the cover of Paper Magazine in 2014 probably takes the cake–no, that was not an intentional pun. The cover image, which was photographed by Jean-Paul Goude, featured an oiled-up Kim holding a black evening gown just below her exposed derriere. The magazine issue popularized the phrase “break the internet,” which was boldly written across the cover page. And break the internet, she did. The image spread like wildfire, attracting a whopping 34 million views on the magazine’s website in just a month.

For someone who lives a largely private life, Beyoncé has surely proven to be a master at sending the online world into a frenzy. Who could forget when her visual album “Lemonade” topped the list of trending topics after it dropped in April 2016? The award-winning singer and performer, who’s never been one for a lowkey announcement, revealed her pregnancy with twins throgh an Instagram post in February of 2017. The announcement shattered the world record, becoming the most-liked picture at the time, in just a matter of hours. She would break the internet, yet again, in July when her post introducing the one-month-old twins to the world got about 700,000 likes in only half an hour.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

BTS Releases “Dynamite”
The Band’s First Song Recorded Fully in English “Exploded” the Internet

Solange & Jay-Z in the Elevator
The TMZ-Leaked Surveillance Footage Had Everyone Talking

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Affair
In 2011, the Actor Publicly Admitted to Fathering a Child with His Housekeeper

Charlie Sheen’s Interview with Andrea Canning
After Exiting ”Two and a Half Men,” the Actor Granted an Erratic Interview That Went Viral

Bernie Sanders’ Inauguration Photo
The Senator’s Cross-Legged Picture Sparked Thousands of Photoshopped Memes Online

Ah, the Academy Awards - a night of glitz, glamor and, in the case of the 2022 edition, a shocking physical altercation between two of Hollywood’s biggest stars. The ceremony, which started out in typical fashion, took a wild turn when Will Smith struck Chris Rock in the face for poking fun at his wife, Jada. Social media erupted immediately following the incident, with some in support of Smith’s actions and others chastising him for ruining the night. Smith later won the Oscar for Best Actor and gave a teary acceptance speech, in which he apologized to the Academy, but not to Rock. That seemed to add fuel to the online firestorm, which remained lit for weeks, but still left people rather divided.