Though we’re only halfway through 2025, there have already been countless happenings in Hollywood and Black pop culture in general that we just didn’t see coming.
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Whether it happened at the box office (looking at you, “Sinners”) or in a court room (looking at you, Diddy), so much has transpired to where we’re all looking at our 2025 BINGO card in shock and surprise. Just think about it, some of these headlines, celeb relationships, breakups, lawsuits and more are things we’ve truly never seen before. And it’s for that exact reason that we thought we’d look back at more than a handful of eyebrow-raising events that have already taken place this year.
From the good to the bad to the ugly to the “WTF’s,” keep reading to see which moments truly made us look twice at our 2025 BINGO cards.
“Sinners” Taking Over the Box Office
Now sure, you could make the assumption that a Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan production is always guaranteed to hit big. But the way that “Sinners” hit theaters and completely took over the box office and pop culture conversation for the first half of the year was truly insane and unexpected…in the best way.
Beyonce’s Country Album Finally Winning Her Album of the Year at the Grammys
Who would’ve thought that Beyonce would finally take home the Grammy for Album of the Year for a COUNTRY ALBUM? A (masterfully done) body of work that’s completely outside her usual genre. But as we all learned on our listen to “Cowboy Carter,” genres are a “funny little thing, aren’t they?”
Kendrick Lamar Taking Drake Beef to Next Level at the Super Bowl
Just when it seemed like the beef between Kendrick and Drake was over after the former dropped “GNX” near the end of 2024, things were taken to the ultimate next level when he popped out at the Super Bowl. While we expected him to put on a show, what we didn’t expect was for him to call Drake out explicitly during his performance of “Not Like Us” with such a diabolical smile.
Shannon Sharpe’s OnlyFans Scandal
Shannon Sharpe is many things: a NFL legend, a popular podcast host and a sports pundit. But what we never thought he’d be was the person responsible for making a white OnlyFans model rich after settling a bombshell sexual assault lawsuit. While they settled for an undisclosed amount, it was enough for the model to retire. So much for creating generational wealth in the Black community.
A White CEO Getting Blasted for Allegedly Cheating
Now we normally stay out of white people’s business around this part of the internet, but this allegedly cheating CEO who got caught out in the streets with his alleged mistress and called out at a Coldplay concert was something that completely came out of left field. And you know we couldn’t help but find the jokes in all of this.
Aaron Pierre & Teyana Taylor Becoming an Item
Even though they teased that there may have been something brewing between them under the surface when those Oscars pics hit the internet months ago, the hard launch of Teyana Taylor and Aaron Pierre’s (that’s Mufasa) relationship was definitely something we didn’t have on our 2025 BINGO card.
Megan Thee Stallion & Klay Thompson Going Instagram Official
We really don’t know which couple was more unexpected: Teyana and Aaron or Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson? The latter two just seem like complete personality opposites that don’t quite make sense, although they look adorable together. Yet and still aesthetics aside, we’d be lying if we said this initial relationship discovery didn’t make us scratch our heads for a bit.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Shocking Death
Man, the news of Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s passing is still so fresh and so incredulous. Never in a million years did we thing our beloved fictional big brother “Theo” would say goodbye to us at such a young age. This is one blow that the culture was just completely blindsided by and we’re still sending prayers up for him and his loved ones.
Diddy “Beating” The Feds in Sex Trafficking Trial
To be clear, Sean “Diddy” Combs is still behind bars and his official sentencing has yet to be decided. But for a man who was once facing hella serious federal racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges and to be eventually found not guilty on either one of them — that’s a plot twist a whole lot of us just didn’t see coming.
Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good Quietly Tying the Knot
Though Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors revealed their engagement in November 2024 at an awards ceremony, they decided to go ahead and seal the deal and get married in a quiet backyard ceremony in March 2025. Only four months later? That was the quickest walk down the aisle we’ve seen, which is only suspicious given the fact that they were so public with their love beforehand. Why not have all the usual wedding fanfare? Either way, we didn’t see this fast of wedding happening.
Halle Bailey Alleging Domestic Violence at the Hands of DDG
We already had inklings that things weren’t exactly the best when it came to the relationship between Halle Bailey and DDG. But nothing prepared us for Bailey’s allegations that she’d suffered from physical and verbal abuse at the hands of the popular streamer. We also weren’t prepared for him to lob his own accusations against Bailey by calling her mental state into question and insinuating that their toddler son wasn’t safe with her.
Tyler Perry’s Shocking Sexual Assault Lawsuit
We’re used to Tyler Perry being in the news for his many films and TV shows, but 2025 threw us for an entire loop when the news broke that he was being sued for sexual assault and harassment by an actor on one of his popular BET shows. This headline and the details that came behind had us all screaming “hellur” in the worst way.
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