Culture is ever changing and can come in many forms from movies to celebrity antics to even internet memes. More recently, it seems each year gets crazier and crazier. Now that 2025 is coming to a close, it’s time to recount all the biggest pop culture moments of the year.
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a long awaited end to a beloved franchise.
With the original movie releasing in 1996, it’s safe to say Mission: Impossible is the spy movie. Inspiring countless parodies and references, audiences were following the thrilling exploits of Ethan Hunt and his crew for decades. Released as the second part to the two-part finale, Mission: Impossible the Final Reckoning had the highest opening weekend of the entire franchise. A fitting crowd for the end of such a beloved series.
- Lilo & Stitch & Remake
For the past decade or so Disney has been obsessed with making live action films from cartoon classics, from Cinderella to The Lion King. Lilo & Stitch is yet another beloved animated film that saw the live-action treatment. The titular character Lilo is brought to life by Maia Kealoha with the incredible role being her film debut. Chris Sanders voices the blue intergalactic outlaw and Lilo’s trusty “‘dog.”’ A sequel film is already in development.
- A Katy Perry in Space
Turns out one can make it into space without the traditional path of becoming an astronaut. On April 14th, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin sent an all-woman team of six with Katy Perry bringing her pop star self all the way to space. The mission only lasted eleven minutes, which did draw a lot of opinions and criticism from the internet. Regardless of sides, it was clear Katy’s space mission was a ride many would love to experience.
- Taylor Swift getting engaged.
Starting when she was only 14 years old, Taylor Swift took the world by storm. For years people speculated who Taylor would end up with, to the point where the term “Gaylor” was introduced to describe a popular conspiracy theory that claims Taylor Swift is gay. On August 26th Taylor announced her engagement with professional football player Travis Kelce from the Kansas City Chiefs, putting to bed all of the theories about Taylor’s love life. The announcement sparked massive media coverage with fans eager to see the next chapter of Taylor’s life.
- Turn the TV “On…’” to the Halftime show.
The 59th Super Bowl Halftime show was led by none other than Kendrick Lamar himself. The rapper known for his Grammy award winning song “Not Like Us” among other massive hits had a stunning halftime show. There were lights, music, action — even Samuel L. Jackson made an appearance as Uncle Sam himself. The flashy show caused a big buzz online with Kendrick’s thought provoking creative mind and everlasting feud with Drake.
- Coldplay Concert leaves two attendants feeling the cold shoulder.
Many people would love to be on the giant projectors in shows and sports matches, cheering and laughing for as far as the eye can see. However that’s not quite what happened the concert night of July 16th when Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was caught red-handed in an affair with the company’s Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. The entire clip was an absolute disaster, even drawing comments from Coldplay’s lead singer to comment on the entire scene. The viral clip was discussed on the internet, in workplaces and even on the radio, making sure the “couple” couldn’t escape their fate. Byron ended up resigning, as did Cabot, leaving the affair pretty cold.
- Labubu takes over.
Despite originating back in 2015, Pop Mart’s blind box cutie ‘Labubu’ became a massive hit with celebrities all throughout America. Created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, Labubu was spotted on the bags of children and adults alike all over. Aside from being very cute little gremlins, the Labubu are also sought-after collectibles with an auction for a life-sized Labubu reaching $170,000! Lung is very delighted about the love for his mythology inspired designs, and he very well should be.
- It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a… chicken jockey?
Minecraft began as a humble little game created by a single person in the early 2010s. What was once an obscure building game became a massive hit for years to come, allowing builders all over the world to craft and explore their own worlds. The brand would go on to inspire web series, video games and now a movie starring Jack Black as the iconic Steve. One particular line where Jack Black awkwardly says, “Chicken Jockey” in response to seeing a zombie baby on a spider spawned a massive Internet meme, gathering millions upon millions of views to the point where movie theaters all throughout America literally had to put a ban on a joke activity where children would scream and throw popcorn whenever Steve said his iconic line. The movie even had a rerelease where children could scream to their hearts content.
- 6-7. That’s it. That’s the meme.
To this day no one understands this joke, and yet children all over would quote this random sequence of numbers. 6-7 originated in the song “Doot Doot” by Skrilla, which was released at the end of December 2024. Despite that, the lyric saw a huge resurgence in 2025, to the point where in October Dictionary.com made it the 2025 word of the year!
- K-Pop Demon Hunter’s “Golden” reaches platinum!
Move out of the way Elsa and Anna, it’s time for the Huntrix to take the stage. Netflix released their instant classic K-Pop Demon Hunters on June 20th and it soon became the most-watched original title in Netflix history. Viewers from all over fell in love with the lead singer Rumi and her two partners along with their antics of saving the world from demons through song. The film spawned an entire franchise, with Huntrix’s song “Golden” reaching Platinum by October, announced during a show with Jimmy Fallon himself. Huntrix became the number 1 Halloween costume according to Google and the franchise already has a short film and sequel on the way
So there you have my picks for the biggest pop culture occurrences of 2025. With the next year fast approaching, literally anything could end up becoming the next big hit of 2026.