Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and other celebs who became Trending Newsmakers of the Year

After the pandemic put a dampener on everything fun in 2020, the year after came with a bit of respite as things slowly recovered back to normalcy. For those of us celeb-obsessed souls though, it was an even bigger win to see movie premieres and other events making a comeback as in-person events. Amid the new normalcy though, celebrities still made headlines for everything from some major 'aww' moments to some saddening ones. 

As 2021 comes to close, we take a step back to acknowledge all the major happenings of Hollywood. From celebrity breakups to link-ups, milestone moments, tragic deaths and everything in between that made the headlines this year and got the social media platforms buzzing makes its way to this enormous list. Be it Bennifer's rekindled romance or Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid's shocking split, here's a look at the Hollywood stars who were the newsmakers this year. 

Ben Affleck and Jennfier Lopez

If 2021 became a year that people began to believe in true love again, it's thanks to this couple. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez left hearts fluttering after they made their rumoured rekindled romance official not only on social media platforms but also on the red carpet. The couple gave us some of the steamiest romantic moments of the year and took us straight back to the early 2000s when they were first an official couple before splitting in 2004. 

Britney Spears 

It was an iconic year for Britney Spears who finally got her freedom as the singer's 13-year conservatorship was terminated by an LA court on November 12. Although prior to that, the singer enjoyed other small wins like her father, Jamie Spears being suspended as her conservator and the chance to deliver her first-ever testimony in the case where she opened up about the abusive and controlling setup she was in. In other good news, the singer also got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari. 

Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid 

After becoming parents to baby Khai in September last year, it seemed like Zayn and Gigi were acing it as a family and who can forget their viral photos as they headed to New York with their little one in the stroller. Although in a shocking twist of fate, Zayn and Gigi ended up parting ways this year after the model's mom, Yolanda Hadid accused Malik of assault. Zayn pleaded no contest to four counts of harassment in relation to a September dispute between him and Yolanda and was sentenced to 90 days of probation on each count. The ZiGi split became one of the saddest moments of 2021. 

Alec Baldwin 

Alec Baldwin found himself in a rather tragic situation after a shocking incident on the set of his upcoming film, Rust resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. It was reported that Hutchins died after a prop gun was accidentally discharged by Baldwin on the sets of the film in New Mexico. The Rust shooting opened up a dialogue in Hollywood relating to safety measures taken on set during the use of prop guns and other weapons. 

Bill & Melinda Gates 

Among one of the year's major splits was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife of 27 years, Melinda Gates filing for divorce. The couple announced their split with a joint statement that said, "We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives." 

Daniel Craig 

After several delays due to the pandemic, Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond, No Time To Die finally released in 2021. Ahead of the film's release, Daniel shared several anecdotes from his amazing journey as the 007 agent for the past 15 years through five films. The actor also revealed that according to him The Quantum of Solace was his worst Bond film. 

BTS 

In the music industry, if there's one group who managed to have a smashing year, it's definitely the K-Pop band BTS who delivered some major hits and also collaborated with artists such as Megan Thee Stallion and Coldplay. Among their several other achievements of the year, also include their performance on Permission to Dance at the UN General Assembly hall. Not only that, the K-Pop group got back on the stage after almost two years with packed shows in Los Angeles. BTS also received their second Grammy nomination this year as they competed in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category at the 2021 ceremony. To top it all though, the band gave ARMY one of the best holiday season gifts as the septet debuted their solo Instagram accounts. 

The Royal Family 

Several members of the Royal Family stayed in the limelight this year but unfortunately it was also a sad year for the family as Prince Philip passed away aged 99 in April 2021. The year also saw Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appearing for an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey where they opened up the challenges they faced as former senior members of the royal family. The Duchess of Sussex opened up about her mental health struggle and also made a startling revelation about a member of the family making racist remarks about Archie's skin colour. In terms of good news, Markle and Prince Harry welcomed their second child, daughter Lilibet Diana in June 2021. 

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie made two significant debuts this year, one was as a Marvel superhero in Eternals and the other was on the social media platform, Instagram. Jolie also hit the headlines for sparking romance rumours with The Weeknd after she was spotted grabbing dinner with the singer on multiple occasions. As for her continuing divorce battle with ex-husband Brad Pitt, Jolie managed to make small wins with the removal of Judge Ouderkirk from their case. 

Friends Cast 

Friends' lead stars including Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow got together again at the Warner Bros set of their famed sitcom this year. It was an emotional moment not only for fans but also for the cast who reminisced fun stories from filming. One of the biggest revelations on the reunion special remained Jennifer and David's confession about having a crush on each other during the early seasons of the show. 

The Kardashian-Jenners 

Is it even possible to have a list of newsmakers without the Kardashian-Jenners in it? From Kourtney Kardashian getting engaged to Travis Barker to Kylie Jenner's second pregnancy with Travis Scott, the family had some major milestones this year. The Kardashian-Jenner family also wrapped up their final season for Keeping Up With the Kardashians this year. Also, Kim Kardashian left everyone shocked after she filed for divorce with Kanye West in February this year. Khloe Kardashian also hit the news multiple times this year for her on-again-off-again relationship with Tristan Thompson who got involved in a cheating scandal and later in a paternity lawsuit in 2021. Kylie and Travis also took a social media break following the tragic incident that happened at Scott's Astroworld performance resulting in the death of 10 attendees due to crowd surge. 

Special Mentions

While these celebrities kept us busy catching up with their major moments in the year, there are also a few special mentions we would like to add which include the comeback of Adele as she released her new album 30 after six years. Also, another artist who got netizens talking was Taylor Swift after she re-released her album, Red (Taylor's Version) and got her ex Jake Gyllenhaal trending following the release of her ten minute song about him. Also, Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson came into the limelight for personal and professional reasons. The actress welcomed her first baby with husband Colin Jost, son Cosmo this year. On the professional front, she sued Disney over Black Widow's streaming release. Another Marvel star who went viral this year was Spider-Man: No Way Home's Tom Holland for confirming his romance with co-star Zendaya. 

Rihanna also hit the headlines for becoming a billionaire and becoming the wealthiest female musician in the world. She also found herself surrounded by pregnancy rumours and soon shut them down like a total boss. Rihanna's close pal Nicki Minaj became a trending topic in 2021 although it was for her tweet that seemed to be perpetuating misinformation against vaccines. In the special mentions, we also include Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas who continued to give couple goals to us as they did several special things this year from adopting pets to throwing a star-studded Diwali bash at their LA home. The duo also participated in Netflix's first-ever family roast where Chopra didn't mince her words while trolling her husband. Priyanka also opened up her Indian fusion food restaurant, Sona in New York. She also released her memoir, Unfinished this year whereas Nick went on the Remember This tour with Jonas Brothers this year. 

ALSO READ: From House of Gucci to Shang Chi & Free Guy; THESE are the Best Hollywood Movies of the Year