2023 saw some of the strangest news stories make headlines, which somehow were even more bizarre than 2022 - the year Elon Musk started giving blue ticks for free and Andrew Tate became a household name. 2023 saw the rise of celebrities, some of them (in)famous for allegedly having snake venom parties, others famous for, well, being a ‘liver’ and partying with the who’s who of Bollywood.
Also, remember the fun tool called ChatGPT from last year that everyone thought would take away their jobs? Yup. Its founder has had quite a year. Back home in India, a director known for his rage baiting films and questionable creative choices made a comeback and set the box office on fire, while another film inspired from Indian mythology left most perplexed. Besides this, a pop star saved the US economy.
A tech billionaire ruined a much-loved social media site known for its discourse. So another tech mogul built its alternative. Both challenged each other to a boxing match. In case your head is spinning already, let’s take a walk down memory lane and do a full recap 2023 of dramatic turns and shocking pop-culture moments.
1. OpenAI Drama: Kahaani Silicon Valley Ki
The rather confusing and frankly hilarious chain of events which led to the dismissal and reinstatement of OpenAI boss Sam Altman, all within a span of five days, is worthy of a Netflix docu-series or at the very least, an Ekta Kapoor serial.
The boardroom shake-up at OpenAI prompted Sam Altman’s exit, which led subsequently to a job offer by Google CEO Satya Nadella who went as far as posting a lengthy welcome note for Altman on X, which was only retracted soon after. Why, you ask? Because Altman, post reconciliation with the board, returned to OpenAI — a ghar wapsi of sorts, which led to meme fests, most mocking the frivolous nature of the workings at Silicon Valley board rooms.
2. Twitter gets X-ed!
Let’s give Elon Musk credit where it is due. The tech billionaire has never stopped being unhinged and has truly been off the rails since the day he took over Twitter in October 2022. The moment he walked into the company headquarters with a sink, we knew the man was up to something.
Not only did Elon indiscriminately terminate Twitter staff across countries and fire engineers, making the remaining workforce work 20 hours in the office, sleep at the workplace, sans food and toilet paper, he took blue ticks away from key figures, including government officials and celebrities like Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.
In April 2023, once the blue ticks were taken away by Musk, who was, as per popular public opinion, expecting celebs to pay for it, backtracked. Accounts impersonating celebrities increased in number. “Hey, this account could be Taylor Swift or some guy who paid $8, one cannot say for sure”, read a viral tweet.
Soon, Musk had to eat the humble pie and restore blue ticks of accounts with more than one million followers. That was until the tail end of July 2023 when Musk killed the bird officially — he rebranded Twitter as ‘X’, replacing the bird icon with a grim ‘X’, thus making all journalists including the one writing this clarify “formerly, X” each time they mentioned Twitter (thanks, Elon).
What’s worse? Every notification from Twitter looks like a pop-up one receives from an adult entertainment website. The fact that its name is ‘X’ doesn’t help the cause. Add to it Musk’s abrupt policy changes at X, and it makes us glad to say bye bye 2023.
3. Threads: Just Didn’t Work
Another flashback 2023: The occasion was right. Iron was hot. People were sick to their stomach with Musk’s ‘X’. Then just one night, Mark Zuckerberg dropped ‘Threads’, Meta’s alternative to Twitter, which had a similar interface that was easier on the eyes and was connected to Instagram. No surprise for guessing, celebrities — from Beyonce to Britney Spears and tech honchos started ‘threading’.
The app saw a record 100 million sign ups in 24 hours becoming the fastest growing app in history. As one would expect, Musk wasn’t happy about it. Musk threatened legal action against Zuckerberg for “stealing trade secrets from Twitter employees”.
The lawsuit didn’t happen. Neither did Threads take off the way one expected. The app, which was a hot favourite at one point in July, has lost eyeballs over time. Unfortunately for social media managers, they have one more app to post on. But thankfully, if Musk acts up, we can all threaten to leave X and go to Threads.
4. Musk vs Zuckerberg Boxing Match
Being the insecure man-child Elon Musk is, he challenged Mark Zuckerberg for a boxing match, the proceeds of which he would donate to the US Army veterans family. Surprisingly, Zuck responded to the tweet, typing “send me location”. In a truly bizarre pop-culture moment, the world was taken aback, as both Musk and Zuckerberg seemed hell-bent on the match, with Zuck even training with UFC champions.
That was when Musk proposed, what he called, “a literal dick measuring contest” against Zuckerberg. The latter waited for Musk’s response but eventually decided to not pay heed to his offer. “I think we can all agree Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on.” He included the hint of a taunt, “If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me.”
5. Elvish Yadav: Snakes and ‘Systums’
Controversial YouTuber, known for making misogynistic videos mocking women and the winner of reality show Bigg Boss OTT 2, Elvish Yadav was in the news this year for all the wrong reasons. His inappropriate behaviour with fellow female contestant Bebika Dhruve and catchphrase “Systum”, which he uses to refer to the political system of India, drew him flak online and from the host Salman Khan.
Yadav was embroiled in another controversy in March this year where he was accused of stealing flower pots set up for the G20 event in Gurugram. Yadav denied these allegations. Post his Bigg Boss win, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Maneka Gandhi demanded Yadav’s arrest over usage of snake venom at a rave party.
Five cobras, a red snake, a python and two other snakes were recovered from the party venue. UP police filed FIR under sections 9, 39,48A, 49, 50, 51 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and section 120-B of the IPC but Yadav was eventually let off.
Netizens were left scratching their heads wondering how snake venom can be used as a recreational drug. The neurotoxin nature of snake venom that causes analgesia, or the inability to feel pain. According to a study, forms of a neurotoxin found in cobra venom, particularly, bind on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) that are widely distributed in the human brain area and are involved in the euphoric or rewarding experience.
Now that’s a science lesson 2023 taught us — one we will never forget! Thanks, Elvish.
6. Orry: Narayan Murthy’s Worst Nightmare
“You go for a job, you are a jobber. You paint, you are a painter. I am living, I am a liver. Yeah, I am a liver.” In perhaps one of the most memorable quotes of 2023, Orhan Awatramani, also known as 'Orry', explains what he does for a living and reminds us how poor we are. In late 2023, Orry was often spotted partying and hanging out with Bollywood celebrities including Jahnavi Kapoor, Nysa Devgan and Sara Ali Khan.
The curiosity around Orry increased with each paparazzi video. “Who is he? What does he do?” were some of the most obvious questions. In a time when ‘eat the rich’ sentiment is at an all-time high and nepo babies pretend to be down-to-earth and have sob stories to share, Orry’s honesty was a breath of fresh air — he didn’t pretend to be a working class man. He owned the fact that he comes from generational wealth and didn’t try to sound smarter than he is.
Orry’s popularity also comes at a time when Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy wants the youth to work ‘70 hours each week’, with many wondering what the conversation between the two icons will be like. Perhaps, honest image projection as opposed to calculated PR is the way forward for Bollywood celebs. After all, it is Orry’s world and we are just living in it.
7. ‘Tay Tay’ Rescues The US Economy
Taylor Swift’s mega-successful Eras Tour not only raked in dollars for the already rich popstar and her team but also gave a much-needed boost to the US economy. According to a detailed report in The Washington Post, hotel analytics group STR calculated that Eras Tour produced a $208 million bump in hotel room revenue, over and above normal seasonal levels, thus giving a boost to America’s tourism industry.
The tour itself generated 3,300 jobs across the country which is equal to the total number of employees working in cafes and bookstores in Los Angeles. On realising that the theatres are closing down due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Taylor brought her Eras tour movie to theatres. In no time, AMC’s (American movie theatre chain) stock rose by 6 per cent, their website crashed — the 24 hour pre-sales of Swift’s shows surpassed those of Spiderman and Avengers.
Turns out, Tay Tay is just the superhero needed to revive the US economy.
8. Rage Baiting: ‘Animal’ Style!
Sandeep Reddy Vanga, known for Kabir Singh, dropped another film this year with yet another toxic, abusive protagonist who violates women and has problematic ideas of masculinity. The film received polarising reactions, with most slamming it for the mindless violence and misogynistic themes even though Animal did break several box office records.
In the aftermath of the film’s release, film critics were attacked, which in all honesty happened during Kabir Singh, too. But this time, vicious troll armies, emboldened with massive followers and PR machinery, abused anyone who disagreed with or disliked the film on meritorious grounds.
One would expect history to not repeat itself and for a filmmaker to not be hung up on his last creative endeavour but sadly, it is Vanga’s world where critics (and good cinema) always lose.
9. ‘Adipurush’: In Search of Better VFX
A box office debacle like Adipurush comes once in a lifetime. The trailer of Om Raut-directorial had choppy VFX and questionable acting. Social media reactions and trolling led to its release date getting pushed. The film was also unceremoniously dropped from Tribeca film festival’s line-up at the last-minute.
However, when the film premiered at the Indian box office, the right-wing, who the film was pandering to, was offended by the juvenile dialogues, so much so that many Prabhas fans in the South burned theaters and dialogue-writer Manoj Muntashir was given security cover by the Mumbai police. From Laxman sporting a buzzcut to Raavan sporting a 5x2 configuration of his 10 heads, and Lanka looking like Hogwarts — the film led to scores of memes and social media meltdowns.
10. A Genocide Happened, We Couldn’t Do Anything
This one is particularly shocking, it feels surreal, almost unreal. Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Israel has continued bombing hospitals in Gaza, killing scores of innocent civilians, wiping off the entire strip and practically flattening it. With instances of bombing in parts of Syria and Lebanon, too, Israel continues its attack on the Gaza strip.
While 2023 is truly the year of bizarre, one can hope 2024 brings peace, prosperity and kindness.
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