Before we get to the best of TODAY Pop Culture in 2024, the nation is mourning the loss of former President Jimmy Carter, who died at 100 yesterday at his home in Georgia. The 39th president, who dedicated his post-presidential life to brokering international peace and leading humanitarian efforts, was the first former president to live to 100. Read more about his life here.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
We had a Taylor and Travis Super Bowl celebration, a "brat" summer and a "Baby Reindeer" obsession. It was another packed year for TODAY Pop Culture, and these were some of the biggest moments.
Taylor Swift is used to singing about fairy tales, but she lived one in February when boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs won an overtime thriller against the San Francisco 49ers to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles. The world's most famous power couple shared a celebratory kiss on the field to promptly melt the internet. Swift then had a Super Bowl moment of her own with the release of her No. 1 album "The Tortured Poets Department" in April in the midst of her blockbuster "Eras Tour."
Netflix's "Baby Reindeer" was fuel for everyone's group chats in April with the tale of a struggling comic and his stalker. The intense thriller based on the life of star Richard Gadd led to multiple Emmys, a lawsuit by the woman who allegedly inspired the stalker character and countless memes.
The dark side of childhood stardom came to the forefront in March with the release of Investigation Discovery's "Quiet on Set." The docuseries detailed allegations of toxic environments on the sets of Nickelodeon shows in the 1990s and early 2000s. Former "Drake & Josh" star Drake Bell shared that he was sexually abused by a Nickelodeon acting and dialogue coach during that time, which was the subject of a 2003 court case. Bell, 38, spoke to NBC News' Kate Snow in a TODAY exclusive about deciding to share his story, his own legal troubles and his 2023 trip to rehab.
From social media influencers to awkward broadcasters, Charli XCX had everyone trying to explain what "brat" meant this summer. Her album cover for "Brat" made lime green the unofficial color of the summer and had everyone living like "that girl who is a little messy and likes to party," as the singer herself put it. It even became part of Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. If you need an explanation of all of it, we have you covered.
Say it ain't so, J. Lo! Bennifer 2.0 was rendered obsolete after Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck in August. The couple was married for two years after reconnecting in 2021, nearly 20 years after their first breakup in 2004. We'll always have "This Is Me... Now: A Love Story."
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