Hollywood and Washington may be separated by thousands of miles, yet they intersect enough to warrant a year-end top 10 list. Celebrities interacted with politicians a lot in 2015, whether they were clashing over ideals, offering their opinions on the presidential election or declaring their own political aspirations. Here are my favorite pop politics moments of 2015:
1) Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump revived their feud
The rise of Trump the presidential candidate reignited the dormant feud between the billionaire mogul and O’Donnell, which dates back to 2006. When asked about his history of sexist comments at the first Republican presidential debate in August, Trump deflected by clarifying that “only Rosie O’Donnell” deserved such disdain.
In November, O’Donnell expressed her dismay at Trump’s success by plainly stating, “It’s a nightmare.” Of course, she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to bash Trump. She tweeted at me to clarify whether Trump actually followed through with a decade-old threat to sue her, and she took a not-so-subtle jab at his highly publicized bankruptcies:
@jaxel222 – no he never sued me – as i told the truth – he couldn’t – bankrupt is a word he doesn’t like – but a business plan he uses a lot
— ROSIE (@Rosie) November 25, 2015
2) Jeb Bush said ‘Supergirl’ actress ‘looked pretty hot’
It was the softest of the softball questions. At a Libre Institute panel in October, an audience member asked Bush who his favorite superhero was. He proceeded to mix up D.C. and Marvel and make things awkward by revealing his attraction to Melissa Benoist, star of CBS’ “SuperGirl.”
“I saw that ‘Supergirl’ is on TV,” Bush said. “I saw it when I was working out this morning. There’s an ad promoting ‘Supergirl.’ She looked kind of — she looked pretty hot.” The Internet collectively cringed.
3) Kanye West revealed his presidential ambitions
“No one man should have all this power,” Kanye West declared in his 2010 song “Power.” It seems that his thirst for power has only grown since that song’s release, as evidenced in August when he said at the MTV Video Music Awards that he plans to run for president in 2020.
The furor over whether West was serious about running or not was only outdone by a selfie posted earlier that month by his wife, Kim Kardashian, with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. West had to photobomb in order to be in that particular photo. Talk about 808s and heartbreak.
4) Politicians did everything in their power to ruin ‘Star Wars’
Marco Rubio mixed up “The Empire Strikes Back” and “A New Hope.” Ted Cruz butchered both a Yoda quote and an impression of the diminutive Jedi master. Hillary Clinton appropriated the classic “Star Wars” opening credits scroll for the dark side.
Luckily for “The Force Awakens,” not even corny jokes and references from well-meaning politicians could stop it from breaking box office records and becoming the cultural phenomenon it was destined to be.
5) Gary Busey endorsed Donald Trump for president
Trump has received endorsements from celebrities ranging from Dennis Rodman to Ted Nugent, but none were as memorable as Busey’s September announcement.
After talking Trump up, he mentioned a Jimmy Fallon sketch where Trump joked that Busey would make a great Supreme Court candidate. When asked if he thought he’d make a good justice, Busey responded: “Hey, man, I think everything’s happening.” Linguists will dissect the meaning of that quote for decades.
6) ‘South Park’ created a Canadian Trump
Trey Parker and Matt Stone really went all out to parody Trump’s infamous immigration comments by crafting an elaborate allegory involving Mr. Garrison running for president, a wall on the Canadian-American border and — the piece de resistance — a Canadian Trump.
7) Ellen Page clashed with Ted Cruz over gay rights
While Cruz was flipping pork chops at an August barbecue in Iowa, outspoken gay actress Page grilled him on LGBT issues. It was a heated conversation and no one’s deeply held beliefs were swayed. The best part: Cruz had no idea he was talking to Juno.
8) Seth Rogen went off against Ben Carson
In early October, after a string of bizarre comments — including implying that access to guns might have saved the lives of Jews in World War II — Rogen felt the need to tell Twitter exactly what he thought of Carson.
And for good measure, he took a shot at Trump too.
9) A startling number of people want to bomb Aladdin’s home
Poor Agrabah. According to a Public Policy Polling survey from mid-December, a sizable number of both Republicans and Democrats favor bombing the fictional city featured in Disney’s “Aladdin.” Instead of exploring a whole new world, these folks want to bomb it into oblivion.
10) Emily Blunt took heat for comments about GOP debate
The “Sicario” star tried her hand at some off-color political comedy in September: “I became an American citizen recently. And that night, we watched the Republican debate. And I thought, ‘This was a terrible mistake. What have I done?'”
She took so much flack for her comments that she felt the need to apologize a few days later. That’s what happens when you’re naturally blunt.
