When you have to narrow down celebrities to a list for the year – you wonder – what are you narrowing them down for? The best? The worst? Well, whether it be good or bad – here’s 15 that kept us talking this year (and yes, we get if you break the groups out, it’s more than that).
Taylor Swift
We don’t know a year that hasn’t had Taylor Swift as one of our top celebrities. And why? Not cause she’s writing songs about people – but because she’s living life her way. She’s one of the most known women in the world and it doesn’t stop her from being real. She doesn’t want to just hoard onto fame – she wants to do good with it. We can’t hate on that at all. But why is she coming in on the list this year? Well, that’s because as we thought that this year that music would pass without new music from her – she shocked the shit out of us with her collaboration with Zayn Malik for the Fifty Shades of Grey Soundtrack. We like a Taylor that keeps us on our toes.
One Direction
They may be on a break and that’s fine – but the boys that are One Direction have been keeping up on our toes. We’re following their every move and loving it. As each one starts their individual careers – Liam, Harry, Niall, and Louis have us sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what they will be up to next. Will Liam be a Daddy in 2017 (all signs point to yes)? Harry’s role in the upcoming Dunkirk has us waiting to see that film. Niall’s new song has us drooling over his amazingness. Louis has invested all his time in being a Daddy and we can’t respect that enough. We’re anxious to see what these boys are up to in 2017. And you know – the possibility of them reuniting… we’re counting down the days.
Camila Cabello and Fifth Harmony
Talk about some last minute drama. As we were all crawling into bed the other night, Fifth Harmony posts about Camila Cabello leaving the band and that they found out from her reps. Then Camila says that isn’t the way that it happened. Then Fifth Harmony corrects themselves.
Let’s be honest here – whatever the true story is – we will never know. Why? Because we aren’t a part of it. But we can be supportive and wish people well, because after all they deserve that.
And if they aren’t successful? Well that’s their lesson to learn, right?
Kim Kardashian
Talk about going from being one of the most over exposed celebrities in the world to not one. That would be Kim Kardashian. But we get why. After being robbed at gunpoint, we can understand why she wants to take a less public approach to life.
Regardless of what you think about the Kardashians – those women work hard. These women make sure that they always put their best foot forward. They undergo an immense amount of scrutiny. Kim Kardashian has always taken it with stride.
But for her strength, courage and perseverance – she’s near the top of our list for inspiring this year.
Sophia Bush
We’ve had a thing for Sophia Bush since One Tree Hill. We’d follow her anywhere. And we have – but her acting chops aren’t why she’s making our celebrity list. It’s the fact that the woman doesn’t have to use her platform for good, but she does. She uses her social media to spread words on you can help others around you.
We love that Sophia has never deterred from being a celebrity that does good.
Anna Todd
A lot of times in the world – you meet celebrities that know that they are celebrities. But when it comes to author Anna Todd, she doesn’t even think that she’s a celebrity. She has never forgotten or neglected her readers.
As a matter of fact she’s friends with most of them.
But the reason that she makes our list is because she uses her platform to build other people up. She wants her readers to feel empowered, that they can accomplish anything that they need to do. An author who could distance herself doesn’t. She wants to be there for her readers.
And that’s amazing.
The Cast of Pretty Little Liars
Pretty Little Liars has ended and we’re pretty sure that we’re not okay with that. We’ve been along this ride and we’ve not been able to solve the clues that lead us to A. However, that hasn’t stopped us from watching every episode and looking forward to every additional one.
What has made us love this cast is the way that they ended things. This cast exhibited a love for each other and continues to be there for each other.
And we appreciate in this pretty crappy year, the liars can show us just what friendships are all about.
Carina McKenzie
Carina is a writer on The Originals. This writer shows us that we can do anything, be anything, and say anything. Why is she on the list? Because she has taught us all about being strong,
She doesn’t shy away from words.
What got us about her this year – she interacts with fans, but she doesn’t back down from life. Instead she approaches it with a balls to the wall kind of attitude, giving girls everywhere a strong woman to look up to.
Selena Gomez
If there is one person that should be celebrated this year, it’s Selena Gomez. Having the courage to take herself out of the spotlight when she knew that she needed to get herself help was one thing that you don’t see many celebrities do. We respect it more than you know.
But what got us was that she gave others the courage to do the same thing, “And I have to say thank you so much to my fans because you guys are so damn loyal and I don’t know what I did to deserve you. If you are broken, you do not have to stay broken.”
We won’t Selena.
Stephen Amell
Even though we’ve had a distaste for the storylines on Arrow this season, that doesn’t mean we haven’t had a love for the actors. That’s what people tend to overlook, just because you speak out against a story, doesn’t mean that you speak out against the actors that portray that story.
So, why is Stephen on this list? Well that’s because Stephen – like Sophia Bush – always wants to do better and use his celebrity for better We can’t hate on that at all. The actor is always speaking up and keeping a relationship with his fans.
And we love him for never forgetting that.
Leslie Jones
The world online is a scary fucking place. Like it really is terrifying. There are a lot of times where you just take whatever is said to you and there are times where you realize you need to stand up for yourself.
And no one stood up for themselves like Leslie Jones. She didn’t deserve the bullshit that she got on Twitter and we’re so thankful that she didn’t just let the harassment happen. She talked about it – she spoke out about it – and she opened a bigger conversation. And we can’t thank her enough.
Italia Ricci
When you hear the name Italia Ricci – you think of the girl from Chasing Life or Robbie Amell’s wife. Though both of those things come to mind when we think of her – what we think of more is her never ending fight to find a cure for cancer.
She may have played the role of cancer patient April Carver and yes, she could have left that role behind. But what she decided to do with it was continue to use her voice for good.
And for that – she’ll always be on the top of our list.
Alberto Rosende
Shadowhunters may sometimes be a pain in our ass and give us a headache – but one thing that is always good out of it – Alberto Rosende. He’s taken on the role of Simon with gusto and grace. And he’s been pretty damn amazing about it.
Alberto makes our list this year because we had the pleasure of seeing him in action at a signing with Cassie Clare. What we learned is that he hasn’t gotten a big head about anything. If anything he’s gotten more humble and wants to embrace the fans even more.
He always wants to be there for his fans. We appreciate that.
Dylan O’Brien
We’ve been worried about Dylan this year. After his accident filming the next movie in the Maze Runner saga, we thought that we would not see much of him. And we haven’t. But he makes our list this year, because O’Brien teaches us about never giving up, always making sure to put your best foot forward, and that there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish.
Meghan Markle
We admit – we knew who she was, but may have not put much thought into it. Until it was announced that she was dating Prince Harry.
Why does that matter to us? Because – every little girl dreams of being a Princess and Markle is like Duchess Kate. She reminds us that you don’t need to talk about things, brag about things, or be defined about what the world thinks about you.
She reminded us that we can be whomever we are and that’s going to be good enough for someone. One day, your Prince will come.
Who are the celebrities that you couldn’t stop talking about this year?