79 Fun Facts About 2022 Pop Culture

At the 2022 Academy Awards, Will Smith walked on stage and slapped which comedian?

Chris Rock was slapped after a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head; minutes later Smith won Best Actor for King Richard.

For how long did the Academy ban Will Smith from its events after the slap?

The Academy barred Smith from its events, including the Oscars, for 10 years, announced on April 8, 2022, a week after he had resigned his membership.

Which film won Best Picture at the 2022 Oscars, the first winner distributed by a streaming platform?

CODA, released by Apple TV+, won Best Picture; it also earned Troy Kotsur the Supporting Actor award, making him the first deaf man to win an acting Oscar.

Which film took home the most awards (six) at the 2022 Oscars?

Dune won six Oscars, all in craft categories: score, sound, editing, cinematography, production design and visual effects.

Regina Hall and Amy Schumer co-hosted the 2022 Oscars with which other comedian?

Wanda Sykes completed the trio with Regina Hall and Amy Schumer, the first hosts the Oscars had used since Jimmy Kimmel in 2018.

Which show won Outstanding Drama Series at the 2022 Emmys?

Succession won Outstanding Drama Series for its third season at the September 2022 ceremony, hosted by Kenan Thompson; creator Jesse Armstrong also won for writing.

At 26, Zendaya became the youngest two-time acting Emmy winner in 2022 for her role in which series?

Zendaya won her second Lead Actress in a Drama Emmy for Euphoria's second season, becoming the first Black woman to win the category twice.

Which program led all shows with 10 Emmy wins in 2022, including Creative Arts awards?

The White Lotus took 10 Emmys for its Hawaii-set first season, including Limited Series and Jennifer Coolidge's first Emmy for playing Tanya.

At the 2022 Emmys, Lee Jung-jae became the first Asian to win Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for which Korean show?

Squid Game's creator Hwang Dong-hyuk also won for directing, another first for an Asian nominee.

After an Omicron postponement, the 2022 Grammy Awards were held in which city?

It was the first Grammys ceremony ever held in Las Vegas, with Trevor Noah returning as host.

Who won Album of the Year at the 2022 Grammys for We Are?

Jon Batiste, then bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, won for We Are after entering with eleven nominations, the most of any artist that year.

Who recorded 'Leave the Door Open', the 2022 Grammy Record and Song of the Year?

Silk Sonic, the retro-soul duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, won Record and Song of the Year for 'Leave the Door Open' from An Evening with Silk Sonic.

Who won Best New Artist at the 2022 Grammys?

Olivia Rodrigo won Best New Artist after her debut album Sour and its single 'Drivers License' dominated 2021; she also won Best Pop Vocal Album that night.

Which team won Super Bowl LVI in February 2022?

The Los Angeles Rams beat the Bengals 23-20 at their own SoFi Stadium, the second straight year a team won at home, with Cooper Kupp named MVP.

Who joined Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Mary J. Blige headlining the Super Bowl LVI halftime show?

Kendrick Lamar rounded out the hip-hop lineup, performing 'm.A.A.d city' and 'Alright'; 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak made surprise appearances.

How much did Elon Musk pay to buy Twitter, a deal that closed in October 2022?

Musk paid about $44 billion, or $54.20 a share; after trying to back out in July he closed on October 27, tweeting 'the bird is freed' and firing the top executives.

What did Elon Musk carry into Twitter's headquarters the day before the takeover closed?

Musk walked in carrying a kitchen sink on October 26, 2022, captioning the video 'Entering Twitter HQ - let that sink in!' and changing his bio to 'Chief Twit'.

Which engineer built Wordle for his partner and sold it to the New York Times in 2022?

Josh Wardle, a Brooklyn-based software engineer, built it for his partner Palak Shah, who trimmed the word list to about 2,300 words; the Times paid a 'low seven figures' price in January 2022.

How many guesses does a player get in Wordle?

Everyone gets the same word each day, which is why the emoji-grid results took over social media.

The televised Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard defamation trial took place in which US state?

The judge allowed cameras in the courtroom over Heard's objections, and the livestream became a global obsession.

How much in compensatory damages was Johnny Depp awarded in his 2022 case against Amber Heard?

The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages plus $5 million punitive, cut to Virginia's $350,000 cap; Heard won $2 million on her counterclaim and settled for $1 million in December.

Which 1985 Kate Bush song went to number one in the UK after featuring in Stranger Things season 4?

'Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)' topped the UK chart in June 2022 and reached number three on the US Hot 100, beating its original 1985 US peak of 30.

Kate Bush's revived 2022 hit was the lead single from which 1985 album?

Hounds of Love, Kate Bush's fifth studio album, opened with 'Running Up That Hill', which had originally peaked at number three in the UK in 1985.

How old was Kate Bush when she became the oldest female artist to top the UK singles chart in 2022?

Born in July 1958, Kate Bush was 63 when the song hit number one in June 2022, beating Cher's record as the oldest woman to top the UK chart; the 44-year gap since 'Wuthering Heights' was also a record.

In the Stranger Things season 4 finale, Eddie Munson plays which Metallica song to lure the demobats?

Eddie shreds 'Master of Puppets' on the trailer roof; the season is set in March 1986, the month Metallica's album of the same name came out.

What name, borrowed from Dungeons & Dragons, do the Hawkins kids give the villain of Stranger Things season 4?

Vecna is a powerful being who resides in the Upside Down, and like the earlier monsters his name comes from Dungeons & Dragons.

In October 2022, who became the first artist to hold all ten spots of the Hot 100 top 10?

Taylor Swift filled the entire top 10 with Midnights tracks, 'Anti-Hero' at number one, after the album set Spotify's single-day streaming record.

Midnights, released in October 2022, was which number studio album for its creator?

Midnights was Taylor Swift's tenth studio album; a surprise '3am Edition' with seven extra tracks dropped three hours after the standard release.

Whose album topped Billboard's 2022 year-end album chart, the first all-Spanish record ever to do so?

Bad Bunny's Un Verano Sin Ti spent 13 weeks at number one and became the first Spanish-language album nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys.

How many weeks did Harry Styles's 'As It Was' spend at number one on the Hot 100 in 2022?

'As It Was' spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at number one, the longest run ever by a British act, and IFPI named it the best-selling global single of 2022.

Which Beyoncé album, led by the single 'Break My Soul', was released in July 2022?

Renaissance, a house-and-disco record, was her seventh studio album and later helped make her the most-awarded artist in Grammy history.

At the 2022 Met Gala, Kim Kardashian wore a dress originally worn by which star?

It was Marilyn Monroe's 1962 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' gown; Kardashian said she lost 16 pounds in three weeks to fit it and wore the original only briefly before changing into a replica.

Who plays the title role in Netflix's Wednesday, released in November 2022?

Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday Addams; the show racked up 341 million hours in its first week, a record for an English-language Netflix series.

Wednesday Addams's viral dance scene is set to 'Goo Goo Muck' by which band?

'Goo Goo Muck' is the Cramps' 1981 psychobilly cover of a 1962 Ronnie Cook song; Jenna Ortega choreographed the routine herself, and fans re-cut it to Lady Gaga's 'Bloody Mary'.

Which director helmed four episodes of Wednesday's first season?

Tim Burton directed the first four episodes and executive-produced the series; Christina Ricci, the 1990s film Wednesday, joined the cast as Marilyn Thornhill.

House of the Dragon is adapted from which 2018 book by the creator of Game of Thrones?

Its August 2022 premiere drew over 10 million viewers on day one, the biggest in HBO's history.

House of the Dragon depicts the Targaryen civil war known by what name?

The Dance of the Dragons is the Targaryen succession war between Rhaenyra and Aegon II, set about 170 years before Game of Thrones, with Paddy Considine as King Viserys I.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show aired its final episode in May 2022 after how many seasons?

The show ran 19 seasons from September 2003 to May 2022; Jennifer Aniston, Billie Eilish and Pink appeared on the finale, two years after toxic-workplace allegations.

Which title won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022?

Elden Ring, FromSoftware's open-world epic, won Game of the Year; a stage-crasher hijacked the acceptance speech to thank his 'reformed Orthodox rabbi Bill Clinton'.

The 2022 Game of the Year winner featured worldbuilding by which fantasy author?

George R. R. Martin wrote the mythology and backstory of Elden Ring's Lands Between for FromSoftware; the game sold 13.4 million copies in its first five weeks.

Top Gun: Maverick was released how many years after the original Top Gun?

The original Top Gun came out in May 1986, 36 years before Maverick's May 2022 release; the sequel became Tom Cruise's first film to cross $1 billion.

Which film was the highest-grossing release of 2022 worldwide?

Avatar: The Way of Water, released in December 2022, grossed about $2.3 billion worldwide, beating Top Gun: Maverick's $1.5 billion for the top spot among 2022 releases.

Everything Everywhere All at Once became the highest-grossing film ever for which studio?

A24's multiverse comedy with hot-dog fingers grossed over $140 million worldwide, the studio's record, and won seven Oscars including Best Picture the following March.

Who played Bruce Wayne in The Batman, released in March 2022?

Robert Pattinson took over the cowl in Matt Reeves's film, which uses Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' twice and grossed about $770 million worldwide.

A 2022 meme saw groups of teenage boys attend Minions: The Rise of Gru dressed in what?

The 'Gentleminions' trend had teenagers turning up in suits and ties; the film grossed about $940 million and set an Independence Day weekend box-office record.

Steve Lacy's TikTok-fuelled number one 'Bad Habit' comes from which album?

'Bad Habit' is from Gemini Rights, Steve Lacy's second album, released July 2022; it was the first song to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop and Hot Rock & Alternative charts at the same time.

Which 'Unholy' co-singer became the first openly transgender soloist to top the Hot 100?

Kim Petras, the German singer featured on Sam Smith's 'Unholy', became the first openly transgender soloist at number one; the song later won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Rihanna's 'Lift Me Up', her first solo release in six years, was recorded for which 2022 film?

'Lift Me Up' closes Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; written with Tems, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson as a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, it debuted at number two on the Hot 100.

In September 2022 the NFL named Rihanna as halftime headliner and which company as new sponsor, replacing Pepsi?

Apple Music took over from Pepsi as halftime sponsor; Rihanna's February 2023 set was her first live show in five years, and she revealed her second pregnancy on stage.

Britney Spears's first new music in six years, released in August 2022, was a duet with which artist?

'Hold Me Closer', her duet with Elton John, mashes up 'Tiny Dancer', 'The One' and 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' and debuted at number six in the US.

Queen Elizabeth II died on 8 September 2022 at which residence?

She died at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, her Scottish summer residence; a death in Scotland triggered Operation Unicorn, the Scottish variant of the long-planned Operation London Bridge.

At its longest, roughly how long was the queue to see the Queen lying in state in Westminster Hall?

The queue stretched about 10 miles, back to Southwark Park, with waits topping 24 hours; an estimated 250,000 people filed past the coffin over four days.

The Queen's state funeral was the first held in Britain since whose, in 1965?

Winston Churchill's 1965 funeral was Britain's last full state funeral before the Queen's; Lord Mountbatten's 1979 funeral was a ceremonial, not state, one.

Which country won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin?

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra took 439 televote points, the highest in the contest's history, with 'Stefania'; Sam Ryder gave the UK a rare second place.

Which French player scored a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final and still ended up on the losing side?

Kylian Mbappé scored all three French goals in the 3-3 draw, the first hat-trick in a final since Geoff Hurst in 1966, but Argentina won 4-2 on penalties at Lusail.

Argentina's 2022 World Cup victory was its first since which year?

Argentina's previous title came in 1986 in Mexico under Diego Maradona; in 2022 Lionel Messi took the Golden Ball and Emiliano Martínez the Golden Glove.

Who was Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2022?

Time named Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with 'the spirit of Ukraine'; before politics he starred in the sitcom Servant of the People as a teacher who accidentally becomes president.

Amy Schneider's Jeopardy! streak, which ended in January 2022, lasted how many games?

Schneider won 40 straight games and more than $1.3 million, at the time second only to Ken Jennings's 74; she went on to win the Tournament of Champions that November.

Who wrote 'We Don't Talk About Bruno', the Encanto song that topped the Hot 100 for five weeks?

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote all of Encanto's songs; 'Bruno' was only the second Disney animated song to hit number one, after 'A Whole New World', yet Disney submitted 'Dos Oruguitas' for the Oscar instead.

Which rapper, famous for 'Gangsta's Paradise', died in Los Angeles in September 2022 aged 59?

Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., won a Grammy for 'Gangsta's Paradise' in 1996 and also recorded the theme for Nickelodeon's Kenan & Kel.

Olivia Newton-John, who died in August 2022, played which character in Grease?

She played Sandy Olsson opposite John Travolta's Danny in the 1978 film; her 1981 hit 'Physical' spent ten weeks at number one in the US.

Which Australian soap aired a farewell episode in 2022, only to be revived by Amazon Freevee?

Neighbours aired its finale on 28 July 2022 after Channel 5 in the UK pulled its funding; Amazon Freevee revived the soap in September 2023.

Which series ended in 2022 with 53 Emmy nominations and not a single win?

Better Call Saul ended on August 15, 2022, after six seasons; its final-season nominations brought it to 53 Emmy nods, all unsuccessful, a record for a winless show at the time.

FX's The Bear, which premiered in June 2022, is set in a sandwich shop in which city?

Chicago is home to the family beef joint; Jeremy Allen White plays Carmy, a fine-dining chef who comes home to run it.

Which French app with a daily two-minute window to post a front-and-back photo was Apple's 2022 iPhone App of the Year?

It grew from 21.6 million to 73.5 million users between July and August 2022 alone.

Which company bought Heardle, the Wordle-style song-guessing game, in July 2022?

Spotify bought Heardle in July 2022; the game asked players to name a song from up to 16 seconds of its intro, and Spotify shut it down in May 2023.

After Kanye West pulled out of Coachella 2022, Swedish House Mafia closed the festival with which artist?

The Weeknd joined Swedish House Mafia in the Sunday slot; Harry Styles and Billie Eilish took the other headline spots at the first Coachella since 2019.

Which company ended its Yeezy partnership with Ye in October 2022 after his antisemitic remarks?

Adidas ended the Yeezy partnership on October 25, 2022, as Gap and Balenciaga also cut ties; the line had generated close to $2 billion a year.

Adnan Syed, freed in 2022 after 23 years, was the subject of which podcast's first season?

Serial's 2014 first season, hosted by Sarah Koenig, re-examined Syed's conviction for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and won a Peabody Award in 2015.

At the Venice premiere of Don't Worry Darling, Harry Styles was accused of spitting on which co-star?

Video seemed to show Styles spitting toward Chris Pine's lap as he sat down; both camps denied it, capping a press tour dogged by rumours of a Pugh-Wilde feud.

Which YouTube group announced in September 2022 that member Ned Fulmer would no longer work with them?

The Try Guys cut ties with Ned Fulmer on September 27, 2022, over his affair with an employee; the four founders had begun making videos together at BuzzFeed in 2014.

ABBA Voyage, the virtual residency that opened in London in May 2022, shows the band as they looked in which year?

The 'ABBAtars' show the band as they looked on their 1979 world tour, performing in the purpose-built ABBA Arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with a ten-piece live band.

Which AI chatbot did OpenAI release to the public on 30 November 2022?

ChatGPT, built on OpenAI's GPT-3.5 models, reached an estimated 100 million monthly users within two months, the fastest-growing consumer app to that point.

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died in March 2022 in which South American capital?

Hawkins was found dead in his hotel room in Bogotá, Colombia, on March 25, 2022, hours before a festival set; the Foo Fighters cancelled all upcoming shows four days later.

Which Pulitzer-winning show won Best Musical at the 2022 Tony Awards?

A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson's 2020 Pulitzer winner, took Best Musical; its win made producer Jennifer Hudson the 17th person to complete the EGOT.

Which series won Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2022 Emmys for the second year running?

Ted Lasso repeated as Outstanding Comedy Series, with Jason Sudeikis and Brett Goldstein also winning again; HBO led all networks with 38 Emmys overall.

What was the title of the Lizzo album released on 15 July 2022?

Special, Lizzo's fourth studio album, was led by 'About Damn Time', which went to number one on the Hot 100 and later won the Grammy for Record of the Year.

In which magazine did Serena Williams announce in 2022 that she would 'evolve away' from tennis?

Williams wrote the essay for Vogue's September 2022 issue; her final singles match came at that year's US Open, a third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanović after she upset No. 2 Anett Kontaveit.

On 14 June 2022, during which anniversary celebration did BTS announce a pause in group activities?

BTS debuted on 13 June 2013, so the FESTA dinner marked their ninth anniversary; Hybe insisted it was neither a disbandment nor a hiatus, and the anthology Proof had arrived four days earlier.