Biggest celebrity feuds of 2022
Death, taxes and famous people fighting – it’s unavoidable. Here, we take a look at some of the biggest celebrity stoushes of 2022.
Entertainment
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IT’S been a big year for bad blood in Hollywood (much of it emanating from Montecito, the US outpost for exiled members of the royal family).
From Kanye West’s troubling decline to Prince Harry’s ongoing rift with his family, and who could forget Will Smith belting Chris Rock at the Oscars? (March seems so long ago). Here, we take a look at the biggest stoushes of 2022.
PRINCE HARRY v THE ROYAL FAMILY
This royal drama, of course, is not new to 2022, but it is the gift that keeps on giving if you’re into that sort of thing. Relations between Prince Harry and his family further deteriorated this year, particularly following the Queen’s death.
You could cut the air with a knife when the Sussexes and the newly minted Wales’ were thrust together to greet mourners outside Windsor after Her Majesty’s passing, while the release of Harry & Meghan, the controversial Netflix docuseries that showed the Duke again talking about the need to “protect his family” by getting out of the royal spotlight while staying firmly in the spotlight, raised eyebrows. The release next week of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare will only add more fire to the flames.
KANYE WEST v EVERYONE
In 2022, Kanye West officially killed his career. The rapper-turned-designer went full scorched earth by spewing anti-Semitic hate speech and wild conspiracy theories that ultimately saw him kicked off Twitter for good (even Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk, who once defended him, had had enough).
But West’s worst moment came when he told conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (the man who believed that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting didn’t happen) that he was a fan of Hitler. “I like Hitler,” West told Jones on his Info Wars show. “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.”
His shocking statements were not without consequence: West lost hundreds of millions of dollars after deals with Adidas, Gap and Balenciaga were torn up. He also lost something more dear to him – his billionaire status.
WILL SMITH v CHRIS ROCK
This was perhaps the most bizarre feud of the year, even if it was largely one-sided. Will Smith, usually Hollywood’s Mr Nice Guy, stormed the stage at the Oscars back in March and whacked comedian Chris Rock across the face after he made a benign joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith looking like GI Jane (Pinkett Smith keeps her hair short as she suffers from alopecia).
But Smith’s shocking assault and rant at Rock (“Get my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth”) in front of an audience of a billion watching on TV was gobsmacking. Making things even more awkward was the fact that Smith went on to win the Best Actor gong (he did not apologise to Rock in his acceptance speech) before being kicked out of the Academy and banned from the Oscars for 10 years, before largely disappearing from public view for the rest of the year.
SARAH JESSICA PARKER v KIM CATTRALL
This feud has its roots way back in 2004 when Cattrall spoke out about the financial inequities between the four stars of Sex and the City and has continued in the almost two decades since (usually via Cattrall).
“Was every day perfect?” Parker told Howard Stern in 2016. “No, but this is a family of people who needed each other. This sort of narrative, this ongoing catfight … it used to really confound me and really upset me.”
Fast-forward to 2022 and the animosity between Cattrall and her former co-stars has not dimmed, with the actress who played Samantha not returning for the show’s 2022 reboot, And Just Like That. Parker addressed the “situation” with Cattrall in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “There isn’t anyone else who’s ever talked about me this way, so it’s very painful,” Parker said.
TAYLOR SWIFT v TICKETMASTER
The Taylor-Ticketmaster debacle left a legion of Swifties furious when the ticketing giant couldn’t cope with demand for Swift’s US Eras tour, meaning many fans were unable to purchase tickets when they went on sale.
Swift said the situation was “excruciating for me”. “I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,” the singer wrote in an Instagram post.
“It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.”
Swift added that she would try to “figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward”. For their part, Ticketmaster offered up an apology saying the company “apologise to Taylor and all of her fans — especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets”.
MATTHEW PERRY v KEANU REEVES
The Friends star made headlines in 2022 after the release of his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, which detailed his devastating drug addiction. But there was one particular excerpt that raised eyebrows. Speaking of young stars lost to drugs, Perry questioned why Keanu Reeves “still walks among us” when actors including River Phoenix and Heath Ledger had died.
It was a bizarre statement to put into the book, and caused furious backlash by fans rushing to defend the beloved Reeves. Perry issued a quick mea culpa. “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake,” Perry said. “I apologise. I should have used my own name instead.”
NICKI MINAJ v LATTO
An argument took place between the two American rappers where all celebrity beefs start these days – Twitter. Minaj tweeted her annoyance that she wasn’t considered for any rap categories for the Grammys arguing that if she wasn’t considered, Latto shouldn’t be either.
“Damn I can’t win for losing … all these awards/noms I can’t even celebrate,” the rapper said.
The two reportedly spoke privately about the issue, but the bad blood didn’t die.
“I’ve ignored countless subtweets since March and instead addressed [you] in the dm,” Latto said. “You’re asking why I didn’t speak up in ur defence … it’s the same answer I gave [you] when [you] asked why I didn’t congratulate you. Ur literally older than my [mum] tryna be a bully @NICKIMINAJ,” she wrote.
DOJA CAT v NOAH SCHNAPP
The Grammy winner called out the Stranger Things actor for his “borderline snake” behaviour after Schnapp went public with her DMs about her crush on his co-star Joseph Quinn.
“To be fair, this is like a kid. Noah, I don’t know how old he is, but he’s not even like over 21. When you’re that young, you make mistakes, you do dumb s**t.
“I’m trying to be super fair. … But the fact that Noah did that, like, went and posted a private conversation between me and him is so unbelievably, like, socially unaware and whack,” Doja said. Schnapp has not responded.
JIMMY KIMMEL v MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE
The US talk show host had a crack at the Republican politician after she spoke out against Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson being nominated for the Supreme Court.
“Where is Will Smith when you really need him?” Kimmel joked on air.
In response, Greene wrote via Twitter that she had reported “this threat of violence against me” to the Capitol Police.
“Officer? I would like to report a joke,” Kimmel responded to Greene’s tweet.
ROXY JACENKO v CANDICE WARNER
This explosive feud has its roots in PR queen Jacenko’s disastrous SAS Australia stint (at six hours, her time on the show is the shortest ever).
Famously, the pair who were great friends at the time, were paired up in a one-on-one boxing match that went horribly wrong after ironwoman Warner absolutely belted a shell-shocked Jacenko. It proved the end of their friendship. Wind forward to 2022, and after Warner spoke out against abuse she received from “gutless bullies” at the Adelaide test match and was subsequently offered private security by Cricket Australia.
Jacenko followed the news with a surprising swipe at her former friend and client.
The 42-year-old posted a photo of The Daily Telegraph’s exclusive story, referencing the public boxing session with Warner that went spectacularly bad.
“Now that would be a waste of money,” Jacenko captioned the image.
“We know how she performs in the ring and that’s with people she liked at the time.”
The pair have never fixed their relationship since the incident.
JUSTIN LANGER v AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TEAM
Justin Langer’s removal as the national team’s coach has not been amicable, that’s for sure.
The Australian cricket legend said in an explosive interview that he had been blindsided by claims from players that they were “worn out” by his mood swings and volatility. He also attacked anonymous “cowards” that leaked against him and criticised captains Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch for a lack of transparency.
“I spoke to Pat Cummins. He said to me about five times, ‘This might be brutally honest.’
“I said, ‘Pat, there is nothing brutal about your feedback. What is brutal is I’m hearing it behind my back through the media or through sources.’ No one’s telling me. Tell me,” Langer told the BackChat Podcast.
Cummins said he was “nonplussed” by Langer’s remarks.
ABBIE CHATFIELD v BROOKE BLURTON
The pair’s friendship infamously imploded last year after Chatfield started dating Konrad Bien-Stephen, a contestant on Blurton’s season of The Bachelorette.
But the drama went to a whole new level in 2022 when Blurton said in an interview that she never wanted Chatfield to appear on the show in the first place.
Blurton wanted close friend Matty Mills to appear but Covid restrictions meant that couldn’t happen.
Her close friend, Amy Thunig, however, did appear.
Blurton said having Mills and Thunig, who are both also queer and indigenous, on TV alongside her would have been a step forward for First Nations and LGBTQIA representation.
REX HUNT v DAISY PEARCE
The legendary AFL footy commentator caused an uproar after he blasted Channel 7 for promoting star commentator and star footballer, Daisy Pearce, to cover prime time Friday night games while former North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey was demoted to Thursdays (Carey has since left the network after an alleged white powder incident at a Perth casino).
Hunt called the decision “weak”, blaming it on the “gender do-gooders”.
“Call me a fossil or whatever. But our game has been ruined by people who are making rules to appease soft penises. For gods sake … give us some biff. Give us some spice,” Hunt said.
“And Daisy … just let Carey say a few words … please.”
Hunt did praise Pearce as a football gun and a “wonderful lass” but insisted it remains a poor decision to have “equal genders everywhere”.
KYLE SANDILANDS v EVERYONE
The notorious shock jock managed to offend a whole range of people this year, but it was his “hurtful” comments about Paralympians that caused justifiable outrage.
“Some poor bloke ran for the high jump and veered right because he was blind and landed on his arse on the ground,” he said.
“And when they were playing soccer the blind people I was thinking ‘are you joking’ they’re throwing themselves on the ground like sausages to block the ball.”
Sandilands said he admired the “spirit of the contest” but felt “Jesus Christ that’s a big effort”.
Aussie Paralympian Geoff Trappett, who won medals in both the Sydney and Athens Paralympic Games, was among those to pile on the DJ, taking to Twitter to vent his frustration.
“Happy to volunteer to come on the show so you can tell it to a Paralympics athlete’s face,” Trappett wrote.
MELISSA LEONG v NETWORK TEN CREW
She’s paid to pass judgment on contestants, but it seems MasterChef judge Melissa Leong also has plenty to say about her fellow crew members.
Leong reportedly made claims of bullying by production staff, after they failed to produce a cake to celebrate her birthday, despite baking one for fellow judge, Andy Allen.
Some staff members also reportedly refused to work with Leong. In fact, Leong was reportedly doing her own hair and makeup after falling out with production partner Endemol Shine’s appointed hair and makeup professionals. A freelancer later hired to do the job, also refused to work with Leong.
DOMENICA CALARCO v OLIVIA FRAZER
OnlyFans might be making a lot of people a lot of money, but the adult website was at the centre of the feud between Married At First Sight stars, Domenica Calarco and Olivia Frazer.
It all started when Frazer outed Calarco as an OnlyFans content creator during MAFS, resulting in bad blood between the pair.
Ironically, Frazer and her boyfriend Jackson Lonie are now enjoying the fruits of their own OnlyFans page, and Calarco has been quick to share her disapproval.
In an interview with radio stars Kyle and Jackie O, Calarco said she’d seen Frazer’s OnlyFans images and needed “bleach in her eyes” as a result.
Calarco also accused Frazer of smashing a glass in her face, and considered legal action against her co-star. Calarco was never charged over the alleged incident.
LOCKY GILBERT AND RICHARD BUTTROSE v SAS AUSTRALIA
By its very nature, SAS Australia comes with its share of controversy, but in 2022, the clashes between the crew and the contestants went up a notch.
Convicted drug dealer Richard Buttrose furiously clashed with directing staff, wild about being accused of cheating and accusing them of editing footage to suit an agenda.
As mutual rage boiled over, Buttrose had his number ripped off and was booted from the show.
Reality TV regular Locky Gilbert also butted heads with directing staff, eventually accusing the show of bullying and claiming it “robbed him of his confidence”.
“I tried to get rid of this toxic masculinity and tried to show my vulnerable side and I just got shot down by the DS and bullied for it,” he said.
Originally published as Biggest celebrity feuds of 2022
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