From the Met Gala Cucaracha to Bad Bunny’s Cell Phone Gate — Our Top 19 Most Iconic Moments of 2023
Well, 2023 was a ride. It’s hard to believe the year is almost already over, seeing insane occurrences like the demise of almost every celebrity couple, the start of new romances no one expected (Benito and Ms. Candle, anyone?), and tons of people climbing the Chichén Itzá for some reason. Was any event that occurred this year on our 2023 bingo card? No, actually — and we’re still not over any of it.
As seems to be the general consensus on X, 2023 was sort of “a weird year.” One user explained it with mesmerizing accuracy: “2023 has been weird because it’s been the first (relatively) ‘normal’ year since 2019, so it almost feels like it’s been uneventful and gone by in a blink.”
Did anything actually happen this year? While the whole post-pandemic blur theory feels all too real, many things indeed happened in 2023. And, yes, each headline was more random than the next. Ahead, find our end-of-the-year roundup of the craziest things that happened, from Shakira leaving no crumbs in her Bizarrap session back in January, to the summertime Barbenheimer era, to La Monja de la Feria supremacy, and everything in between.
1. Bad Bunny throws a fan’s phone
We’re starting this list way back around New Year’s Day when Bad Bunny threw a fan’s phone into the bushes while vacationing in Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic. This was our Roman Empire for a hot second, replaying exactly what the fan told him, and his background entourage’s comments (a round of applause for, ‘Ahí te burlaste’). Many called on Benito’s cancellation after that, and around ten million memes were born:
Bad Bunny’s response months later when speaking with Rolling Stone? “Bro, that cellphone didn’t break. It exists. It bothers me that people haven’t said that.”
“I didn’t throw that phone into the water. I threw it into some bushes.”
2. Shakira and Bizarrap break the internet
Back on January 11, when Shakira teamed up with Argentine DJ Bizarrap to shake the world (mostly ex Gerard Piqué, though) with “BZRP Music Sessions #53.” Nothing was ever the same after the singer belted out the line, “Cambiaste un Ferrari por un Twingo, cambiaste un Rolex por un Casio,” and of course, that whole “Clara-mente” business. Let’s just say it out loud: 2023 was Shakira’s year, and we were just living in it. Or should we say Shaki La Del Barrio?
3. $2.04 billion Latino Powerball winner identified
By February, we got both the worst and coolest news in the world. First, we didn’t win the largest lottery jackpot in history, otherwise known as the $2.04 billion Powerball draw. However, 30-year-old Latino, California resident Edwin Castro was the sole winner of the record-breaking prize — and we were ecstatic for him.
At the time, Castro said his prize was a “huge win” for the California public school system, to which he owes his education. Plus, Altadena’s Joe’s Service Center, who sold the ticket, also won $1 million.
4. Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner allegedly kissed at a club — and the rest was “Mami, be careful… the mosquitos” history
Yes, we’re already back on our Bad Bunny chisme, but the guy is just newsworthy. We spent the better part of 2023 trying to decipher whether Benito and possible girlfriend Kendall Jenner were an item or not.
The tea started bubbling when the two allegedly kissed at a nightclub in February, followed by a “Pasión de Gavilanes”-esque horseback riding date in April, and tons of PDA at Drake’s concert this summer. By August, though, Bad Bunny posted a story that reportedly shows him speaking to Jenner while on a hike, saying, “Mami, be careful… The mosquitos.”
The world— and meme culture— were never quite the same after this alleged romance:
5. The Selena Gomez-Hailey Bieber drama
By March, all that anyone and their abuelas could talk about was the (alleged!) drama between Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber. These two celebrities were painted as archenemies, somehow stemming from the fact that Gomez is of course the ex of Bieber’s husband, Justin Bieber. Okay.
But it ran deeper than that— as TikTok sleuths uncovered, Bieber and Kylie Jenner may have first shaded Gomez’s eyebrows on Instagram. Bieber also may have posted a pointed TikTok video as an indirecta to Gomez, and Gomez allegedly responded in a now-deleted comment on the platform: “It’s okay! I don’t let these things get me down!”
More things happened, too. Gomez commented on a TikTok showing Hailey Bieber maybe-shading her pal Taylor Swift on the show “Drop the Mic,” saying, “So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game.” By the end, it all got so intense (this was Beliebers’ Cold War), that Gomez posted an Instagram statement telling fans to stop “bullying” Hailey Bieber:
6. All of those people climbing Chichén Itzá
Why did so many people climb Chichén Itzá this year? What was the reason? Was this some sort of a 2023 apocalypse signal? We’re not sure — but as you can see, we still have so many questions. Several people went viral this year for climbing the Maya ruin, Temple of Kukulcán, in Yucatán, Mexico, and one even got flogged by onlookers after.
In January, a Polish tourist climbed up to take photos, and got hit with a stick after. By April, yet another visitor went up the site’s structure, and was probably fined — along with the rest — for a total of 5,000 to 50,000 pesos.
Did the Maya gods curse them for eternity afterward? The world may never know. Dogs get a pass for climbing up, though, at least in our eyes:
7. The accusations against Mexican singer Gloria Trevi
2023 also saw Mexican singer Gloria Trevi get accused of serious crimes, including luring minors into her ex-producer Sergio Andrade’s sex cult. While the lawsuit was filed on December 30, 2022, the allegations revived those hurled against Trevi back in 2000, which included accusations of rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors.
By May, Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez announced she would represent Trevi, describing the singer as a victim of Andrade. “Gloria Trevi was a minor when she met Sergio Andrade… [he] is the real villain in the story and a real monster.”
Meanwhile, Trevi’s own statement read: “I won’t stay quiet while they unjustly accused me of crimes I did not commit.”
8. La cucaracha at the Met Gala
Another event that may have proved 2023 was a glitch in the matrix? Well, the most viral moment out of the tres chic May Met Gala was… a cockroach on the carpet? Fashion photographers ran to get content of poor Mr. Cucaracha, who honestly just looked happy to be there.
Did the cockroach score an invite to the event, which honored late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld? Or was he squashed by a razor-sharp Louboutin heel? We may never know, but at least we got memes like these:
9. Titan Submersible implosion
On June 18, the Titan submersible, helmed by OceanGate to visit the Titanic ship’s remains, imploded. Tragically, the implosion killed the five people inside the submersible for the expedition: British businessman and Blue Origin adventurer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, French explorer and crew member Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush, who piloted the sub.
The “catastrophic implosion” seemed to have occurred in just a few milliseconds.
10. The Colombian Indigenous children who survived 40 days in the jungle after a plane crash
Another news story that occurred in June was the miraculous rescue of four Colombian Indigenous children from the Amazon jungle. The children, aged one to 13, survived a Cessna 206 plane crash, which tragically took their mother’s life.
Escaping the crash, the children spent 40 days in the jungle, with many pointing to their upbringing in the Huitoto Indigenous group as a reason behind their survival skills. Once authorities rescued the children, their grandfather, Narciso Mucutuy, said: “I also thank the Indigenous people who collaborated to talk to Mother Nature.”
11. Barbenheimer
Once summer hit, was anyone safe from Barbenheimer— and more specifically— our universe becoming Barbieland? Even before the July 21 release date of both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” our world was enveloped by the pink-and-black marketing of it all (well, mostly “Barbie” marketing… and “Oppenheimer” anti-marketing).
Suddenly, there was a Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse on Airbnb, tortillerías selling pink “Barbie-coa” tacos (genius), and countless Barbie collabs with brands like Burger King, Aldo, Crocs, and OPI. As one TikTok user described, “Barbieland is starting to infiltrate our everyday lives.”
By the movie’s release, people wore their quinceañera dresses to the theater, dads wore matching pink tutus with their daughters, and America Ferrera got a heart-stopping monologue that still lives in our heads rent-free.
12. Non-human “biologics” and UFOs
As if 2023 couldn’t get any stranger, we suddenly had a bunch of… congressional hearings about aliens? You probably remember when several military veterans spoke about UFOs at a United States Congress hearing back in July.
At the time, one former Air Force member testified that the U.S. government had retrieved non-human “biologics” in the past. Then, by September, journalist and UFO expert Jaime Maussan presented alleged alien remains to the Mexican Congress. However, some scientists called the latter claims a hoax.
13. Regional Mexican tops the global charts
Unless you were living under a rock, you noted the exponential — and much-deserved — rise of música Mexicana in the mainstream media. While groups like Banda MS, Grupo Firme, and the longtime Banda El Recodo have been successful in the Regional Mexican circuit for years (or decades), 2023 saw the genre rise in popularity across the world.
For one, Peso Pluma came along and, alongside Eslabon Armado, took “Ella Baila Sola” to the top of the charts. It was a game-changing cultural moment, making the track the first regional Mexican song to reach the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10, and the first to become #1 on the Billboard Global 200.
Meanwhile, other acts like Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera, Carin León, Natanael Cano, and Junior H continued rising to the top — taking subgenres like Banda music and corridos tumbados to new heights.
14. So. Many. Celebrity. Breakups.
As one X user put it, what was “in the water” in 2023 that caused the demise of so many celebrity couples? What happened?! Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro made an entire vampire-themed, majorly-romantic album titled “RR” that also announced their engagement.
By July, though, they were over. Becky G was also engaged to soccer player Sebastian Lletget until he maybe cheated in March — and although she was spotted without her engagement ring that month, they may be back together now?
Anyway. Ricky Martin and husband Jwan Yosef also announced their divorce this summer, as well as Sofia Vergara and hubby Joe Manganiello. Shakira and Gerard Piqué announced their separation back in June 2022, but that Bizarrap session this year made the split feel very 2023, too.
No one was safe!
15. Yahritza y Su Esencia’s controversy in Mexico
The end of summer came with a fresh new controversy no one could stop talking about: Yahritza y su Esencia professing their love of chicken nuggets while doing Mexican press. While that tidbit seems harmless enough, many people called for the Mexican-American Washington-based band’s cancellation this year.
The issue stemmed from a video showing vocalist Yahritza Martinez, 16, saying comments like, “I’m not saying I hate Mexico; I just don’t like Mexico.” Brother Mando Martinez, 25, added, “I don’t really like the food. I prefer the food where we live,” while sibling and bandmate Jairo Martinez, 18, sealed in the controversy with: “I really only eat… chicken that don’t have chile. I don’t like any of that.”
As many critiqued the band for their comments, they later responded in a video, “It doesn’t matter where we were born; we are proudly Mexican… We offer you an apology with all our hearts.”
16. The Hungry Bear
You know what definitely was not on our bingo card this year? A black bear eating a bunch of enchiladas at a terrified family’s picnic at San Pedro Garza García Park in Nuevo León, Mexico. As Ángela Chapa, the woman who filmed the scary video, explained to mitú in September: “[Friend] Silvia [Macías] was with her son Santiago, who has Down syndrome.” Chapa recalled, “I’m filming while trying to figure out how to distract the bear.”
As you can see in the video, Macías held on tight to her son the entire time, protecting him from the bear. They all got out of the situation safe and sound, with many on social media hailing the mother a hero.
17. Feid and Karol G tease us with their possible relationship
Just like we spent the better part of the year wondering about Benito and Candle (ahem, Jenner), we spent our off-time thinking about Feid and Karol G.
Are they really the real-life pink-and-green Cosmo and Wanda we didn’t know we needed? Or are they just… best friends? The two Medellín-born singers gave us conflicting clues all 2023, even after seemingly confirming their relationship with a perreo at Karol G’s Puerto Rico concert in March.
That same concert gave us La Bichota saying, “This song is for Feid” right before singing “Tus Gafitas,” which was major. By August, Feid watched the singer’s sold-out Rose Bowl concert alongside his mom… and Karol G’s mom. They’ve also stepped out holding hands, so they’re together, right? Right?
18. Bad Bunny, Pedro Pascal, and Marcello Hernández’s life-changing SNL skit
Another 2023 moment that absolutely shook us was the “Protective Mom 2” “Saturday Night Live” skit by Bad Bunny, Pedro Pascal, and SNL newcomer Marcello Hernandez. Just putting these three stars in the same room would have sufficed for us — but then, they delivered one of the funniest SNL skits we’ve seen.
Airing during Bad Bunny’s hosting night in October, the skit perfectly encompasses what it’s like to have a Latina mom… or tía. The sketch gave us gems like, “I kill you! I break your car! Ay, I miss you so much, I pray for you every morning,” refrigerator fruit magnets, and using that iconic blue cookie tin to store sewing supplies. IYKYK.
19. La Monja de la Feria takes over the internet
Our year was also taken over by a person in a nun costume with the coolest dance moves we’ve ever seen (and the most impressive balance). Yes, of course, we’re referring to La Monja de la Feria.
For one, her trademark song, an electronic remix of “Las Monjitas” by Grupo Exterminador, is on our party playlist for life. Apart from that, the dressed-up nun’s dance moves around Mexican fairs’ juego mecánicos went viral for good reason — how does she stay standing?!
By the end of the year, we finally found La Monja de la Feria’s identity: 17-year-old Pamela Jasso Pérez from Guanajuato, Mexico. And, we were even more shook.
De Durango salieron dos monjas, a las dos o tres de la mañana.
