A social media account in the hands of a famous person is a powerful thing. I would say about three percent of famous people know how to make funny, relatable, and aspirational content to endear themselves to their fans. The other 97 percent use social media to unintentionally reveal themselves to be complete kooks, and not in a fun way. Here are some of my favorite posts of the year from people who could buy everything I own and not blink an eye. May they never cede their Instagram passwords to their managers.
Rob Lowe’s Atkins Diet Spon
Formerly the most handsome member of the Brat Pack, Rob Lowe has a vested interest in keeping up his good looks. That includes his body, as you can tell from the 10 different pieces of Atkins Diet sponsored content he did this year. Lowe has a completely dead-eyed meat stare in each post, and you have to wonder if the Atkins people feel like they’re getting a good return on investment with this campaign.
Jessica Chastain’s Foray into TikTok
Fewer celebs were more prolific on TikTok this year than Chastain. There were so many options from her feeds for me to choose from, but at the end of the day this is the one I always remember. She’s made up as Tammy Faye Bakker, encouraging people to go see The Eyes of Tammy Faye, with a heart-eyes filter filling the screen. What really gets me is that she had to have had the foresight to film this while on set, and then just had it sitting on her phone for months while waiting for the movie to come out. Now that is a lesson in patience.
Jennifer Garner Recreating Friends With Legos
The most chilling thing about this video is that she forced someone to add in a laugh track. If you are the person who edits Garner’s social content, please reach out, I have a lot of questions and you can remain anonymous.
Hugh Jackman Finally Gets Old
You have to click through to these photos to get a full idea of what’s happening here. But if you’re too lazy to do so, let me explain. Jackman decided he wanted to post some beautiful pictures of his trip to the South of France. Instead of just uploading the images, he screenshotted his camera roll, and posted the screenshot instead. As you can see from his camera roll, he did this several times while trying to get the right one. Next thing you know he will be taking these pictures on an iPad.
Brie Larson Joins the Swiftie Hive
Perhaps the most cringe entry on this list, former vlogger Brie Larson joined the rest of the internet in celebrating Red (Taylor’s Version) by lying in her bed and doing a cover of “Nothing New (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault).” She’s wearing a nightgown, supine, and playing what I think is an electric guitar that is not plugged in. Imagining her setting up the tripod to record this was one of my saddest thoughts of the year.
Vanessa Lachey Gets the Job
I cannot put it better than my colleague Allie Jones, who wrote, “When was the last time you got good news? And what was your reaction? Whatever it was, I guarantee it wasn’t as good as this video of Vanessa Lachey (née Minnillo) finding out that she ‘got the job.’” Allie was right, I have not ever had a reaction as good as the one Lachey had when she got the job.
Juliette Lewis Posting Juliette Lewis
One of our most prolific posters, Juliette Lewis has a deep well of content that she can dip into when the mood strikes. On this occasion, she regrammed a video of herself from her own account, where she’s listening to the song “Dear Mr. Fantasy” by Traffic while lying in bed wearing sunglasses. No one is doing it like she is.
Mindy Kaling Does Food Reviews
For the last few years, I have had a sick and twisted fascination with Mindy Kaling’s social media. She celebrates every fake holiday with a photo shoot, and hosts a semi-regular series where she just makes a meal in her kitchen. I have no idea what compels her to do this. This video, in which she reviews different kinds of Australian Red Licorice (specifically Australian, she notes) makes no sense. She has had — and continues to have — a very successful career as a writer and producer, she does not need to have lifestyle content as well. She doesn’t even end up picking which licorice is the best! She gives them all good reviews!
Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber Make Mac & Cheese in a Bathroom
Have you ever wanted to spend almost 13 minutes watching two models make a box of Annie’s macaroni and cheese in a bathroom the size of some studio apartments? Well, if the answer is no, you’re in luck, because they also try out Kendall’s 818 tequila while playing Never Have I Ever. Say what you will about Hailey Bieber (and I have), but she definitely knows how to pack a lot of activities into one video.
Honorable Mention: This Julia Roberts Video
My girl has never fully understood how to do Instagram properly, and I love her for that.
