25 2020 Moments That Sound Fake Until You Remember They Actually Happened

A woman trying to catch a train on the London Tube became a viral sensation overnight after popular prankster Kevin Freshwater approached her and asked her to “finish the lyric” to Shallow from the 2018 Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper movie A Star Is Born.

As Awbery belted out the composition, it left Freshwater shocked. 

It was later revealed that she was a singer from Essex, England. 

Many on social media called the video “staged,” but others defended Awbery, pointing out that in her full interaction video with Freshwater, she introduces herself, which indicates it was their first time meeting.

“It was random, you bunch of cynical b**tards,” one user said.

Awbery’s popularity earned her a spot on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

She also went on to release a music video for Shallow, in which she played a stage performer in distress. 

South Korean black comedy Parasite, starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, and more, was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Production Design, and Best Film Editing at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020.

The film ended up winning the first four categories, making history, especially with its Best Picture win, as it became the first non-English-language film to take the prize.

“I’m speechless,” producer Kwak Sin Ae said during her acceptance speech. “We never imagined this would ever happen. We are so happy.”

A Redditor described Parasite as a “once-in-a-generation” movie.

Samantha Marie Ware is recognized today for her roles in Chicago Med, God Friended Me, and What/If, but in 2015, the actress was just starting her TV career.

She had a recurring role as Jane Hayward in the sixth season of Glee, which featured Lea Michele as one of the lead cast members.

In May 2020, Ware replied to a tweet by Lea Michele about the demise of George Floyd. Michele had said he didn’t deserve what happened and that such incidents are not rare and must stop. She also used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

“Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Because I’ll never forget. I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity, you would ‘s**t in my wig!’ amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood,” Ware said in her reply.

The actress received support from Glee cast members, including Alex Newell, Amber Riley, and Dabier Snell. They corroborated Michele’s toxic behavior on the Fox show's set.

“Always knew she was a b**ch. Good to know I was right,” a Redditor said at the time about Michele. 

Before the world knew Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly as an on-and-off couple, the former had been married to Brian Austin Green.

Fox and Green met on the set of the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith when they were 18 and 31 years old. They soon began dating. 

The pair got engaged in 2006 but called off their plans to wed in 2009. A source confirmed to People at the time that the decision to end their engagement was “mutual.”

They got engaged for the second time in 2010 and got married the same year.

They welcomed their sons, Noah and Bodhi, in 2012 and 2014, respectively. 

In 2015, Fox filed for divorce from Green. 

According to a People source, yet again, the two were separating not because they did not love each other, but because their age gap made them feel like they were in “different stages of life and career.”

In 2016, however, they were spotted leaving a café together, suggesting their relationship was not yet over.

Their third son, Journey, was born the same year.

Fox and Green ended their marriage for good in 2021.

A consensus on social media about their relationship is that Green “groomed” Fox into the dynamic they had.

Acclaimed Australian singer Sia was heavily criticized for her feature film directorial debut, Music.

The 2021 movie follows Kate Hudson as a newly sober substance trader who unexpectedly becomes the sole guardian of her autistic half-sister, played by Maddie Ziegler.

Ziegler is not autistic herself, which upset members of the autism community, who called for representative casting.

When Sia responded aggressively on X to an autistic actor who said she could have taken on the role at short notice, the situation escalated. 

“Maybe you’re just a bad actor,” Sia had said.

The film was also criticized for certain scenes in which restraint techniques were used on Ziegler’s character.

“I’m just completely baffled by this film. It’s irresponsible and cheap,” a Redditor said about the effort. 

JoJo Siwa rose to prominence in 2015-2016 through the Lifetime reality series Dance Moms, where her oversized bows, glitter aesthetic, and high-energy personality became her trademark. 

She leaned extensively into a kid-friendly image. 

Between 2021 and 2023, the actress, singer, and dancer starred on Dancing with the Stars, where she began wearing more sophisticated costumes and was frequently seen on red carpets in glamorous gowns and heels.

JoJo has maintained her mature style since, with fans praising the change. 

One Reddit user wrote, “I love all of these new looks on her.” 

In July 2020, Jada Pinkett Smith brought Will Smith onto her Facebook show Red Table Talk to address singer and songwriter August Alsina’s claim that he had a relationship with her and that The Pursuit of Happyness star had approved the affair. 

Pinkett Smith described her relationship with Alsina, which happened four and a half years earlier, as an “entanglement.”

The term went instantly viral, with netizens labeling it the new euphemism for cheating. 

Others, meanwhile, accused Pinkett Smith of lying by omission by keeping the information private.

“We wouldn’t even know if August didn’t tell us,” a Redditor noted.

The pair seemed more than amicable at the end of the episode, as they shared a fist bump.

“We ride together, we d** together. Bad marriage for life,” they said in unison.

According to a BuzzFeed News story published in July 2020, the “Be Kind” motto that The Ellen DeGeneres Show preached to the world was a pretense, with many employees on the talk show facing racism, intimidation, and harassment. 

The outlet spoke to one current and 10 former employees of the programme, all of whom asked to remain anonymous. 

Some of them said they were fired for taking medical leave or bereavement days.

One employee, who felt she was discriminated against for being Black, walked off the show.

The staff members alleged the day-to-day toxicity was mostly due to executive producers and other senior managers, with one ultimately advising Ellen to “take more responsibility” for the workplace environment since the show bore her name.

“This makes me so sad. Ellen always seemed like such a happy and positive person, and you would think that getting to work for her would be such an amazing experience,” a netizen said when the fiasco unfolded.

Ellen’s show ended in 2022, with the host citing that the work was no longer creatively challenging. 

However, it was widely believed that the 2020 controversy was the real reason for the show going off air.

Taylor Swift has been credited by her fans for putting Travis Kelce on the world map since they started dating in 2023, and the expression holds when looking at how low-key the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2020 Super Bowl win was. 

Very few people outside of NFL circles knew the team’s tight end, who is now a regular feature in headlines courtesy of his high-profile relationship. 

In 2020, Kelce was notably dating model Kayla Nicole.

The athlete’s relationship with Swift has also put his family in the spotlight, with each of their personal and professional moves tracked by the press.

It was recently reported that Donna Kelce, Travis’s mother, was renovating her modest two-bedroom Florida condo. TMZ claimed that Donna hired a company to replace nine windows and six doors at the home.

Netizens mocked the outlet for making a big deal out of a trivial update.

“How did this even qualify as news amid the war, inflation, and just the general chaos in the world?” one asked.

Dance Monkey by Australian singer Tones and I was released in May 2019, but the track continued its global dominance through 2020. 

The song’s quirky vocals, catchy piano hook, and relatable theme about performing under pressure helped it stay viral across social media platforms. 

Good as Hell, a 2019 song by Lizzo, also experienced a major resurgence in 2020. 

The song imparts a message of self-love, confidence, and resilience, and proved empowering during a year filled with uncertainty.

Adele faced accusations of cultural appropriation after sharing an Instagram picture of herself wearing a bikini top adorned with the Jamaican flag and her hair styled in Bantu knots, a traditional African hairstyle.

The picture was posted as a tribute to London’s Notting Hill Carnival (a celebration of Black British culture), which took place online in 2020 due to COVID-19-related restrictions.

A comment on Adele’s Instagram post read: “Bantu knots are NOT to be worn by white people in any context, period.”

Another said, “If 2020 couldn’t get any more bizarre, Adele is giving us Bantu knots and cultural appropriation that nobody asked for. This officially marks all of the top white women in pop as problematic. Hate to see it.”

However, many Black celebrities defended Adele. 

Model Naomi Campbell, whose mother was born in Jamaica, commented two heart emojis under the singer’s post.

Jamaican musician Popcaan also appeared to be a fan, sharing a fist emoji and a heart.

WAP, an acronym for Wet A** P*ssy, by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, came out in August 2020. The lyrics of the song explored how the pair wanted to be pleasured by men.

The song became the first female rap collaboration to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100.

It, however, angered social conservatives in the United States, with James P. Bradley, a Republican leader, writing that Cardi B and Megan’s work made him want to “pour holy water” in his ears.

DeAnna Lorraine, a California Republican, echoed similar sentiments, saying the rappers were mistaken if they thought the song did “anything to empower women.”

Netizens also agreed with the backlash, with one on Reddit calling it “abstract garbage,” and another labeling it “terrible.”

Released in March 2020, Netflix’s Tiger King became a gripping escape for the masses during quarantine.

The docuseries chronicled the rivalry between Joe Exotic, the owner of a big-cat private zoo, and Carole Baskin, an animal rights activist that attracted 34.3 million viewers within its first 10 days, according to Nielsen, an audience engagement measurement and analytics company.

A viewer who watched the offering in February 2026 called it “wild.” 

The Pursuit of Love co-stars Dominic West and Lily James were spotted kissing in October 2020. 

The duo’s public display of affection shocked many as Dominic was married to Irish aristocrat Catherine FitzGerald.

Amid the scandal, West and FitzGerald addressed paparazzi gathered outside their home, sharing a kiss and placing a handwritten sign outside their property that read, “Our marriage is strong, and we’re very much still together.”

“This whole story was so odd,” a Redditor expressed at the time.

Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer Grimes and Elon Musk announced the arrival of their son, X Æ A-12, on May 4, 2020, after two years of being in a relationship. 

Musk, at that point, was already father to five sons with ex-wife Justine Wilson: twins Damian and Griffin, along with triplets Xavier (who later came out as transgender and changed her name to Vivian), Saxon, and Kai.

Grimes and the Tesla founder broke up in September 2021 but remained involved in an on-and-off dynamic. They went on to welcome two more children together: daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, in December 2021, and son Techno Mechanicus in June 2022.

Musk has four children with Shivon Zilis, a senior executive at his neurotechnology company Neuralink, named Strider, Azure, Arcadia, and Seldon.

He shares another son, Romulus, with influencer Ashley St. Clair.

“If a woman did the same thing as Elon, she would be torn apart,” a Redditor opined about his multiple children with different partners.

Cool for the Summer hitmaker Demi Lovato and actor and singer Max Ehrich started dating in March 2020 and got engaged in July. Two months later, however, they broke up.

Ehrich took to his Instagram at the time to reveal he'd found out about the status of their relationship “through a tabloid.”

According to People, the newfound distance between the couple, who had quarantined together during the lockdown, spelled the end of their relationship.

Ehrich traveled to Atlanta to fulfill work commitments as COVID-19 restrictions eased, while Lovato remained in Los Angeles.  

In October, Ehrich was photographed crying and praying at the Malibu beach where he had proposed to Lovato. Sources at the time suggested he was struggling with the breakup, but netizens called the pictures “staged.”

“I haven’t laughed this hard in months. Thank you, Max Ehrich, for these ridiculous photographs,” one said.

The 2019 movie Cats, starring James Corden, Jennifer Hudson, Rebel Wilson, Idris Elba, and Judi Dench, earned only $27K in North America and $51K internationally, becoming one of the biggest flops of the year.

The reason for its poor performance was reportedly its unsettling visuals.

It was largely mocked for its “digital fur technology,” which placed human-like faces on cat-human hybrids.

The offering sparked a joke fest, with one Redditor writing, “It’s as if Cats was filmed in a laboratory where they tried to graft human body parts onto animals and then forgot to stop.” 

Another said, “I went in expecting a musical and came out having witnessed a fever dream where I was chased by dancing fur babies.”

Hudgens and Butler were first linked in 2011, and they went on to share plenty of notable moments throughout their relationship, including red-carpet appearances, Coachella weekends, and romantic getaways.

This was despite their relationship being mostly long-distance due to their respective acting careers.

According to the High School Musical star’s 2017 interview with People, “communication” was the key to her lasting partnership with the American Psycho actor.

Ultimately, though, distance and scheduling concerns proved to be too much, and they parted ways in 2020.

“They were a wonderful couple, and it’s really sad that it didn’t work out,” a source close to Butler and Hudgens told People at the time.

Netizens, however, speculated that Butler got romantically involved with his Elvis co-star Olivia DeJonge in 2019, making Hudgens call it quits.

“He literally threw away his ten-year relationship by cheating with someone else,” a Reddit user wrote.

Butler and DeJonge’s rumored fling was never verified. 

Megxit refers to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepping back from their duties as senior members of the British royal family. 

It began in January 2020, when the couple publicly announced their intention to become financially independent and split their time between the UK and North America.

The move followed months of intense media scrutiny, with rumors of cracks in the British monarchy taking center stage.

After months-long discussions with senior royals, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle transitioned into their desired life on March 31, 2020. 

“Harry is a fool, and Meghan is a manipulative, greedy female. Good riddance. We do not need them,” an X user, seemingly from the UK, wrote at the time of Megxit.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had separated in January 2005 after nearly five years of marriage, citing growing apart amid intense media pressure and Pitt’s rising global fame. The real reason, however, was speculated to be Pitt cheating on the Friends star with Angelina Jolie.

When Pitt and Aniston reunited in September 2020 for a COVID-19 charity table read of the ’80s classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, it hit differently.

Fans quickly took note of their easy, playful interaction as they acted out a steamy scene. Seeing them laugh again was more than just nostalgia. It showed that time can soften even the most public heartbreaks.

Some on social media hoped the pair would get back together in real life, with one opining, “I think they are made for each other.”

Jennifer Lopez’s failure to receive an Academy Award nomination for her role as Ramona, a st**pper and the savvy leader of a group of dancers in New York City, in the 2019 crime comedy Hustlers, is widely considered one of the most significant Oscar snubs in recent history.

Despite receiving critical acclaim and earning a Golden Globe nomination, a SAG Award nomination, and an Independent Spirit Award nomination, she was left out of the Best Supporting Actress category at the 92nd Academy Awards.

The New York Times at the time hypothesized that Lopez being seen more as a celebrity than an actress could have been one reason the Oscars overlooked her.

The outlet also reported that films about women were underseen during that awards season, and Hustlers, alongside Lopez’s performance, ended up becoming one of the victims. 

Lopez’s performance was validated by social media users, with a Redditor calling it “fantastic in all fairness,” and another adding, “People love to hate on J.Lo, but she was extraordinary in the movie.”

Lana Del Rey attended the 2020 Grammys with her then-boyfriend Sean Larkin, a real-life cop who served as an analyst on A&E’s Live PD, a documentary series that showcased police departments across America patrolling their communities in real time.

The singer was all smiles as she posed for photographers on the red carpet with him.

Sean let Lana have the solo spotlight when she interacted with the media, which was when she was asked about her bead-encrusted silver gown.

“My boyfriend and I were getting a belt for him at the mall when I saw this, and I loved it,” Lana told Entertainment Tonight. 

It was later revealed that the dress was from American retailer Dillard’s. 

Jaynee Berkman was identified as the designer of the dress, who, according to Dazed, a British news website focusing on fashion, music, art, and more, said she would “love to see” Lana in one of her creations again.

“Lana is literally just vibing these days with her style, and I appreciate it,” a Redditor noted.

The singer was up for two awards, Album of the Year for Norman F**king Rockwell! and Song of the Year for the title track, but did not win in either category.

An audio recording of Tom Cruise yelling at crew members on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 in London went viral in 2020. The actor, who also served as a producer on the film, could be heard disciplining two people he saw standing too close to each other in violation of social distancing guidelines.

“If I see you do it again, you’re f***ing gone,” Cruise said.

The expletive-filled recording was three and a half minutes long.

“We’re the gold standard,” he went on to add, claiming that “producers, insurance companies, and studios” in Hollywood were looking at them and trying to adopt safety standards so their productions could get back to filming as well.

Cruise refused to accept apologies from the crew members involved.

“You can tell it to the people who are losing their homes because our industry is shut down. It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education,” he said.

A Reddit user with experience working at movie studios weighed in on the incident at the time, sharing that Cruise is known for “going out of his way to be super nice to on-set crew/extras, VFX crew.”

“He must be really stressed to break his nice-guy Tom image,” they added.

Eilish was photographed by paparazzi in a spaghetti-strap tank top and shorts in Los Angeles in October 2020.

Her photos drew negative comments about her figure, with one saying she had “developed a mid-30s wine mom body.”

The singer appeared to respond to the criticism in her Instagram Stories by uploading a video of herself walking past her collection of awards and winking.

She then shared a video by Nigerian-American content creator Chizi Duru about the importance of normalizing all body types.

“Instagram has warped a lot of y’all into thinking normal bodies are abnormal,” Duru had said.

Fans rallied behind Eilish, too, with one saying, “Let her live, y’all.”

“This needed to be said,” another added.

In May 2020, Grimes launched Selling Out, her debut fine-art exhibition hosted by Gallery Platform Los Angeles and Maccarone Los Angeles.

The show featured drawings, photographs, and digital prints, alongside a conceptual piece in which she offered to sell a percentage of her soul to the highest bidder, initially priced at $10 million.

Whoever bought it signed a legally binding contract known as the Goodness Covenant. This required them to remain a “kind” and “ethical person.” If the buyer committed a crime or acted in a way detrimental to her soul, ownership share would automatically revert to Grimes.

“Grimes is crazy in a good way,” an impressed Redditor wrote.