The 2022 “Catty Everyone is Gossiping About You Behind Your Back” Awards
For those of you sick of all this celebration of great accomplishments, we present our annual gossip rag in review. The “Catty Everyone is Gossiping About You Behind Your Back” Awards count down every story you gossiped about this year, from surprising trysts and romances, to the biggest and baddest scandals and controversies that rocked, slammed, or gently nudged the comedy world this year. And there were SO many to choose from. We obviously could have done a top 50.
They’re listed backward, countdown style; add your own imaginary ‘countdown’ sound effects.
And remember, it doesn’t make you a bad person. Well….. sometimes it does.
Did we get it wrong? Tell us which scandal you think should be this year’s #1 by voting below.
Don’t forget you can also vote now for Comedian of the Year! Vote for Comedy Movie of the Year! Vote for Comedy TV Series of the Year! Vote for Comedy Special of the Year! Vote for Best Comedy Book of the Year! Vote for the Best Comedy Album of the Year!
Dave Chappelle Makes Headlines All Year Long. Chappelle could have made this list a dozen times, and he does appear as part of someone else’s controversy higher up on the list. But instead of listing each thing, and making this list impossibly long, we’ll just start off with entry #24 just being “Dave Chappelle.” Some of his more controversial moments of 2022 included his SNL appearance with rumors that some staffers refused to work that week. His Monologue raised a few eyebrows too. He received an Emmy nomination for The Closer that promoted some Netflix workers to stage a walkout. And he had one live show cancelled based on his controversial material. Over the summer, he was attacked on stage by a man who claimed to be upset about Dave’s jokes. And in June he announced he was withdrawing from having his High School name the school theater after him, because LGBTQ+ students were protesting the renaming. And Dave’s Emmy nomination for The Closer prompted some Netflix workers to stage a walkout. And just recently he brought Elon Musk out on stage with him, eliciting boos from the crowd. Regardless of the controversies, Dave is thriving and still the reigning king of live stand up comedy worldwide, selling out venues, and delivering undeniably great performances, regardless of where you land on some of the material.
Joe Rogan Continues to Be Joe Rogan. Much like Chappelle, Joe Rogan spent a good part of 2022 grabbing media headlines and controversy, but much like Chappelle, he’s still the undisputed champion of his realm. He’s the #1 Spotify podcast and there’s no denying it. And his controversy list is long, but not shocking or even necessarily fun to gossip about. The biggest controversy for Rogan came early in 2022 when several artists asked to have their music removed from Spotify in protest of Rogan’s prominence on the platform. It started with Neil Young, who was soon followed by Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, and Crosby Stills and Nash among others. Then in February a video went viral showing a compilation of Rogan using the N-word, that was pretty shocking even to Rogan. He apologized for his past uses of the word, and said it was “most regretful and shameful thing” he has ever had to address. In July, Rogan went viral for joking with Tom Segura, “Maybe you should just go shoot the homeless people” and that grabbed a slew of headlines.
Ricky Gervais Transgender Jokes Draw Anger Gervais‘ new Netflix special, Supernature, was slammed as transphobic. The four minute section of material was mocking trans women. He later followed up with a disclaimer “Full disclosure: In real life of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel that you are. But meet me halfway, ladies: Lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying.” Prior to the release of his special, Gervais was promising controversial material. He even joked that he was trying to get canceled. Sorry Ricky, you’re still green lit.
Trevor Noah Leaves the Daily Show, No Replacement Named. Well that was quick, at least by comparison to Jon Stewart. After only seven years (compared to Stewarts 15 year tenure) Trevor Noah announced that he was walking away as host of the Daily Show to focus more on other aspects of his career- particularly his stand up. Comedy Central is planning to keep the show going, but has no replacement in mind just yet. Instead they will run a series of guest hosts to take them into at least the fall, while figuring out their best path forward. And lest we forget, Trevor Noah made the gossip columns for his dating too! Dating and then splitting from Dua Lipa. Big time baby!
Andy Dick Arrested….a Few Times. Andy Dick never disappoints not even when it comes to disappointing people and this year he was arrested at least twice. But the arrest we’ll remember most fondly in 2022, is when Andy Dick was arrested for stealing someone’s power tools. He was caught fleeing someone’s home with the goods, which the internet speculated were going to be used for sexual purposes, but who knows. Dick was also arrested back in the spring for allegedly molesting a man named JJ in his sleep and was convicted in November for an assault dating back to 2018. Not a great year to be Andy Dick or to know Andy Dick.
Nathan Fielder’s “The Rehearsal” Accused of Being Too Mean HBO’s The Rehearsal is like nothing we’ve ever seen before and Nathan Fielder blew all our minds with his twist on the reality-prank-documentary genre. Not since Ali G has someone manipulated and mocked the performers on their show the way Fielder did, keeping all our jaws collectively dropped throughout the season. But while many lauded The Rehearsal as pure genius, others felt the series was cruel, manipulative and arrogant. Still others believe the brilliance comes from the shows willingness to be blunt or even at times cruel. And there’s no reason that they can’t all be correct.
Eight…Make that Nine Castmembers Left SNL This Year Despite rumors that Lorne was asking all cast members to stick around until the 50th season, 2022 saw a mass exodus of SNL primary players. Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney, were the first to announce departures ahead of the season finale in the spring. Then in September ahead of the season premiere we learned that Melissa Villaseñor, Alex Moffat and Aristotle Athari would not be returning. Chris Redd announced his departure just two weeks later, and then during the midseason finale, we said goodbye to Cecily Strong, who we knew was leaving at some point this season, but we didn’t know which episode would be her last. Expect young comics and improv performers everywhere to be working on audition material for the next few months.
John Mulaney Gets Pushback After Surprising His Audience with Dave Chappelle. John Mulaney was a controversial figure throughout 2021, but stayed pretty even keel in 2022 until late in May, when he surprised his Columbus Ohio audience by bringing out a huge star on stage- Dave Chappelle. Many were thrilled- Chappelle tickets are pretty pricey- but a a vocal few did not appreciate the “surprise” and some even walked out. It didn’t help that he made a joke poking fun of trans and non-binary people either. Mulaney has a strong LGBTQ+ following, and many took to twitter to express their lack of appreciation for what felt to them like an ambush.
Louis C.K. Wins a Grammy, Gets Another Nom. After being cancelled nearly everywhere, except with is own stand up audience, the Recording Academy shocked a lot of people by not only nominating Louis CK’s latest for a grammy (that was last year’s gossip) but giving him the win in 2022. Giving the win to Sincerely Louis C.K. was not crazy- its a great special/album and would be easily worthy of a win based on the material. But there’s a whole lot of people who don’t think the industry should be paying any attention to Louis after he admitted to some sexually inappropriate behavior. It’s unclear when if ever CK will be embraced again, but the blowback to his Grammy win was relatively small and not as angry as it would have been a few years back. Louis C.K. has been nominated again in 2023 for his follow up Album/Special: Sorry. He’s up against Jim Gaffigan, Randy Rainbow, Patton Oswalt and Dave Chappelle and it looks likely that next year’s win will make next year’s catty gossip awards one way or another.
Eastbound and Down Fans Get Horribly Pranked Kenny Powers fans everywhere, including us, were excited when rumors of an add on season started to swirl. The culprit was an alleged Eastbound and Down trailer, promising on more inning, in a surprise Season 5. The joke was on all of us- the trailer was a fake, and there will not be a triumphant return. Unless Danny McBride takes pity on all of us and is inspired to throw us a bone.
Triumph the Insult Dog Got Arrested at the Capitol Yep you read that right. No he wasn’t storming the capitol on January 6 or any other day. A bunch of staffers were filming a bit about investigating the riots with Triumph and his best buddy Robert Smigel at the Longworth House Office Building for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. They were detained by Capitol Police for unlawful entry despite that they had prearranged to be at the Capitol to conduct interviews. It is not known if Triumph was taken away in pawcuffs.
Pete Davidson and Kim Broke Up, He Started Fake Dating Emrata, and Now Says He and His Co-star are Just Friends. The unexpected Warren Beatty of our generation continues to fill our feeds with headlines about his dating life. The big shocker came when it was suddenly announced that Kim and Pete broke up. The shock of it was because just days earlier the two were professing their passion for each other. Plus Pete of course, got a few new tattoos this year, so there weren’t any signs this was ending this year.. But very soon after the breakup, Pete was spotted out and about with Emily Ratajkowski which fits his profile of dating the hottest women in the world. Nobody believed that they were really dating, though. The chemistry didn’t seem to be there. Now Pete has been spotted out with his tv series co-star more than a few times, but he insists they’re just friends. Nobody is buying that either.
Jeff Garlin Gets Canned From the Goldbergs. Jeff Goldberg was terminated from the hit series The Goldbergs. His role as Murray was beloved, but there were some problems behind the scenes. Some described his on set behavior as abusive. It’s not that he was screaming at people, or sexually harassing anyone. He just has an odd sense of humor, and not everyone appreciates it. Garlin’s response, “It’s about me and my silliness on set. They don’t think it’s appropriate. I do. That’s where we’re at. Because as a comedian, if somebody is offended by what I say I, all I can say is, ‘I’m sorry. OK?’”
Desus and Mero Break Up. A dispute concerning their manager led to a rift between the two comedians, and brought their Showtime series “Desus & Mero” to a premature end. Allegedly things started to fall apart when their long time manager Victor Lopez was banned from the set by Showtime after multiple complaints of alleged bad behavior including bullying staff members. Reports said Mero wanted to be loyal to Lopez while Desus allegedly wanted to move on. Both performers are bona fide stars now and undoubtedly everyone will land on their feet. Well, maybe not Victor.
Bill Murray’s Inappropriate Behavior of Some Kind Shuts Down Aziz Movie. We still don’t know exactly what happened, but what we do know is back in April 2022, Bill Murray was accused of being too touchy/handsy/grabby on the set of Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut movie. The way the conduct was described, it could be interpreted as comedic, annoying or invasive. We read there was hair touching, ponytail grabbing, hands on and touchy behavior, although not in the tits and ass way. Initially it was unclear who Murray was bothering, and the speculation was that it was his costar Keke Palmer. It wasn’t until a report came out in the fall that we learned that the victim of Murray’s harassment was a staffer on the set, not Palmer. He thought he was being funny. She thought he was coming on to her and was horrified. A six figure settlement resolved the matter to the parties satisfaction, but Aziz’s movie, “Being Mortal” never recovered and has never resumed shooting. Bill stayed in the news though with others coming forward admitting his on set behavior made them uncomfortable in the past, including Gena Davis.
Joe Gatto Leaves Impractical Jokers For No Apparent Reason. Will we ever know the story behind this sudden split of the seemingly unstoppable comedy team? The first big gossipy story of 2022 was one of its biggest. Joe Gatto announced he was leaving the Impractical Jokers. He said he was stepping away to focus on fatherhood, but the suddenness of the news, and the way the announcement was handled left everyone speculating about whether there were other reasons for his departure from the group. No subsequent news ever shed any more light on the story, but Gatto toured all year, performing stand up and the Jokers moved on to be a three person team, but there’s no sign of ill will or anger in sight.
Larry David Documentary Pulled the Day It Was Supposed to Premiere. . Everyone loves Larry David, or at least loves to hate him, so when it was announced that he was releasing a documentary on his life and career, we were very interested. The Larry David Story was a project with longtime friend and collaborator Larry Charles. TLDS was scheduled to air on March 1, but the morning of the premiere, the trailer for the doc was no longer viewable. Shortly after, HBO released an odd statement, that the premiere was being postponed because Larry wanted to do it in front of an audience. And then we never heard of it again. Someone call Unsolved Mysteries.
James Corden Outted as a Dick by Restaurant. The owner of popular New York City restaurant Balthazar blasted James Corden in October for his uncivil behavior toward his server at the restaurant, and said he was banning the talk show host from the restaurant forever. The headlines kept coming. First Corden apologized, then he said he had nothing to apologize for. He was banned and then later unbanned. But one thing that hasn’t gone away- the general feeling that James Corden is a dick.
James Corden Steals Ricky Gervais Joke. Yes, we could have combined 6 and 7 but these two scandals were just too hilarious to bury in one entry. Just weeks after his restaurant scandal- and barely moments after the negative attention had finally started to die down, Ricky Gervais gently pointed out that Corden did a bit on the Late Late Show, which was almost a word for word copy of a bit from Gervais’ 2018 comedy special. He seemed more amused than pissed, and it was hilarious. Gervais shared a clip from Corden’s show and wrote, “The bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant.” Yes, Ricky, brilliant because it was yours.
The Try Guys Kick Out One of Their Own Over Adultery. Most of us never heard of the Try Guys until this big scandal popped up. But we learned that they were actually pretty big time, making bank with a big audience. The four person comedy entertainment team of Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang came famous for “trying” things, their YouTube page, accumulating 8 million followers. So they weren’t household names but they had and continue to have an enormously popular internet and touring presence. Everything blew up in September, when one of the members- Ned- was kicked out of teh group. Initially, a statement was released saying “Ned Fulmer is no longer working with The Try Guys. As a result of a thorough internal review, we do not see a path forward together.” We later learned the reason for his banishment was that he was cheating on his wife with a co-worker. His former teammates then put out an emotional video explaining why they were dumping Ned, and it blew the fuck up, appearing in every media outlet. It’s been viewed 11 million times, and has even been parodied by SNL. And we still don’t really understand anything about it.
Aries Spears and Tiffany Haddish Sued for Child Endangerment and Sexual Misconduct September was a big month for big scandals and this one was probably the biggest. A 22 year old woman filed a lawsuit against the two comedians, accusing the stars of sexually abusing her and her younger brother when they were minors. The allegations are that Haddish and Spears groomed the two young kids to coerce them into “filming sexually explicit child pornography skits.” The skits were intended to be comedic, but they are uncomfortable particularly as they involve a 14 year old girl and a 7 year old boy. “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes,” was posted on Funny or Die although the company denies any involvement with its creation, calling it disgusting. In the video, the boy is in his underwear and is being treated as a sexual object. The lawsuit alleged that after they made the video the young boy spoke up saying he did not want to be a part of the video. His mother received assurances that it would not be used, and then years later it “showed up” on Funny or Die. The lawsuit was dismissed a few weeks after being filed, presumably after some form of settlement agreement among the parties.
Chris Redd dating Kenan’s Wife . In September we learned that SNL star Chris Redd was dating Christina Evangeline who just happens to be the estranged wife of SNL co star Kenan Thompson. Kenan and Evangeline have been split since 2019, so this was not a cheating situation, but its still a bit uncomfy since Kenan and Chris worked together on SNL and also on Kenan’s self titled NBC series. This is one scandal that we haven’t heard the last of, according to Redd who says he can’t discuss things right now because there are kids involved, but he plans to have a lot to say in the future. Stay tuned…
Rich Vos Banned From Canadian Comedy Club. Rich Vos got into some international trouble after some crowd work jokes directed at First Nation audience members offended some people. According to reports, 30 people walked out of the Rumors Comedy Club gig in Winnipeg, feeling that Vos was harassing a table of indigenous women. The women didn’t care for Rich’s crowd work and there may have been some jokes about dreamcatchers and wigwams. The women who were at the center of the incident had been being loud and disruptive before Vos started talking to them from the stage. The clubs owner said he tried to educate Vos on feelings- which is hilarious. He also said he doesn’t censor comics. Apparently he also doesn’t know funny because Rumors released a statement that they would not invite Vos back to the club, and shared released the story to the press.
The Slap. An event so monumental, it made several of our lists. The biggest scandal of the year is also the biggest viral video of the year, and the biggest news story of the year. An event so famous it doesn’t require explanation. But we will probably never forget the slap or any of its components: Will Smith laughing at Chris Rock’s alopecia joke until he caught a stinkeye from his wife; Smith’shis march onto the stage that we all thought was a bit at first; Smith’s odd machismo as he yelled “keep my wifes name out of your mouth” and Chris Rock, dumbfounded, answering “i’m going to.” 2022 is the year of the slap.
