The stories. The sources.
The bigger picture.
Preserved draft research. Source checks in the original pack were often headline-only. Read these notes as material to verify, not a published account.
Prepared in the supplied September 2026 research pack. No site publication date. Claims and outcomes below remain the original draft’s wording.
In 2023, a royal memoir broke sales records, two unions shut down Hollywood, and a pink-and-black double feature brought people back to theaters. The year also had courtroom verdicts, painful losses and the start of a romance that would dominate the next three years. Here is what happened, when it happened, and where each story stands as of September 2026.
Prince Harry's memoir sold 1.43 million copies across the UK, US and Canada on its first day. Guinness World Records named it the fastest-selling nonfiction book ever, ahead of Barack Obama's A Promised Land, even though copies leaked five days before release. The book's accounts of family rifts kept it in the headlines for months.
How it ended: Record-setting bestseller. Harry's legal fights with British tabloids went on for years afterward (see our 2025 roundup).
In early March, Bravo confirmed that Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix had split. Sandoval's relationship with castmate Raquel (now Rachel) Leviss then came to light. Deadline reported a ratings jump for the show. The fallout included public apologies, a much-watched reunion and, later, a lawsuit Leviss filed against Sandoval and Madix.
Status: Parts of the related litigation continued into later years, Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter reported.
A Utah jury found that Paltrow was not responsible for a ski collision at a Park City-area resort. The man who sued her had claimed she crashed into him. Jurors instead awarded Paltrow $1 in damages. The trial was broadcast and became a pop-culture event in its own right.
How it ended: Verdict for Paltrow. The plaintiff got no damages.
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti told staff that the company would close BuzzFeed News and lay off about 15% of its employees. BuzzFeed News had helped shape how the internet covered news and culture for about a decade. When it closed, many saw it as a sign that the digital media business, including outlets that cover Hollywood, was in trouble.
How it ended: The newsroom closed permanently.
A London jury found Kevin Spacey not guilty of all nine sexual offense charges against him. Spacey had pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations throughout the trial. The verdict closed the most serious legal case he had faced.
How it ended: Full acquittal on all criminal charges in the UK case.
Barbie and Oppenheimer opened on the same day, and fans turned the release into a double-feature event. According to Deadline, Barbie opened with about $162 million domestically and Oppenheimer with more than $82 million. ABC News reported it was the fourth-biggest box office weekend ever.
How it ended: Both films became major hits, and "Barbenheimer" became the defining moviegoing moment of the year.
Dates: Writers struck from May to late September 2023. Actors joined in July, and their strike ended November 9, 2023.
With both the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA on strike, most scripted production stopped. Protections around AI, streaming residuals and pay were central issues. During the actors' strike, performers could not promote their projects, which cleared red carpets and press tours.
How it ended: Both unions reached new contracts. SAG-AFTRA's three-year deal ended its strike after 118 days.
A Los Angeles judge sentenced the That '70s Show actor to 30 years to life in prison. A jury had convicted him earlier that year of raping two women in the early 2000s.
Status: He is in prison. His lawyers have asked appeals courts to overturn the convictions.
A joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4's Dispatches reported allegations of sexual assault against Brand. He denied the claims before they were published. UK police charged him in 2025. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including new charges in February 2026.
Status: Pending. His trial has been pushed back to October 2026, ITV News reported.
Swift watched the Kansas City Chiefs play from Travis Kelce's suite, as CNN and ESPN reported. She went on to attend more games that season, and cameras cut to her suite so often that her appearances became a weekly news story of their own.
How it ended: The couple got engaged in 2025 and married in July 2026.
While promoting her memoir, Pinkett Smith revealed that she and Will Smith had been separated since 2016, NBC News and TODAY reported. The book's other personal revelations also got wide coverage.
Spears's memoir sold 1.1 million copies in the US in its first week, according to her publisher. It gave her own account of the conservatorship that had controlled her life and career for years. Her publisher later reported more than 2 million copies sold.
How it ended: One of the best-selling celebrity memoirs of the decade.
The Friends star died at his Los Angeles home. In December 2023, the Los Angeles County medical examiner ruled that the cause was the acute effects of ketamine.
Status: Federal prosecutors later charged several people involved in supplying the drug. By 2026, a former physician and Perry's assistant had been sentenced to prison, and a dealer had received 15 years, according to the Justice Department.
Singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura filed a federal lawsuit accusing Combs of rape and abuse. Combs denied the allegations, and the two sides settled the next day. The lawsuit led to more civil suits and, eventually, a federal criminal case.
How it ended: The civil case settled. Our 2024 and 2025 roundups cover the criminal case that followed.
A Manhattan jury found Majors guilty of assault and harassment in a case involving a former girlfriend. Marvel Studios, where he had been cast as the villain Kang, dropped him soon after the verdict. In April 2024, he was sentenced to a 52-week domestic violence intervention program with no jail time.
How it ended: Convicted, with a sentence that did not include jail time.
Prince Harry's Spare becomes fastest-selling non-fiction book ever — Guinness World Records, January 13, 2023
Vanderpump Rules: Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix Break Up — Bravo, March 2023
Vanderpump Rules Sees Spike In Ratings After Tom Sandoval Scandal — Deadline, March 2023
Here's the Only 'Scandoval' Lawsuits Cheat Sheet You Need — Rolling Stone
Gwyneth Paltrow wins her ski crash case — and $1 in damages — NPR, March 30, 2023
BuzzFeed shutters its newsroom as the company undergoes layoffs — NPR, April 20, 2023
Actor Kevin Spacey is acquitted in the U.K. on sexual assault charges — NPR, July 26, 2023
'Barbie' Still Gorgeous With Best YTD $162M Opening; 'Oppenheimer' Detonates $82M+ — Deadline, July 2023
'Barbenheimer' opens to 4th-biggest box office weekend in history — ABC News, July 2023
The Strike Is Over! SAG-AFTRA & Studios Reach Tentative Deal On New Three-Year Contract — Deadline, November 2023
Actor Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rape — NPR, September 7, 2023
Danny Masterson asks appeals court to overturn rape conviction — Courthouse News Service
Russell Brand Preemptively Denies "Astonishing" Criminal Allegations — Deadline, September 2023
UK comic Russell Brand pleads not guilty to new rape, sex assault charges — Al Jazeera, February 24, 2026
Russell Brand's rape trial delayed until October — ITV News, March 30, 2026
Taylor Swift cheers on Travis Kelce at Kansas City Chiefs game — CNN, September 24, 2023
Jada Pinkett Smith reveals she and Will Smith have been separated since 2016 — NBC News, October 2023
Britney Spears' Memoir 'The Woman in Me' Sells 1.1 Million Copies — Variety, October 2023
Gallery Books Reports More than 2 Million Copies Sold of Britney Spears's The Woman In Me — Simon & Schuster
'Friends' star Matthew Perry dies at age 54 — NPR, October 28, 2023
Matthew Perry died of 'acute effects' of ketamine, according to L.A. county medical examiner — CBC News, December 2023
North Hollywood Drug Dealer Who Sold Ketamine that Killed Actor Matthew Perry Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison — U.S. Department of Justice
Hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs and singer Cassie settle abuse lawsuit — NPR, November 16, 2023
Jonathan Majors found guilty, dropped by Marvel after verdict — The Washington Post, December 18, 2023
Jonathan Majors avoids jail time in assault and harassment sentencing — NPR, April 8, 2024
Taylor Swift Sets All-Time Touring Record With $1 Billion Gross — Pollstar, December 16, 2023
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