Take a Look Back with CELEB’s Top 5 Stories of 2021
It’s the end of the year and everyone is looking back. It’s a time of reflection and remembrance as we
CELEB Magazine
It’s the end of the year and everyone is looking back. It’s a time of reflection and remembrance as we gather our thoughts and prepare to head into the New Year. CELEB is taking a look back at our Top 5 stories from 2021. From crime to celebrity news and everything in between, CELEB viewers have discerning taste, and it shows in our recap. Here’s what you liked in 2021.
5. Will Smith Unrecognizable: When Celebrity Cosmetic Surgery Gets Weird
In November, Will Smith stunned the world with an appearance in a The One Show interview. The rapper/actor/director whose visage is usually instantly recognizable was nearly a stranger.
The star looked sharp in a tweed suit, but it wasn’t the movie or the style that caught people’s attention – it was Smith’s weirdly smooth face. The star was known for his dashing good looks and charmingly large ears in the ’90’s, but “completely without wrinkles” was never a part of his look before. Smith’s eyebrows were notably lifted and his face overall looked completely without flaw – eerily so. His smile was stiff and suggested perhaps a recent cosmetic treatment with Botox.
Unfortunately for Smith, no one warned the star that Botox treatments can take some time to settle into a more natural look, and the unfortunate result was a robotic appearance. What’s even more unfortunate is that Smith’s charm and good looks have only increased as he’s gotten older – we want the wrinkles back, Will!
To check out this story and see which other celebrities are almost unrecognizable because of cosmetic surgery, visit this link.
4. Stormy Daniels Joins ‘Nudity for Humanity’ Relief Efforts for Hurricane Ida
Of course Stormy Daniels was a popular read this year. Whether you love to hate her, or hate to love her, people can’t get enough of the former president’s mistress and her saucy personality. But this year, Daniels made headlines for the humanitarian efforts she was engaging in. Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club New Orleans and Larry Flynt’s Hustler Barely Legal Club created pop-up necessity distribution sites and refreshment sites for first responders in the wake of devastating Hurricane Ida. New Orleans is a city near and dear to Daniels’ heart, so of course when it was hurting, she was quick to leap into action.
Stormy Daniels got involved to spread the word about the efforts being made, taking to social media and directly connecting those in need. Daniels, an adult film actress, had this to say about the efforts, “I am so grateful to Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club New Orleans and Larry Flynt’s Hustler Barely Legal Club for assisting this city in a time of need. I’ve worked with the club before and they have always done right by people, including standing up for the rights of sex workers and by supporting their local communities on a charitable level. I’m humbled to be working with an organization that I love as a way to help the people from a city that is near and dear to me. My heart goes out to all of those suffering right now in ways big and small.”
To take a look back at what Daniels did to help NOLA in its time of need, visit this link.
3. The Big Day Has Arrived: Resorts World Las Vegas is Open
It felt like a lifetime in the making, but in June of this year Resorts World Las Vegas finally opened their doors. After months and months of anticipation, waiting, and excitement, people were finally able to experience the Zouk Group masterpiece, the first new resort to open on the Vegas Strip since 2010.
Against the backdrop of the setting Vegas sun, visitors gathered in anticipation as the hours ticked by and the moment inched closer. Along the side of the building, “WELCOME TO RESORTS WORLD LAS VEGAS” flashed across the monumental crimson towers. First, invitees, whom were given the directive to a pop of red in the evening’s attire, congregated in the three hotel lobbies—Hilton, Conrad and Crockfords as executives from Genting and various partners christened the property with speeches and a ceremonial Lion Dance. Then, the party opened and thousands poured into the casino floor to sample the resort’s restaurants and bars.
Out by the pool, guests were teased that there would be a secret performance by an A-lister at 9 p.m. The mystery was revealed when Resorts World Zouk Group headliner DJ Tiesto hit the stage. He is one of the resort’s not-so-secret weapons in winning the Las Vegas entertainment battle. All the action was displayed on the giant screens that flank the building and massive crowds gathered on Las Vegas Boulevard to watch. There was also a countdown of the hours, minutes, and seconds to opening, which was heralded by an awe-inspiring display of fireworks. At 11 p.m., the doors flew open wide and people got their first real look into the wonder that is RWLV.
To take a look back at opening day and all the wonder that was revealed once the doors open, visit this link.
2. Terror at Turnberry Towers, Unexplained Death at Celeb-Friendly Address Leaves Residents Perplexed
A shocking death shattered the idyll of early morning Las Vegas on April 2. At 7 A.M., what was otherwise a normal morning would turn into a nightmare.
Sources say that it was around that time a man, later identified as Stephen Brian Scanlon, 38, would plummet from a unit on the 32nd floor. Residents of the Towers say the building shook and they could just sense that something was wrong, later finding out their intuition was indeed correct with the presence of emergency police and fire, closing down the front of the complex.
Eye-witnesses recount that Freddie Hardy—a trainer and bodybuilder who has appeared on various reality shows including Impact Wrestling and on Instagram known as partyboy_aesthetics2.0—lived in the unit on the 32nd floor where Scanlon was staying prior to his death and was led away in handcuffs. According to sources, Hardy was arrested on an outstanding warrant unrelated to the death of Scanlon. An unidentified woman was seen and heard in the lobby of Turnberry Towers screaming, “I don’t want anything to do with him.”
To revisit this heartbreaking story and find out what happened, visit this link.
1.Woman Dead After Teen Crashes Lamborghini at 120MPH; Teen’s Father James Khuri Plays PR Game
In mid-February, headlines broke that a high-speed crash had led to the death of a young woman named Monique Munoz. Over time, details revealed that the driver of the vehicle that caused the fatal crash was Brendan Khuri – a 17-year-old heir apparent to the wealth of his father, James Khuri. Brendan was driving his birthday Lamborghini at over 100MPH. In the wake of Munoz’s death, instead of expressing genuine sympathy and trying to ease the pain of the family his son had stolen a life from, James Khuri went into PR overdrive and began cleaning up his reputation online. He partied while the Munoz family mourned and cried out for justice.
That justice would be a long time coming. The story of Munoz’s death and the reason it took so long to arrest and charge Brendan brought to light the conversation about “affluenza” and highlighted the different standards for those with money and those without.
To read this story in full, visit this link.
It’s been a year of heartbreak, joy, innovation, celebration, sadness and hope. Thank you for joining us in 2021. We can’t wait to see you all in the new year!