We have officially hit the month of June, nearing the halfway point of a turbulent 2022. For most Americans, a lingering “calm before the storm” is clouding optimism, as items like inflation, Russian aggression and “hot button” debates over gun control and abortion dominate our daily lives. With that said, there have been plenty of willing participants eager to play the part of villain so far in 2022, but some have been willing to take the role to another level, earning a place on our…
Top 10 Midyear Loser Awards for 2022
10. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Why? Because people get divorced every day, yet we are supposed to care about two ultra-wealthy, white people fighting over who pooped on whose bed and how the world was deprived of another Jack Sparrow movie in a film franchise that should have ended in the first term of the Obama administration. In the end, a Hollywood legend who was once in an elite club of royalty has been reduced to watching his dirty laundry unfold on a glorified segment of Judge Judy.
9. Elon Musk. Why? It’s hard to associate the world’s wealthiest man with the label of loser, but his latest attempt to purchase Twitter was a reminder of just how far removed the elite class is from everyday people. The world is facing historical crises, from the effects of a global pandemic to inflation woes, and these guys made more money over the same span of time that many lost everything. Read the room. Now is not the time to shoot your buddies into space.
8. Cryptocurrency. Why? Because if you bought it, you’re likely regretting it, including cities like Miami that invested heavily in their own version of the virtual currency. The jury is still out on whether the entire crypto platform is a pyramid scheme. And unless you have a degree in public ledgers or blockchains, you probably have no idea what you purchased when your buddy convinced you you would be the next Elon Musk.
7. The United States Supreme Court. No matter where you stand on Roe vs. Wade, we can all agree the supreme law of the land should not have more leaks than your grandmother’s bridge club.
6. Will Smith. Why? If you don’t know why, you obviously do not follow pop culture, the Academy Awards or know a single TikTok dance move. But the “slap heard around the world” shattered the image of a once-beloved Hollywood star, who attempted to take on the role of victim immediately after reducing a beautiful night at the Oscars into a 3 a.m. brawl at the local Waffle House.
5. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Why? Great question. Please ask the good folks in Georgia’s 14th District when you get the chance. In the meantime, her antics are so bizarre and laced with bigotry, she managed to overshadow her pals Lauren Boebet and Matt Gaetz on this list. Add to that the fact that she and some guy famous for owning My Pillow were directly advising the president of the United States during an attempted coup on our democracy and you start to wonder how hard it is to run the greatest superpower on the globe.
4. The National Basketball Association. Why? Because a league that eagerly launches itself into a myriad of domestic social stances, has yet to address its ties to China and the $10 billion that NBA owners personally have invested there. If that’s not enough, NBA China is valued at $5 billion, of which ESPN owns 5%, possibly explaining why the world’s largest sports media company took years to begin covering this topic. And much like #5 on this list, the NBA’s China issue actually overshadows Hollywood and many other major American corporations like Nike and Visa — which (in the name of profits) remain silenced on China’s tragic human rights record.
3. Uvalde School Police Chief. Why? Because it would be hard to imagine a more tragic story than what came out of Uvalde, Texas in May. The mass shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers rattled our nation, but questions remain about the response time and measures of the Uvalde school police, led by Chief Pete Arredondo. It’s easy for the masses to unjustly apply blame in the wake of a senseless tragedy, but details of the flawed response by Arredondo continue to raise serious questions.
2. Coca-Cola. Why? Ok, we lied. We said the NBA overshadowed everyone on the China issue, but that doesn’t include Coke, which claims that “human rights is a fundamental company value.” Evidently that’s true unless you need to sponsor the 2022 Olympic Games in China — home to over a billion and a half Coke consumers. At the risk of losing major profits, Coke happily overlooked human rights abuses in Xinjiang and other abuses across the communist superpower to appease profits.
1. Vladimir Putin. Why? Because who wakes up in the morning and says, “You know what? I think I’ll join Hitler and other historical architects of genocide in the history books … all because I’m a relic stuck in Cold War era policies from the 1960s.
