Drama! Memorable celebrity moments of 2014

TORONTO — Celebrities really are just like us — and this was proven once again in 2014 as famous folks dealt with personal problems, health woes, happy occasions and embarrassments.

These were the kind of stories that prompted Internet trolls to ask “Who cares?” even though they were some of the most popular stories online.

Here’s a look at some of the memorable celebrity moments that made headlines in 2014.

DRAMA!

Robin Thicke, who had an exciting 2013, shared his marital woes with the world in 2014. He and Paula Patton announced their split in February and it was downhill from there.

The singer cancelled a bunch of shows, including a scheduled appearance at the Juno Awards in Winnipeg, and disappeared from sight until the summer, when he released the single “Get Her Back.”

Thicke released the album Paula in hopes of winning Patton back but it was a commercial flop and a failed mission — she filed for divorce in October.

In May, the world was mesmerized by black-and-white security camera footage from inside a New York elevator that captured singer Solange Knowles attacking brother-in-law Jay Z as Beyonce stood at his side.

The famous family has never explained what the dispute was about but the leaked video cost at least one Standard Hotel employee his job.

READ MORE: All about that bass: 2014 was year of the booty

In November, Kim Kardashian bared all in the pages of Paper magazine in hopes of breaking the Internet.

The cheeky pics didn’t break the Internet but got everyone talking — and rethinking how they’ll serve champagne on New Year’s Eve.

BEST FACES FORWARD

In May, the biggest buzz from Cannes had nothing to do with a new movie — it was all about Nicole Kidman’s face. “What on earth has Nicole Kidman done to her face?!” someone tweeted. Opined another: “Something really bad has happened to Nicole Kidman’s face/life.”

Months later, Renée Zellweger came under similar scrutiny when she showed up at an event with a decidedly different face. The star said her new look was merely the result of “living a different, happy, more fulfilling life.”

UNIONS

After many years together and many years of talking about it in public, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt finally made it official in August.

The couple shared their wedding photos with the world.

Elton John and his Canadian partner David Furnish shared images from their December nuptials with fans via Instagram.

And, as equal marriage spread around the world, stars like Neil Patrick Harris, Lance Bass, and former Who’s The Boss star Danny Pintauro were able to get married to their respective partners.

READ MORE: Circle of life: 2014’s famous births and deaths

In November, actor Colin Farrell, who has a gay brother, made an impassioned plea for marriage equality in Ireland.

There were many other celebrity weddings in 2014, of course, including some notable Canadian ones.

B.C. model Sonni Pacheco tied the knot with actor Jeremy Renner, with whom she has a child, and Rookie Blue star Missy Peregrym quietly wed actor Zachary Levi in June in Maui.

OUTSPOKEN

Several stars were outspoken in 2014 — and some took heat for their comments.

Author John Grisham apologized in October after he criticized long prison sentences for men who download child porn.

Grisham had told a British newspaper about a friend who was swept up in a Canadian sting operation and sentenced to three years.

“So many of these guys do not deserve harsh prison sentences,” he said.

That same month, actor Alan Cumming spoke out again about circumcision.

“From my point of view as a sexual and sensual person, the idea that you would hack away at that and lose sensitivity and nerve endings on the most pleasurable and sensitive part of your body is terrible,” he said.

READ MORE: 2014: A year of Bieber behaving badly

Closer to home, a social media campaign using the hashtag #sealfie took off in April, apparently sparked by a three-year-old statement posted on Ellen DeGeneres’ website that attacked the East Coast commercial seal hunt — not the Inuit hunt.

“The campaign was well intentioned but it’s misguided,” said Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society International.

The seal hunt was back in the spotlight in September when singer Tanya Tagaq used her Polaris Music Prize acceptance speech to take a shot at PETA — even though the animal rights group has never opposed the Inuit right to hunt.

PETA’s Dan Mathews said he was “surprised” by Tagaq’s “ill-informed rant.”

In October, TV producer Shonda Rhimes lashed out via social media at someone who had tweeted a complaint about “the gay scenes” in her shows How To Get Away With Murder and Scandal.

“There are no GAY scenes. There are scenes with people in them,” she tweeted. “If u use the phrase ‘gay scenes’, u are not only LATE to the party but also NOT INVITED to the party.”

HEALTH WOES

Comedian Tracy Morgan was severely injured in June when the limo-bus he was riding in was struck by a transport truck and flipped over. The accident killed his friend James McNair and critically injured two others.

In November, U2 singer Bono crashed his bike in New York’s Central Park and suffered broken bones and a facial fracture.

Canadian chanteuse Céline Dion announced in August that she is taking time off from performing to focus on taking care of her husband René Angélil, who was battling cancer.

“I want to devote every ounce of my strength and energy to my husband’s healing, and to do so, it’s important for me to dedicate this time to him and to our children,” Dion said in a statement.

In the music world, Green Day revealed in December that guitarist Jason White was diagnosed with tonsil cancer and, in November, a reunited Culture Club cancelled a tour after singer Boy George was diagnosed with a polyp on one of his vocal chords.

In June, Chad Vaccarino of A Great Big World revealed he has been living with multiple sclerosis since being diagnosed in 2007.

Creed frontman Scott Stapp suffered a very public meltdown in 2014, even posting a lengthy video online that detailed his personal problems.

BYE, BARBARA

Finally, it was in May that Barbara Walters finally left The View. After years of interrupting her co-hosts and getting a lot of stuff wrong, it was fitting that she ended her run by… getting something wrong.

“Maybe instead of ‘goodbye’ I should say “a bientôt” which, in French, means ‘see you later,'” Walters told the audience.

In fact, “A bientôt” is French for “see you soon” or variations like “see you” or “bye for now.”