This was a big year in the world of entertainment. There were lots of breakups (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez, Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, among others), lots of babies born to stars (Saint West, anyone?) and typical celebrity fare, like Charlie Sheen admitting his HIV-positive status, the Josh Duggar sex scandals, the Justin Bieber naked pics and the debut of Caitlyn Jenner.
But there were a few entertainment stories that either flew under the radar entirely, or were covered inadequately. Here are four in particular that you may have heard about, but not in detail.
The rise of The Weeknd
How is it that the majority of Canadians are familiar with Justin Bieber’s background story and intimately familiar with Drake’s, yet no one knows anything about The Weeknd? This guy went from selling clothes at American Apparel to #1 on the Billboard charts in less than four years.
Global News investigated and dug a bit deeper; The Weeknd (real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) is fluent in Amharic, Ethiopia’s national language, the product of being raised by his grandmother, he was a drug dealer for a brief period in his teens, he dropped out of high school, and he shot to fame almost overnight with the help of fellow Torontonian, Drake. You can read more about Tesfaye here.
Canada’s video game industry explosion
Did you know that the video game industry in Canada is quickly catching up to film and television production as a major contributor to the economy?
The industry directly employs 20,400 people across the country, and there are 472 active game studios in Canada, up 143 since 2013, reports the CBC. Canadians have even been responsible/had parts in the creation of huge games like Dragon Age: Inquisition (Bioware Edmonton), Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Montreal) and Dead Rising 3 (Capcom Vancouver). It’s too bad this industry is almost always overlooked, especially when Canadians are making such a big impact.
David Letterman leaving his post on The Late Show
Sure, there were several Top 10 lists done by most entertainment news outlets, but that was pretty much the extent of it. Once he was off the post, that was that. No one really paid credence to the man who helped shape modern late-night TV. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (who also left their TV-hosting posts in 2015) received way more attention. Letterman was on the air for 33 years, but his infamous intern-cheating scandal a few years back may have damaged his likability.
The death of Bobbi Kristina Brown
Throughout her long and drawn-out passing, sources were sketchy and reports inconsistent. As far as the public knows, Brown was found unconscious in a bathtub, but was on life support for months. There were a few weeks when no one knew if she was dead or alive, on life support or brain-dead, and to this day no one has revealed what the ultimate cause of her death was. As it was in life, she was overshadowed by her mother and father. Sad.