As the curtain falls on 2025, Tinseltown is still buzzing from a year packed with fresh controversies, unexpected scandals, and dramatic feuds that reshaped the narrative of celebrity culture.
In this year, a whirlwind of legal battles, PR disasters, abrupt career downfalls, and messy celebrity feuds that dominated headlines week after week.
These moments weren’t just sensational stories—they influenced public sentiment, disrupted key players, and exposed the delicate reality behind Hollywood’s carefully crafted image.
Here are some of the major Hollywood controversies in 2025 — legal, cultural, and ethical — that have made headlines and sparked debate.
List of major controversies in 2025:
Justin Baldoni vs. Blake Lively legal disputes takes shocking turn in 2025
In June and again in October 2025, the legal fight between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni shifted dramatically when a federal judge dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, and the New York Times after he missed the deadline to amend his claims.
The case originated from Lively’s December 2024 lawsuit accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us and of running a smear campaign against her—allegations he denied while countersuing for defamation and extortion.
Sean "Diddy" Combs sentence
_updates.jpg)
In 2025, Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to over four years in prison and fined $500,000 after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, though he was acquitted of more serious racketeering and sex-trafficking charges.
'Snow White' remake backlash
The 2025 Snow White remake sparked backlash over several issues.
It includes Rachel Zegler’s casting as a character traditionally described as having “skin as white as snow,” her comments calling the original film “dated” and sexist, Disney’s decision to replace the dwarfs with CGI characters, and criticism surrounding Gal Gadot’s political views.
Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad controversy
Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad stirred backlash for using a “jeans”/“genes” pun that critics said promoted eugenics and outdated beauty ideals.
The controversy grew when political figures, including Donald Trump, weighed in, though the campaign still ended up boosting the brand’s sales.
Chris Brown defamation lawsuit
Chris Brown has filed a $500 million defamation lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery and the producers of the documentary Chris Brown: A History of Violence.
The lawsuit, filed in January 2025, alleges the documentary falsely portrays him as a "serial rapist and sexual abuser".
Jimmy Kimmel suspension
In September 2025, ABC temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after Kimmel’s monologue on Charlie Kirk’s death drew controversy.
He criticized Trump and his supporters for politicizing the murder, comparing their grief to “how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Jimmy Kimmel’s show has since been reinstated and is back on the air.
