The Worst People of 2017

We know what you're saying: "f**k 2017," right? This has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. In damn near every sector of pop culture, politics, food... hell, even the holidays were full of some bullsh*t. That said, as we run down all of the "bests" from the last 12 months, it's only right that we take moment to look back at the people who made this year the absolute worst. At the very least, we need to reflect on their f***ery so we can hopefully not repeat it in 2018.

From the actual highest job in the land to the torch-bearing babies who helped elect that man to that position, this list takes a look at the people who were associated with some of the darkest, most depressing moments throughout the year. The people who your collective timelines would groan "not THEM again" whenever a new piece of their corrosive puzzle was presented. That isn't to say that 2017 would be better if none of these people existed; there's a long list of names that didn't make the cut. It's just that, when we define the people who pissed us off the most over the last 12 months, it's this group that takes the cake and tried to sleep with it.

Hopefully, we'll be smarter in 2018... or we'll make sure to get these people the f**k up out of here so we don't have to endure quite this level of insanity over the next 365 days.

The Real Predators of Hollywood

Harvey Weinstein. Matt Lauer. Louis C.K.. Russell Simmons. Kevin Spacey. Jeffrey Tambor. James Toback. The list keeps growing, but since October, victims of sexual harassment, abuse, and rape from these (and many other) men in the entertainment industry have spoken up and spoken out, helping turn the #MeToo hashtag into a true movement. It also helped expose what many knew: the entertainment industry has been full of powerful white men who apparently know no limit to their own dominance, and will use it to their advantage. And while we're glad that sites like Rotten Apples will help us make informed decisions on keeping out film-binging sexual predator-free, it sucks that we live in a world where this is not only necessary but has been kept so quiet for so many years. —khal

XXXTentacion

XXXTentacion's 2017 started and is now ending with him being in some kind of lockdown. The controversial Florida-based rapper began the year in jail, with his single "Look At Me" getting acclaim online that was only heightened due to the disturbing domestic violence case he was facing. XXX inherited a beef with Rob Stone and ended up getting knocked out on-stage by the rival rapper because of it, only to then do wild sh*t like getting into brawls at music festivals, which included beating someone in the head with the microphone. This is the same man who turned a beef with Drake into getting jumped by the Migos. All the while posting mock videos of himself getting hanged on Instagram to promote the problematic music video in which he is hanged. And after all of this, he's ending 2017 on house arrest after being hit with 15 counts of witness tampering stemming from his 2016 domestic violence case. Maybe we should just X out XXXTentacion in 2018. —khal

The Charlottesville Protestors

Racists gonna be racist, but you would have thought that in 2017 they’d be a little more subtle with it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case back in August when several hundred white nationalists and white supremacists—mostly dressed in khakis and polo shirts—descended upon the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for a Unite the Right rally. Armed with Tiki torches, presumably to further illuminate their racism and bigotry, these well-dressed thugs proceeded to chant cringe-worthy sentiments like, “Jews will not replace us,” “White lives matter,” and “F*ck you, faggots!” Counter protests spilled into the following day, which resulted in three deaths, 11 arrests, and over 38 injuries. Congratulations, you played yourself. —Anslem Samuel Rocque

Martin Shkreli

If your name was Martin Shkreli, you'd think that after getting hit in the face with dog sh*t to start off your 2017, you'd take a backseat in your trollery. Apparently, Shkreli thought this was an invite to do whatever the hell he wanted, and spent the rest of 2017 being a thorn in hip-hop's side. Sure, he ended up being convicted on three counts of fraud and conspiracy, stemming from his days of mismanaging hedge funds, but he also has his hands on a pair of sought-after hip-hop albums: two-discs of material that's essentially Lil Wayne's Tha Carter V and the Wu-Tang Clan's one-of-a-kind album (that might not even be a Wu-Tang album) Once Upon a Time In Shaolin. And he had no problem playing them online for whoever wanted to check out his livestreams, even though Weezy's been threatening lawsuits against Shkreli. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though: the Feds might actually be seizing both albums from Shkreli, but we hope this means that people who aren't frauds and trolls get to hear the projects. Or, they just might end up sitting in an evidence box, which could actually be Shkreli's biggest "F you" to the world. —khal

Team Trump

Trump couldn't f**k America up without a dedicated squad of idiots, and they all showed their ass during 2017. From Sarah Huckabee Sanders apparently not being sure of JFK and Kennedy being two different presidents and Kellyanne Conway making the term "alternative facts" a thing to Vice President Mike Pence, who apparently wants to hang all gay people and will leave a football game if you kneel during the national anthem. It takes a f***ed up army to help put one of the worst people ever into the highest office of the land; it takes an equally disgusting batch of douches to enable him through what's been a truly trying year. Expect this group of idiots to continue to top these lists until Trump's term is up—or his antics get us all blown up. —khal

MIley Cyrus

If there was an award for Best Pop Culture Vulture of the Year, Miley Cyrus would be a shoe-in. After appropriating hip-hop culture to shape the sound of her 2013 album, Bangerz, the pop starlet decided she was over rap and was going back to her “rootsy” musical beginnings with her latest project, Younger Now. The reason? “[Hip-Hop] was too much ‘Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my cock,’” she explained to Billboard. “I am so not that.” Okay. This is the same girl who performed topless while wearing a strap-on, and has repeatedly humped blowup dolls and inflatable penises on stage. The blatant backsliding and contradictory comments were rightfully met with heavy criticism, and Miley solidified her position in the pop culture doghouse once again. —Anslem Samuel Rocque

Ajit Pai

For what it's worth, many of us had to take a crash course in what the net neutrality repeal meant for our everyday Internet lives; you can't expect everyone to have already known who Ajit Pai, the Chairman for the Federal Communications Commission was. While he was an Obama appointment; it was Trump who put Pai on as the Chairman of the FCC in January of 2017, and in December, it was his face that was plastered on every website when it came to the FCC's vote to repeal net neutrality. Part of that is no doubt due to Pai linking with the Daily Caller to make a corny web video assuring people that they could still Harlem Shake if net neutrality is deaded, as if people were still rocking with that meme. Where they really f***ed up is in using the actual "Harlem Shake" song without permission; the irony of using copyrighted works in a video featuring the FCC Chairman. Funny how life works. —khal

Lena Dunham

Not too long ago, Vanity Fair asked if Lena Dunham could recover from her "high profile mistakes." In short? Of course she can. She's white, she has a beloved HBO series under her belt, and she's white. That's enough, right? Look, for as woke as she pretends to be, it was wild to see Dunham stick up for the Girls writer who was accused of raping an actress. It's like she chucked her feminism out the window all in the name of a writer friend who worked on her old show. Then again, this is the same woman who was exposed for her "hipster racism" by now-former Lenny Letter scribe Zinzi Clemmons. It's like, you would assume this wasn't the picture we'd see painted about Lena Dunham, but realistically, of course this is the picture of Lena Dunham we're not seeing painted. And if you're worried, don't: she'll be fine. —khal

Kendall Jenner

Within the Kardashian/Jenner clan, Kendall probably is the "good" one. She just made a few bad choices this year. First there was her faux-woke Pepsi commercial that promptly got pulled for missing the cultural sensitivity mark by a mile—whoever thought calming down a cop in the middle of a protest with a can of soda was a good idea needs to be fired (again?). Then there was the whole other controversy she and baby sis Kylie got into for trying to use copyrighted images on a series of vintage T-shirts. Probably her most offensive act this year, though, was allegedly failing to leave a tip on a $24 tab at a Brooklyn bar and eatery. Tipping is always optional, but not when you’re an uber-rich model/socialite from an even richer family. There's still time to Venmo your server, Kendall. —Anslem Samuel Rocque

Donald Trump

What’s a worst people of the year list without Donald Trump? Incomplete. What deplorable act didn’t Agent Orange do in 2017? Here’s a short list of some of Trump’s most notable SMH-moments in year one as POMPUS POTUS: In his first week in office Trump signed an executive order travel ban that unjustly targeted Muslims and sparked national protests; he fired and hired cabinet members like his presidency was the latest season of The Apprentice—even Omarosa Manigault made a brief cameo this season year; he refused to denounce the Tiki-torch carrying white supremacist in Charlottesville, instead calling them “very fine people;” and he got into Twitter beefs with athletes, entire sports teams, rappers, TV shows, and most frighteningly world leaders and countries. He also just continued to lie about any and everything he possibly could. And this is just the abridged version of his year of terror. At this rate, he's shaping up to be one of the worst people in history. —Anslem Samuel Rocque