looking back

Ring, ring! 13 times karma called for people in 2021

2021 was one for the record books.

In addition to a never ending global pandemic, this year we saw the first president in U.S. history to be impeached… twice, a killer cop was found guilty and sentenced to prison, someone actually married Matt Gaetz, and, oh yeah, there was a failed coup on the U.S. government.

It was also an epic year for karma.

From homophobic politicians to toxic male pop stars to failed gubernatorial candidates, pedophile reality TV personalities, and more, a lot of well-deserving people have their receipts cashed in this year…

Rudy Giuliani

via Shutterstock

Between being named in a billion dollar defamation lawsuit and having his law license suspended, having Federal investigators execute a surprise pre-dawn search of his Manhattan apartment and office, being stiffed hundreds of thousands of dollars by Donald Trump, getting banned from Fox News, and being trolled by a Tik Toker, it hasn’t been a great year for the former-New-York-Mayor-turned-national-embarrassment.

Related: Rudy Giuliani, broke and friendless, was just dealt another devastating blow

Justin Timberlake

The former boy bander was hit by a tidal wave of negative criticism in February after that Framing Britney Spears documentary painted him out to be a total jerk who shamelessly used the pop princess to advance his own career after they broke up in 2002. He was hit by another tidal wave of negative criticism in November after that Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson documentary painted him out to be a total jerk who shamelessly threw the dance diva under the bus after exposing her breast to millions of people on live TV in 2004.

Related: The internet has canceled Justin Timberlake’s “MAY!” meme and given it to someone more deserving

Matt Gaetz

The antigay Florida frat boy spent most of 2021 denying accusations that he paid a high schooler for sex and burning through money paying for high profile lawyers to help fight a federal investigation into his alleged actions. On top of that, his fundraising dollars dried up, resulting in his reelection campaign operating at a loss for most of the year. Oh, and to and insult to injury, most of his friends have stopped returning his calls because they’re afraid the FBI is monitoring his communications.

Related: Matt Gaetz’s friends have all ditched him, won’t answer texts, joke about how he’s totally screwed

Jussie Smollett

Three years after claiming to be the victim of a violent hate crime at the hands of Donald Trump supporters, the former actor was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police about the attack. He now faces up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Related: Jussie Smollett is about to go through some things after yesterday’s guilty verdict

Josh Duggar

While we’re on the subject of guilty verdicts, the antigay activist/admitted child molester was found guilty by a jury of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. He now faces 20 years in prison plus a $250,000 fine for each count.

Related: Antigay activist Josh Duggar can now add “convicted child sex predator” to his esteemed resumé

Jacob Wohl

The amateur conspiracy theorist/smear campaigner/OnlyFans model who once falsely accused Pete Buttigieg of sexual assault finally had his date with karma this year when he was slapped with a $5 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission over an alleged illegal robocalling scheme to suppress voter turnout and help get Donald Trump reelected in 2020.

Related: Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly hired OnlyFans star Jacob Wohl for $25,000 last month

John Barrowman

This was a truly disappointing one… The out actor was fired from Doctor Who: Time Fracture and axed as a judge on Dancing on Ice after he was accused of exposing himself at work on numerous occasions. In a statement, Barrowman apologized for his past “high-spirited behavior” and promised to do better in the future, saying that “with the benefit of hindsight, I understand that upset may have been caused by my exuberant behavior.”

Related: John Barrowman accused of sexual misconduct on set, admits to “tomfoolery” and “exuberant behavior”

Jenna Ryan

The Texas realtor/Trump superfan made headlines when she took a private plane to Washington, D.C. to break into the U.S. Capitol building and then posted all about it to her social media pages. Afterwards, she bragged about how she was “definitely” not going to jail because she’s white. So you can imagine her surprise when a judge sentenced her to two months in prison and ordered her to pay $1,500 in fines.

Related: Insurrectionist who said she’s “definitely” NOT going to jail because she’s white sentenced to prison

Perez Hilton

In a rare moment of quasi-introspection, the notorious gossip blogger acknowledged in a September interview with The Sunday Times that he’ll probably never be forgiven for all the horrible things he did to people over the years, like all the times he outed LGBTQ celebrities for sport. “I am irredeemable in the eyes of most,” the 43-year-old said. “No matter how much I change, grow, evolve, apologise, they refuse to see me for who I am today.”

Related: A brief, probably incomplete list of all the LGBTQ celebrities Perez Hilton tried to destroy

Mike Richards

Days after hiring himself over Anderson Cooper and Robin Roberts to replace Alex Trebek as permanent host of Jeopardy!, Mike Richards stepped down from the gig after old episodes from his podcast resurfaced in which be made all sorts of misogynist, anti-Semitic, anti-Asian, classist, and fatphobic remarks.

Related: Mike Richards quits “Jeopardy!” gig after being outed for past bigotry, says he has “work to do”

Kevin Whitt

The ex-gay Republican field organizer/QAnon enthusiast was fired from his job with the Texas GOP after participating in the January 6 insurrection. Days later, his audition tape for RuPaul’s Drag Race surfaced online. “The reason drag is important to me and is an important part of my life, is that drag is like therapy for me,” Whitt said in the video, “and hey, it’s not like I have to pay a therapist!”

Related: WATCH: “Ex-gay” QAnon queen’s ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ audition tape resurfaces

Ted Cruz

The homophobic Texas senator was widely ridiculed in February after he was busted for sneaking down to Cancún, Mexico while his state was in the middle of a deadly winter weather event then tried blaming the whole thing on his 10 and 12 year old daughters. This was after he tried to undermine democracy by objecting to the certification of the 2020 presidential election results, which ultimately resulted in a violent mob descending on the U.S. Capitol.

Related: Twitter cares more about Ted Cruz’s poodle Snowflake than Ted Cruz does

Caitlyn Jenner

Last but not least… It has certainly been a year for the problematic reality TV personality. Jenner launched a disastrous gubernatorial campaign in California in which she repeatedly voiced her support for banishing homeless people from the state and banning trans athletes from competing in sports. In the end, her little vanity project cost her thousands and thousands of her own dollars, won her roughly 1% of the vote, and turned her into a joke among Democrats and Republicans alike. She capped off her crappy year by being kicked out of the Beverly Hills Hotel for wearing ripped jeans to dinner.

Related: Caitlyn Jenner “can’t believe” her election defeat, bitterly says voters get what they “deserve”

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