It’s safe to say that 2016 was filled with 365 days of joy, sadness, anger, and astonishment. Many hip-hop and R&B artists brought the good vibes for bad times, spoke out about the social and political disparities in America and dropped albums to remember. Police brutality was at an all-time high (at least when it comes to those reported) and athletic games brought the adrenaline-induced moments to sports lovers around the world.
In between every memorable moment of this last year, there were many smaller stories that never failed to garner a look of confusion. Most of the time, the head-scratching incidents didn’t involve a celebrity or person of influence, but rather an everyday person like you and me. From showing up to your own funeral to going to jail just to take on an act of revenge, VIBE took a moment to look back at all the news stories that made us laugh, hold a blank stare or simply say, “What the fu**?!”
Go down memory lane and flip through these 30 WTF (what the f**k) moments of the year 2016. What story did you read this year that shocked you or made you say, “Wait…what?!”
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The 30 WTF Moments of 2016
Image Credit: Christine Imarenezor -
30. Woman Creates Powerball Reimbursement GoFundMe Page
Image Credit: GoFundMe Cinnamon Nicole alleged to have spent all of her money on purchasing tickets with the assumption she would win the $1.6 billion jackpot, but soon realized the winning tickets were sold in Los Angeles, Florida and Tennessee suburbs.
Despite the chances of anyone winning the jackpot being 1 in 292.2 million, Nicole still decided to go big. Unfortunately, she couldn’t go home because she allegedly had no money… [Continue Reading] -
29. Wife Crashes Her Own Funeral And Shocks Scheming Husband
Image Credit: Washington Post A woman by the name of Noela Rukundo from Melbourne, Australia, who was presumed dead, showed up to her own funeral- very much alive and ready to serve justice to the husband who tried to have her killed… [Continue Reading]
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28. Man Dons Fake Wal-Mart Uniform, Steals A Few Flat Screen TVs
Image Credit: Twitter The culprit walked into the Wal-mart in Colonial Heights dressed as a typical employee – cargo pants, a Wal-mart vest with peculiar pins and a name tag – and loaded four TV’s into a shopping cart before leaving through an emergency exit… [Continue Reading]
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27. Katt Williams Gets Jumped At A Beanie Sigel Concert In Philly
Image Credit: YouTube According to video footage from Williams’ appearance at Beanie Sigel’s concert at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia on Sunday (March 6), the comedian suffered quite the beatdown. At the start of the video, Williams is seen revving up to deliver a punch to a man who remains unidentified at this time… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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26. El Chapo Makes Moves Like A Ghost All While On The Run
Image Credit: Getty Images Guzmán Ortiz’s daughter admits that her father traveled to California twice while on the run from Mexican authorities. “My dad deposited the money in a bank account with a lawyer and a while after he came to see the house, his house. He came twice.”… [Continue Reading Here and Here]
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25. Woman Opens Fire At A Detroit Gas Station
Image Credit: Facebook The altercation reportedly began when two people in two separate cars got into an argument over the weekend, according to the local police. Suddenly, the woman gets out the car, pulls out the gun (from under her skirt) then proceeds to shoot the driver of the other car… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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24. Memphis Mother Charged For Fatally Stabbing Her 4 Children
Image Credit: Facebook/WREG Gardner’s 4-year-old son, and three daughters ages 3, 2, and 6 months, were found dead at the Irene apartments in Shelby County. Neighbors say the family had recently moved into the complex. One of the paternal grandmothers decided to forgive her in light of the horrific tragedy… [Continue Reading]
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23. Katt Williams Gets Placed In A Headlock By A 7th Grader
Image Credit: Twitter In the clip, Williams yells “tap” as his way to end the fight he started with his jab. Those gathered to watch the bizarre fight between the grown man and a child who hasn’t reached puberty yet, pulled them a part, only for Williams to still talk trash… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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22. Man Pours Boiling Water On A Gay Couple While They’re Asleep
Image Credit: WSB-TV Marquez Tolbert and his boyfriend, 21-year-old Anthony Gooden were attacked by Gooden’s mother’s boyfriend, 48-year-old Martin Blackwell. It happened two days before Valentine’s Day… [Continue Reading]
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21. Man Gets Sentenced For Raping And Infecting Niece And Teen With HIV
Image Credit: ABC 13 David Wilson has been sentenced to life in prison following the molestation of his 23-month-old niece and a 14-year-old girl that resulted in the teen’s impregnation and infecting both with HIV… [Continue Reading]
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20. A JetBlue Flight Attendant Was Allegedly Oblivious To Carrying $3M Worth Of Cocaine
Image Credit: Scallywag Officials say they found 70 pounds of cocaine in her luggage earlier this year at LAX. After the search, she reportedly fled the scene, dashed down an upward moving escalator. She also allegedly ran out the terminal and flew cross-country to New York… [Continue Reading]
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19. Teacher Gets Arrested After Video Of Her Hitting A Student Goes Viral
Image Credit: Twitter Mary. A Hastings, 63, hit a student five times while in her geometry class in Ozen High School for swiping papers off the student’s desk. Hastings, who has taught at the Beaumont Independent School District for three years, was arrested and placed on administrative leave… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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18. Man Rapes Woman To Get To Prison And Go After His Son’s Killer
Image Credit: PalmBeachPost.com In August 2014, a woman answered Joel Jones’ Craigslist list ad. Upon meeting, Jones lured a woman into a building under the guise he was offering her a job with his cleaning company. Instead, he viciously raped the woman at knifepoint and then called 911 on himself… [Continue Reading]
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17. Michigan Church Lets People Smoke Weed At Sunday Service
Medical marijuana is legal in the state, and thanks to a 2013 City Charter Amendment, Lansing’s Code of Ordinances does not apply to the use, possession or transfer of less than once ounce of marijuana on private property at least 21 years of age.
Considering the fact that the service will be held at Lansing Herbal Farmers Market, on private property, the church’s ordained minister says he “doesn’t anticipate any problems or abuse.” … [Continue Reading]
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16. Bobby Brown Admits He Fried Chicken With Cocaine When He Was 10
Image Credit: Getty Images Brown says he was unaware his mother sold cocaine to support the family and while away, he decided to fry chicken, a meal his mother taught him to cook. He grabbed a bag of what he believed was flour to coat the chicken… [Continue Reading]
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15. Black Parents Sue Daughter’s School After White Boys Drag Her By A Rope Around Her Neck
Image Credit: The Daily Beast The $3 million lawsuit accuses Live Oak Classical School in Waco, Texas of intentional infliction of emotional distress and gross negligence. The child–who is referred to as KP–was sent to the pricey private school by her mother so she could have a “better education” in a “wholesome learning environment.”… [Continue Reading]
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14. Melania Trump Plagiarizes Michelle Obama’s Speech
Image Credit: CNN After viewers realized Mrs. Trump’s speech wasn’t 100% hers, Twitter decided to do what Twitter does in times like this: create the hashtag #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes and feature some of Melania’s most famous quotes throughout history. Let’s just say it was golden… [Continue Reading]
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13. Wendy Williams Makes Crazy Comment About HBCUs & The NAACP
Image Credit: YouTube The conversation started when the host spoke on the recent petition circulating to get Jesse Williams fired from Grey’s Anatomy after his speech at the 2016 BET Awards. She then went on to say, “On the other hand, I would be really offended if there was a school that was known as a historically white college.”… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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12. A California Database Lists 42 Infants As Suspected Gang Members
Image Credit: Getty Images The CalGang database, as it is called, has been an efficient way for California law enforcement to keep tabs on notorious gang members across the state. However, during a recent state audit, law enforcement agencies across California had trouble verifying key database information… [Continue Reading]
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11. Black Anchors React To ‘World’s Most Desirable Face’ Is Basically All Of Us
Image Credit: Good Day DC It’s not even about how they reacted; it’s the fact that the “world’s most desirable face” is…nevermind. just [Continue Reading & Watch]
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10. Man Admits Responsibility For A Murder His Identical Twin Went To Prison For
Image Credit: Illinois Department of Corrections Karl Smith recently confessed to a murder that dates back to 2003, which his twin brother, Kevin Dugar, took the fall for. “We was acting as one. Where I was, he was, acting like each other…” [Continue Reading]
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9. Black Woman Decides To Paint Her Body White
Image Credit: YouTube Members of the black community are tired, fed up and have reached the end of their rope when it comes to racism and police brutality. In the case of one woman, the last resort is to change her appearance to look more “white.” How? By painting her body white… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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8. Yung Joc Pops Up On Memes Mocking His New Hairstyle
Image Credit: Instagram Sometimes you just never know what will go viral but in the case of Yung Joc’s new hairdo, it’s clear his smooth tresses were going to cause the internet to go wild with laughter. Little did many know, Joc… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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7. Lil Yachty’s Friends Roast Tupac And Say Drake Is The Better Artist
Image Credit: Getty Images / Instagram Lil Yachty’s friends got into a fiery debate with a few elders about who is the better artist, Drake or Tupac? Per Yachty’s friends, “Tupac and Biggie ain’t got sh*t on Drake.” (Their words, not ours)… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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6. Mary J. Blige’s Estranged Husband Reportedly Wants Spousal Support
Image Credit: Getty Images According to TMZ, Isaacs requested for spousal support and financial assistance for lawyer fees. The details were included in Kendu’s response to the singer’s divorce petition… [Continue Reading]
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5. Meteorologist Says Haiti’s Deforestation Is Due To Children Who ‘Eat The Trees’
Image Credit: YouTube While discussing the impact of Hurricane Matthew, which made landfall on Haiti early Tuesday morning (Oct. 4), meteorologist Jennifer Delgado panned to a look at the Caribbean country’s deforestation, which she states might pose a threat to the island more than their neighbors of the Dominican Republic… [Continue Reading & Watch]
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4. College Student Pours Bleach In Pregnant Girlfriend’s Water
Image Credit: Lancaster County Prison he 20 year old Millersville University student confessed to police he intentionally poured the harmful chemical liquid into the glass of water because he didn’t want… [Continue Reading]
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3. Lil Wayne Says He Doesn’t Feel Connected To Black Lives Matter
Image Credit: Getty Images Within the 6-minute sit-down with Nightline, the New Orleans native shared his recollection of his time at Riker’s Island and viewpoints on his vexed language toward women within certain songs. Before the interview came to a close, Wayne cut his time short after he was asked about BLM, and said, “I ain’t no fuc*ing politician.” … [Continue Reading & Watch]
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2. Rihanna’s Hair Being Touched By Sarah Paulson Becomes Meme Gold
Image Credit: Getty Images The ladies were filming at the Church Ave. train stop when a photo was snapped of Paulson touching Rih’s hair. While it could’ve been taken out of context, the singer’s stance and hand gestures say it all… [Continue Reading]
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1. Orlando Brown Gets A Little Too Detailed About His Relationship With Raven Symone
Image Credit: YouTube Former That’s So Raven co-star Orlando Brown talks Miley Cyrus, KeKe Palmer, and more than anyone needed to know about Raven Symone’s body parts. His description of their supposed sexual moments is chuckle-worthy… [Just Watch]