Meet the Men who Entertained, Scandalized, and Inspired Us This Year
We love a bad boy over here at ELLE.com.
While we've had our fill of actually bad men in 2016, there are also a number of guys whose must-see, must-wear, must-hear work has caught-and held-our attention with its boundary-pushing brilliance. From fashion darlings who've captured the current laissez-faire glam mood to new late-night larrikins and meme geniuses, these are the bad boys who've entertained, enlightened, surprised, and scandalized us this year. We spoke to them about what 2016 has brought-good things and, of course, very, very bad things.
The Beauty Boy: James Charles
His Instagram bio reads "Just a 17 year old with a few blending brushes," but we all know James Charles has a little more going on than that. The teenager was named the face of CoverGirl this year, making him the first ever male ambassador for the brand. It's no surprise that Charles does all his own makeup for CoverGirl shoots-while he started off his beauty career as a hairdresser, the first time he ever put makeup on, it was this not-beginner-level Halloween look. With his next-level talents and cheeky glee, he's gained an adoring audience (think 1.1 million Instagram followers) and has showed that pushing gender boundaries in beauty is nothing short of badass.
What was the worst thing about this year?
I think the worst thing about this year was Donald Trump winning the president-elect title. His victory was a major step backwards and because of the morals he ran on, I think it represents how far we still have to go to become an accepting and welcoming society. It was a disappointing moment for me as someone who stands for equality.
What's the worst thing you did in 2016?
The worst thing I did in 2016 was waste my time getting upset over cute guys.
What's the worst thing you've ever done?
The worst thing I've ever done was sneak into a club to see a drag show. I can't say how I did it because it could get me in trouble, but I definitely did not get in with any form of ID. Was it worth it? Absolutely.
What's the best thing that happened this year?
For me, the best thing to happen this year was becoming the first male CoverGirl. The world was shook and the experience has been so thrilling and fun so far. I've gotten so many messages from kids telling me I've inspired them to express themselves through makeup, which is the reason I do what I do in the first place.
What are your predictions for 2017?
For 2017, I think people will continue to break boundaries and start new trends. 2016 was filled with tons of iconic videos, dances, words, styles, and people in general. I hope that creative and talented people will continue to prosper and take over.
The Transatlantic Two: Swet Shop Boys
One's a silver-screen actor, one's responsible for a song about a combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bell. One's from Queens, the other's from London. One's Indian, one's Pakistani. Despite their differences, the combination of Riz Ahmed (who somehow found enough downtime between starring in The Night Of, The OA, and Rogue One to be an MC as well) and Himanshu, of Das Racist infamy, is absolutely apropos. As Swet Shop Boys, they laid it down on debut album Cashmere, produced by Redinho and released this year. The duo's songs veer between flippant and flip-offs, with lyrics like: "Oh no, we're in trouble / TSA always wanna burst my bubble / Always get a random check when I rock the stubble." Part playful, and a good part political, these "boys" are nowhere near as bad as the trash-fire world they excoriate.
What was the worst thing about this year?
Himanshu: Bowie, Prince, Trump, Brexit.
Riz: Bowie, Prince, Trump, Brexit.
What's the worst thing you did in 2016?
Himanshu: Swet Shop Boys.
Riz: Swet Shop Boys.
What's the worst thing you've ever done?
Himanshu: "Pizza Hut Taco Bell."
Riz: "Post 9/11 Blues."
Who do you think was the bad boy of 2016?
Himanshu: Riz.
Riz: Himanshu.
What's the best thing that happened this year?
Himanshu: Swet Shop Boys.
Riz: Swet Shop Boys.
What are your predictions for 2017?
Himanshu: Global warming will somehow drown only white supremacists. It's a hopeful prediction.
Riz: Hate inspires creativity so I'm hoping for some good art to come out of the mess that was 2016.
The Scammer: Branden Miller
If you're a messy bitch who lives for drama, then you're no doubt already an acolyte of the Internet's Joanne the Scammer. Created and thoroughly embodied by Branden Miller, a 25-year-old comedian, Joanne was arguably one of 2016's most iconic figures. Whether she ensnared you in the drakeandrihanna.com mystery, the secrets of "caucasian living" (hint: break into Chelsea Peretti's house), or just her general opera-level drama, Joanne's likely jacked your life this year. Maybe it was in GIF form, or in your friends' sudden willingness to admit they have always been "a liar and a scammer." But in a year when many of us felt played by the world, Joanne was there to play it right back with us-and Miller was the genius who brought us along for the ride.
What was the worst thing about this year?
I actually enjoyed this whole year.
What's the worst thing you did in 2016?
Smoke over 5000 Newport shorts.
What's the worst thing you've ever done?
Steal money from my mother.
Who do you think was the bad boy of 2016?
Regis Philbin.
What's the best thing that happened this year?
Being introduced to the world.
What are your predictions for 2017?
I'm working on a musical project that I plan to take over the world.
The Diva-Dressers: Baja East
Scott Studenberg and John Targon's Baja East is responsible for the "bad-but-maybe-really-good-girl" aesthetic perfected by celebrities like Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, J.Lo, Miley Cyrus, Teyana Taylor, and Winnie Harlow. Recognized this year by The Daily Front Row for the 2016 Fashion Los Angeles Emerging Designer Award and as finalists for the 2016 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, the duo has made this year-only the label's third-completely theirs. And they capped off a busy fashion calendar by staging a party in a parking garage. All of which is to say: Keep your eyes on these guys.
What was the worst thing about 2016?
Scott: Donald Trump getting elected President.
John: Aleppo.
What's the worst thing you did in 2016?
John: When we smoked a joint on stage with Rae Sremmurd. That was pretty badass.
What's the worst thing you've ever done?
Scott: This was years ago-I would never say this now. But when I used to work in a restaurant I called this one woman a c*nt and I told her she needed to get the fuck out. I mean, that's pretty bad, but she was really horrible!
Who are your favorite bad boys of 2016?
John: [UFC Lightweight Champion] Conor McGregor. Because he's like the perfect mix of trashy pimp and cool fashion guy.
Scott: It's not me-I'm good.
John: Also, Alber Elbaz-because of what happened at Lanvin, and because he spoke his mind. He's a bad boy inspiration. He busts his ass for a company and he made it something really special, and then he got fucking booted, and now he's gonna come back and we're excited to see what he's gonna do next.
What's the best thing that happened this year?
John: We had a woman run for president.
Scott: Halloween. Me dressed as "Cranes in The Sky" purple-yarn Solange, dancing between Kelly and Beyoncé singing the opening to "Bootylicious." All of us were on cue, serving our best "Can you handle this?"
What are your predictions for 2017?
John: I would love to see who is gonna dress Melania Trump, honestly, because, like, who the fuck is gonna do that? I'm just curious. And I'm not saying I would love to-I'm like, what idiot is gonna do that? I'd love to see what idiot is gonna do that, honestly. Also, metallic bronze lace is what I'm looking forward to.
Scott: It's part of our new collection.
The Pundits: W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu
Those who found the election a bewildering tangle even before it was over found friendly-and funny-guides in W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu. The two comedians started their podcast, Politically Re-Active, in June this year. With guests like Roxane Gay, Kathleen Hanna, dream hampton, and Van Jones, Bell and Kondabolu dissected both the minutiae and the broader picture of American politics. Irreverent, unflinching, and, somehow, also a good time, the podcast was a much-needed platform for informed, informal political conversation, even for people who thought they were all on the same side.
What was the worst thing about this year?
W. Kamau Bell: The worst thing about this year is that the election took away from America confronting more grassroots all-around issues that we still haven't confronted. Black Lives Matter, immigration-there was all this sort of pageantry around the election that actually distracted us from the actual real shit that we need to talk about.
What was the worst thing that you did in 2016?
Bell: I didn't see my kids often cause I was traveling too much. How about that one? Boom!
What is the worst thing that you've ever done?
Bell: Wow! Jesus Lord…come on, ELLE.com! I thought we were friends!
I've hurt my wife's feelings in totally unforgivable, unredeemable ways that she has forgiven. I think about those things every day, which doesn't mean I'm a good person now. Just means I'm like, "God, can't do that again."
Who do you think was the bad boy of 2016?
Bell: I'm just trying not to say Trump. Fine, Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump. Just put "Kamau said Trump to infinity."
What is the best thing that's happened this year?
Bell: I think-I'm hoping-the best thing that happened this year is that people who spend most of their lives sitting on the fence got a real wake-up call about the realities of this country. So for 2017, they will not be sitting on the fence. They will actually be in the field and doing the work with those people who have already been in the field doing the work.
Also one of the best things that happened to me this year was the fact that this little podcast that came out of nowhere really has had a big effect on people's lives. So much so that now that we're not doing it, people are really beaming for it. What a good time to be promoting progressive political conversation.
What are your predictions for 2017?
Bell: My predictions...Kanye will make a startling comeback and we will all fall in love with him again. Drake will still be Drake. It won't be much better but it won't get any worse. His streak of being Drake will be alive. And comedians are going to be way funnier overall. Music and comedy are about to have a 1960s-style apex.
The Scribe: Tony Tulathimutte
When Jonathan Franzen, Emma Cline, and Curtis Sittenfeld praise your debut novel, that should really be the definitive opposite of "bad." Ditto accolades like "most exciting" (Buzzfeed), "most anticipated" (Flavorwire), or "first great millennial novel" (New York Magazine). But Tony Tulathimutte's Private Citizens' "badness" is in how it reads: are those scorch marks or words? Set in San Francisco, the novel details the post-college lives of Linda, a dominatrix ("denying orgasm to bankers five hours a week"), intense activist Cory, "short Asian guy" Will, and prescribed-up-the-wazoo Henrik. Tulathimutte examines and flays his characters with equal parts OTT clarity and wise-ass humor.
What was the worst thing about this year?
Between Zika, Nice, Pulse, Paris, Flint, the passing of the 400 PPM CO2 threshold, the passing of Prince, Ali, Bowie, Cohen, and Vine, not to mention the bowel-ravaging election, the worst thing about this year was this entire fucking year.
What's the worst thing you did in 2016?
Tried and failed to lowkey seduce a married woman in a filthy non-working bumper car. Also, checked Facebook.
What's the worst thing you've ever done?
I was the lead singer in a Ben Folds Five cover band. Even back then I knew that wound would stay fresh.
Who do you think was the bad boy of 2016?
Putin. What a scamp!
What's the best thing that happened this year?
My novel came out, which is also the worst thing, if you ask the Guardian book review editors.
What are your predictions for 2017?
War, famine, plague, homicide, genocide, the destructive cultural regression of industrial nations, obscene concentrations of legally plundered wealth, the piteous death knell of free press and factuality as a value, but also some legendary trick shot videos.
The New Late Night: Desus Nice and The Kid Mero
The first time you listen to the Bodega Boys podcast, the pure onslaught of information and long-gestated in-jokes is profoundly disorienting. The second time, you're like, "Wow, is this problematic?" The third time, you download every single one of the episodes afterwards and you f*cking love it. Hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero have been honing their rapport and ever-ready patter for years, and the result is punishing pop-culture commentary punctuated with beer-and-weed fueled hilarity. In any given episode-or any given sentence-the Bronx natives might talk Hamilton, quaaludes, the Knicks, and the joys of fatherhood. 2016 saw Desus and Mero land their own late-night talk show on VICELAND, bringing their no-sacred, all-profane art to screens four nights a week-a relief for those who think "the other late night shows are corny AF."
What do you guys think was the worst thing about 2016?
Both: Donald Trump.
Mero: If it wasn't for Donald Trump, there might be a strong running of things that were the worst things in 2016, but he came in and just crushed it. He went in a landslide.
Desus: Yeah, remember before him we were all scared of the clowns and stuff. They were showing up and stealing and scaring the hell out of you. He just showed up and we forgot all about that!
Mero: We forgot about the clowns, we forgot about Zika, we forgot about everything.
What is the worst thing that you did in 2016?
Desus: Oh, the worst thing I did in 2016? Yeesh. I don't know if I can legally say.
Mero: I've been consistently stealing stuff from Target for the past four months. And I don't feel that guilty about it because Target is a huge corporation, but I guess in terms of real societal rules, that might be the worst thing that I've done. I smoke a lot of weed, but weed is legal now so…Probably the worst thing I've stolen is paper towels. You know when you stick something under the bottom part of your cart and you kind of forget about it? The first two times I forgot about it and then the following five times I forgot about it with air quotes.
What is the worst thing that you have ever done?
Desus: I'm trying to think about what I can say that's not incriminating and won't get me sent to jail. One time I was really, really, really hungry and I was on the train platform. It was like the L train on Lorimer or Bedford. I had gotten McNuggets and then they fell on the actual platform and I had to do the five-minute rule and pick them up and eat them. People saw, but I wasn't famous or anything so no one reported it but it was just like, "Yo, this guy is nasty!" But you know what, I was drunk and God's working on all of us and those McNuggets were really good.
Mero: Actually…this is kind of gross. I was at a party and, you know, I had a little too much to drink. There was a girl at the party who wanted to be intimate with me. You know what I'm saying? So she requested that I enter the bathroom with her. While we're in there, I told her I needed a minute to myself. What that meant was that I had to throw up violently all over the place and then bring her into the bathroom and make out with her with vomit mouth.
Who was your favorite bad guy of 2016?
Desus: Negan from The Walking Dead. He mashed cantaloupe head all over the screen and had everyone crying.
Mero: I want to say Drake because this is when Drake became a heel. It used to be that Drake was all fuzzy and loveable, and in 2016, he started having beefs with people and like having altercations and shit like that. He's becoming like a badass now. We're seeing a little bit of evil Drake.
Desus: He's like that kid that, you know, he gets bullied at school, he's been working out, he's going to karate class, he's got moves down, he's fed up.
Mero: He's had enough of your crap.
What's the best thing that happened in 2016?
Desus: We got a TV show.
Mero: We got a TV show, which is cool. I had a daughter, which I've been waiting for for years. After everything I finally got a girl, so that was very exciting for me.
Desus: Don't assume her gender.
What's your top prediction for 2017?
Mero: Taylor Swift is going to drop a rap album.
Desus: Kanye is going to come up with a line of couches. But they're going to be like weird couches, they're not going to have legs or anything. They're gonna float. They are going to be couches that are useless but we're all going to kill each other so we can get one.
Mero: It's gonna be just a pile of toothpicks with a sheet over it. Very modern.
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