Welcome to the 11th annual Fug Madness tournament, our bracket-style elimination contest -- decided by you, the voters -- to determine which celebrity had the worst year. The contest will begin with Round One on Thursday, March 21, and your printable bracket is right here, in groovy printable PDF form.
If you're not familiar, or need a refresher: We started Fug Madness back in 2008, as something fun to do in conjunction with the basketball March Madness tournament. That is why our timing is a little weird, and why our eligibility window is not as simple as "all of 2018," or whatever. We go from Oscars to Oscars -- so, after the Oscars of 2018, through the 2019 Oscars. In this year's case, those dates are about March 6, 2018, through Feb. 26, 2019 (adjusted because sometimes we are still covering the Oscars, or their post-parties, a day or two after the telecast).
- If a notable event happened before the Oscars but ran on the site afterwards -- hello, Independent Spirit Awards! -- then it counts in this year's window.
- Please don't vote based on that thing you remember that person wearing that time, unless you're sure it's within the window. Otherwise, it probably counted toward another year's Fug Madness.
- When the contest begins, we'll write posts with a representative sample of outfits from each person, and links to others, but those aren't the only outfits on which to base your vote. They're just what we're using to illustrate the post, and to amuse ourselves, because writing these posts demands it
Our list of celebs is broken up into four brackets. College hoops uses regional names for its brackets. We use all-stars: Cher, Bjork, Charo, and Madonna. The brackets, much like with the tournament itself, are not themed. We much prefer mixing up the contenders the whole way through, and we do so at random. Here's how:
- We read our archives, and surf Getty and Shutterstock and other sources, and get a feel for how the celebs' eligibility period was. Some years we have more time for this than others; we do our best.
- We decide which four are the one seeds, which are the two seeds, the three seeds, and so on and so forth.
- We take the four names in the ONE SEEDS list and plug them into an internet randomizer, which scrambles the list. The name that comes back first goes into Cher, second to Bjork, third to Charo, fourth to Madonna.
- Thus, we have no godlike control over which matchups we get; there is no massaging things to force a certain clash. What will be, will be.
- Due to recent events, we removed Paris Jackson from the lineup. There are conflicting reports about what, if anything, actually happened this weekend, so we're stepping out of it for now.
If you're not happy with our choices, you are always welcome to voice it! But please be kind about it, and be aware that there isn't a TON of point to yelling at us. First, it's unpleasant. Second, this is all just for fun. It's not personal. We are not trying to ruin your day or violate the natural order of the universe. There are no secret messages to our choices. And if you think we got a seeding wrong... I mean, we may well have. This is arbitrary. Sometimes -- just as with basketball -- it's thrilling when a 10 seed proves so poorly placed that they march all the way to the Elite Eight. Embrace it! And if you're new, welcome to the madness.
AND NOW.
- Dua Lipa
- Bebe Rexha
- The Hadids
- Chloe Grace Moretz
- Winnie Harlow
- Laverne Cox
- Emily Ratajkowski
- Peyton List
- Olivia Munn
- Meghan Trainor
- Janina Gavankar
- Ashanti
- Haim
- Karen Gillan
- Ariel Winter
- Janelle Monae
Welcome in, Dua Lipa! You had a big year -- you were the Best New Artist at the Grammys, and now you are a No. 1 seed. It is a heavy burden. CARRY IT WELL.
- Rita Ora
- Jennifer Lopez
- Rowan Blanchard
- Kate Beckinsale
- Evangeline Lilly
- Cynthia Erivo
- Hailee Steinfeld
- Lindsey Vonn
- Suki Waterhouse
- Tyra Banks
- Kristen Stewart
- Emma Stone
- Victoria Justice
- Maren Morris
15. Rumer Willis - Tara Reid
Kate Beckinsale vs. Victoria Justice is going to be fun.
- The Kardashians
- Kat Graham
- Lady Gaga
- Chloe Sevigny
- Nicki Minaj
- Halsey
- Ashley Graham
- Tracee Ellis Ross
- Ciara
- Angela Bassett
- Ellie Goulding
- Celine Dion
- Lucy Boynton
- KiKi Layne
- January Jones
- Alison Brie
So, as with the Hadids, we have made the Kards a monolith -- but just Kourtney, Khloe, and Kim. We couldn't ignore Kim's vintage Mugler. We just could not. You mess with the beast, Kimothy, you get the horns. But there are some substantial contenders who could unseat them.
- The Jenners
- Katy Perry
- Tessa Thompson
- Heidi Klum
- Noomi Rapace
- Jackie Cruz
- Teyana Taylor
- Dascha Polanco
- Rihanna
- Nafessa Williams
- Christina Hendricks
- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
- Iskra Lawrence
- Rosamund Pike
- Rachel Weisz
- Blake Lively
Per the logic in the last bracket, the Jenners means Kylie and Kendall. Largely thanks to Kendall, they have a real shot at this thing. But don't sleep on Katy Perry and Tessa Thompson, who had some woeful wardrobes this year themselves.
Go forth and fill out! Again, click here for the printable PDF.