The 11 Worst People of 2016

Image via Complex Original

Notorious for drunkenly raping a young woman found unconscious in an alley, former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner ignited national conversations about college campuses and rape culture when he got a slap on the wrist for his heinous crime. Turner spent his trial attempting to justify his wrongdoing, flexing his privilege with both peers and the judge, and was subsequently sentenced to just three months in jail (of which he only served half of the time). Turner's failing is multiplicitous​: he didn't own up to his crime, he showed no remorse for the consequences of his actions, and not only did his trial illustrate the insidiousness of rape culture—he benefited from it, too.

American swimmer and international menace Ryan Lochte traveled to the Rio 2016 Olympics to represent the United States, but managed to earn a gold medal for shame instead. Lochte and his fellow swimmers pulled a total frat-douche move when they got drunk and trashed a gas station. Once caught, Lochte lied to authorities and media about being held at gunpoint by a local. Some poor innocent guy probably would've been punished for it, too, if it weren't for those meddling surveillance cameras.

After he announced plans to direct, star in, and release Birth Of A Nation, the story of Nat Turner’s rebellion, Nate Parker seemed like a black superhero. But when old rape allegations against Parker resurfaced, things took a dark turn. The director, writer, and producer was tried for the rape of a college classmate, who later committed suicide after Parker's acquittal. As his film's release drew near, Parker drew public ire when he went on 60 Minutes and mentioned being "falsely accused" again, emphasizing that he owed no apologies.

"I feel terrible that this woman isn’t here… her family had to deal with that, but as I sit here, an apology is—no," Parker said. 

Rather than using his platform to launch serious dialogue about college and consent, Parker side-stepped conversations about sexual assault allegations and the consequences of rape culture. Actress Gabrielle Union said in an interview that Parker's past and present behavior was enough to dampen the potential of The Birth of a Nation. "It's like we all got thrown out," Union said. "It's like the baby and the bathwater all went down the drain." 

Was there anyone more annoying in 2016 than Tomi Lahren? The constantly angry, shrieking conservative talking head somehow managed to take positions against Black Lives Matter movement, Beyoncé, and Colin Kaepernick—all while arguing that she has nothing against black people. And when The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah interviewed Lahren, she went for the gold and told him that “as a Millennial,” she reject labels. Whose mans is this?

The Chinese zodiac may say otherwise, but 2016 was the year of the clown. Across the nation and around the world, people were dressing up as creepy colorful fools and frightening everyone in their paths. There were even reports of clowns trying to kidnap children, carrying knives, and assaulting bystanders. Some clowns just roamed the streets terrorizing the public with nothing more than their eerie, grinning presence. Terrifying AF.

Your un-friendly neighborhood Twitter troll and hate monger, Yiannopoulos is perhaps the most despicable voice of the Trump-backed conservative news site Breitbart, where he's written such articles as "The Solution to Online 'Harassment' Is Simple: Women Should Log Off," "Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy," and "There’s No Hiring Bias Against Women In Tech, They Just Suck At Interviews​."

Yiannopoulos' most notable transgression came, however, when he waged a digital attack on comedian Leslie Jones, earning him a rare Twitter ban. He spearheaded a hack of Jones’ website, leaking what appeared to be naked photos of the Ghostbusters’ star as well as her government photo IDs—all because she dared to be a black woman in the public eye.

If fault could be pinned on anyone for swaying the election in Donald Trump’s favor, it should probably be on FBI Director James Comey. Throughout 2016, Comey seemed hell-bent on suggesting that Hillary Clinton was a criminal not worth electing due to the alleged mismanagement of her emails.

After clearing her of any criminal wrongdoing during the summer, Comey re-emerged in the crucial weeks leading up to Election Day and released a bombshell letter announcing a reinvestigation. The consequences were instant; Clinton’s poll numbers fell and, well, we know the rest of the tragic story.

Kanye made her famous, then made a song about making her famous. Then, she lied about her involvement in the “Famous” song. In a moment that set social media on fire emoji, Kim Kardashian West exposed singer Taylor Swift for the sneaky snake she is by releasing footage of a conversation between Swift and Kanye on Snapchat. The internet decided the snippets proved Swift was lying about not approving Ye's name-drop. That moment when Kanye unknowingly tapes your convo and Kim proves you’re a liar...priceless.

Back in September, Dunham and Schumer had a wildly insensitive interview that sent the internet into a tizzy. In Lenny Letter, the two basically objectified actor Michael B. Jordan, when Dunham said she attempted to “grind her ass on for 20 minutes.” They they went on to bash football player Odell Beckham, Jr. for not having googly eyes for Dunham when the two sat next to each other at the Met Gala. Twitter users were pissed at the way Dunham projected misogyny onto Beckham, Jr. and hit her with a barrage of negative tweets. Schumer mistepped again later in the year, when she angered the Beyhive with her parody of "Formation." Both comedians attempted to backtrack, but we kind of think they should just go away for a while and think about their choices.