12 Artists Who Showed Some Spine in 2025

In a year when too many of our pop culture favorites let us down, these creative people were willing to take a stand (and pull no punches)

2025 may go down in the history books as the Year When Everyone Kept Disappointing Us.

Over the last 12 months, we have witnessed far too many powerful people, from the tech oligarchs of Silicon Valley to the presidents of the Ivy League, bend the knee.

It was a year when too many of our one-time favorites—the comedians who once made us laugh, the actors we admired, the musicians who dazzled us—cozied up to wannabe authoritarians or gladly set aside their professed values for a paycheck.

It was also a year when the country’s media moguls were happy to compromise the integrity of their once-venerated news organizations or cancel top-rated talk shows to appease a president obsessed with minor grievances.

Yet along with these innumerable disappointments, the past 12 months have also brought many inspiring examples of creative people who refused to be intimidated, cowed, or corrupted. Sometimes they spoke out through their work—whether an irreverent animated series or a contemporary protest song. At other times, they did so through social media or public appearances, using their fame to call attention to matters of injustice.

Please, let us know who we missed.

1. Kendrick Lamar

To call Kendrick Lamar’s performance at the Super Bowl in February “heavily anticipated” is a vast understatement. As the first solo hip hop star to headline the annual halftime show, the Compton native was already under enormous scrutiny. Then there was the fact that Trump would also be at the game in New Orleans, becoming the first sitting president to attend. But instead of watering down his act for a president who railed against the supposed evils of DEI, Lamar donned his finest bootcut jeans and delivered a subversive, unapologetically Black halftime show that was laden with political symbolism apparent to anyone with half a brain (in other words: not Trump). There was an ironic Uncle Sam (played by Samuel L. Jackson) who warned Lamar about being “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” There was an army of Black dancers in red, white, and blue who contorted themselves into a torn American flag, making a powerful statement about the bodies that built this country. And because Lamar isn’t above being a little petty while also being brilliant, there was Serena Williams, crip-walking to the Grammy-winning Drake diss track “Not Like Us.”

2. The Artists Who Canceled on the Kennedy Center

When Trump staged a hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center early this year, it was immediately clear that his second term would be all about revenge, especially against the creative community that shunned him the first time around. In response to the president’s cultural coup, numerous high-profile artists severed ties with the organization. TV producer Shonda Rhimes resigned from the board of trustees, while comedian Issa Rae, folk musician Rhiannon Giddens, and dozens of other creatives bailed on prestigious gigs at the center.

Producers of the Broadway smash Hamilton, which was scheduled to appear at the Kennedy Center in 2026, also canceled their booking. “The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center,” said the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, in what turned out to be a prescient comment. Now that Trump has in fact renamed the center, other artists are following suit: folk singer Kristy Lee is reportedly canceling a performance scheduled in January.

@msrachelforlittles

Ms Rachel on Instagram: "This is my friend, Rahaf, from Gaza. M…

3. Ms. Rachel

Before this year, thousands of parents around the world were already fans of Ms. Rachel—a.k.a. Rachel Accurso—because of the engaging, educational videos she makes for preschool children. But in 2025, she was a political force to be reckoned with, thanks to her outspoken advocacy for children in Gaza (and elsewhere), which included a sweet performance with Rahaf, a three-year-old double amputee. Accurso, who aspires to the example set by Fred Rogers, is the rare celebrity whose messages about the conflict seem to have resonated with the wider public, precisely because she is so obviously committed to the wellbeing of children. Accuro’s advocacy has made her the target of bad faith attacks from groups that conflate any criticism of Israeli policy with antisemitism. But she hasn’t flinched. “I have this platform,” she told The Washington Post this year. “Kids gave me this platform, and I want to use this platform for kids.”

4. Jafar Panahi

Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi offers a model of creative defiance that should inspire us all. Known for work that grapples with issues like gender and class, Panahi has been imprisoned multiple times and charged with “propaganda against the regime.” In 2010, he was arrested and banned from making films for 20 years—a prohibition he has bravely ignored, making numerous internationally acclaimed films in secret. A stubbornly persistent thorn in the side of the Islamic Republic, Panahi has made what may be his most overtly political film to date with It Was Just an Accident. Released in October, the darkly comic thriller follows an ordinary mechanic named Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) who has a chance encounter with a man he believes to be the sadistic intelligence agent who tortured him in an Iranian prison. It is inspired by Panahi’s own experiences behind bars.

Shot in secret around Tehran, the film was almost derailed when 15 plain-clothes police officers showed up on set one day and attempted to confiscate the footage. Luckily, that didn’t happen. It was edited in France, and won the Palme D’Or at Cannes in May. Panahi dedicated the win to “all Iranians who are striving for freedom, for human dignity, and for democracy.” It Was Just an Accident is likely to rack up a few Oscar nominations next month, which will bring much-deserved attention to this brave artist and his scathingly funny, deeply personal film. Americans should take some notes.

5. Doechii

Political messages used to be all over the Oscars, Grammys, Tonys, and Emmys. Under Trump 2.0, we’ve seen fewer of the fiery awards show speeches that marked his first term in office. (Who could forget Robert DeNiro’s legendary “fuck Trump” at the 2018 Tonys?) But that doesn’t mean they’ve completely vanished. At the BET Awards in Los Angeles this June, rapper Doechii used the stage to call out the military crackdown on anti-ICE protests nearby. Accepting the award for best female hip-hop artists, Doechii condemned the

“…Ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order,” she said. “I want you all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us? What type of government is that? People are being swept up and torn from their families. I feel it’s my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people—for Black people, for Latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza. We all deserve to live in hope and not in fear. We stand together, my brothers and my sisters, against hate and we protest against it.”

6. South Park creators

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been cranking out episodes of South Park since 1997, back when Comedy Central was still a cable backwater mostly known for reruns. Over nearly three decades (!) on air, they have savagely mocked Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and pretty much anyone who’s anyone in Hollywood or Washington. In Season 27, which debuted this summer, they mercilessly skewered Trump and ghoulish loyalists like Kristi Noem and J.D. Vance. While other satirists struggled to take on Trump 2.0, Parker and Stone displayed a kind of fearlessness that comes with having plenty of F.U. money—but is depressingly rare in today’s billionaire class. The South Park creators happened to close a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount a few days before the infamous premiere episode, which made fun of the Trump-appeasing corporation and featured a nude deepfake of the president and his talking micropenis, which was broadcast on Comedy Central. Well played, gentlemen.

7. Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert has been brutally mocking politicians, sometimes straight to their face, for the last 20 years. In 2012, he even ran for president in his home state of South Carolina in order to call attention to the role of shadowy SuperPACs play in campaign finance. This year, Colbert finally got into trouble for his fearless satire. In July, CBS abruptly announced that The Late Show, the most-watched program in broadcast late night for nine years, would be coming to an end in 2026. The network claimed the shocking cancellation was based on “purely financial reasons,” but the timing told a different story, of corporate appeasement to a wannabe authoritarian. Thankfully, Colbert seems determined to go out with a bang, and hasn’t tempered his jokes about Trump, his bosses at Paramount, or the Epstein files. We will savor every minute until he signs off in May—and look forward to whatever he does next, once he’s free from the shackles of legacy media.

8. Jimmy Kimmel

If you had told me back in 1999 that Jimmy Kimmel, co-host of The Man Show, would one day be described as the “moral conscience” of a deeply divided country, I probably would have responded, “Yeah, sure. And Donald Trump will get elected president!” But it’s true: this year Kimmel, a consistent Trump critic for the last decade, became an unlikely champion of democratic values when Disney yanked his show from ABC because he joked about the conservative reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder. It was all part of a vengeance campaign led by F.C.C. chair Brendan Carr, who was no doubt emboldened by Paramount’s capitulation on Colbert, and for a frightening minute there it seemed like Jimmy Fallon might be the last man standing on network TV at 11:30. But the plan backfired spectacularly: Millions of Americans canceled their Disney+ memberships in protest, and within a few days Kimmel was back on ABC, delivering an impassioned 28-minute monologue defending free speech. The comedian, who forcefully condemned CBS for cancelling Colbert, recently signed a deal that will keep him on the air through May 2027. So take that, Brendan Carr.

9. Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda has been fighting the good fight for the better part of 60 years, and she hasn’t slowed down with age—getting arrested repeatedly during climate protests and knocking on doors for Kamala Harris in Michigan. In the wake of Kimmel’s temporary suspension in October, she enlisted 600 of her showbiz buddies and relaunched the Committee to Protect the First Amendment, the initiative her father, Hollywood legend Henry Fonda, spearheaded during the dark days of the McCarthy era. “I’m 87 years old. I’ve seen war, repression, protest, and backlash. I’ve been celebrated, and I’ve been branded an enemy of the state,” she said in a statement. “But I can tell you this: this is the most frightening moment of my life.”

10. Billie Eilish

At just twenty-four, Billie Eilish has already accomplished more than most of us will in a lifetime, winning nine Grammys, two Oscars, and releasing three chart-topping albums. But don’t hold her precocious success against her, because Eilish is also willing to use her wealth and fame for good, championing causes including the environment, abortion rights, and an end to the war in Gaza. Maybe most impressive is her willingness to put her money where her mouth is: In October, she donated $11.5 million to causes including food equity and climate justice. Accepting a prize from WSJ Magazine in a room that also included Mark Zuckerberg, she urged the ultra-wealthy to do the same.

“We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than, kind of, ever, especially in our country….I’d say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things, maybe give it to some people that need it,” she said. “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.” Zuckerberg reportedly stayed silent while the rest of the room erupted with applause.

11. Bad Bunny

2025 was a big year for Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, the thirty-one-year-old pop superstar better known as Bad Bunny. Not only was he the most-streamed global artist on Spotify, he staged a hugely successful concert residency in his native Puerto Rico rather than touring the continental United States because he feared ICE raids at his shows. In September came the news that he would be the halftime performer at the Super Bowl this coming February. The news prompted a jubilant reaction from the musician’s millions of fans around the world and a predictably idiotic response from conservatives like Kristi Noem, who vowed that ICE would be “all over” the event, and Turning Point USA, which announced it was producing an alternative “all-American” halftime show (the lineup has yet to be announced). Bad Bunny took it all in stride. Hosting the Saturday Night Live season premiere in September, he said he was excited to perform at the Super Bowl, calling it an achievement for Latinos in the U.S. “It shows our footprint, and our contribution to this country, that no one will ever be able to take away or erase,” he said in Spanish, before switching back to English.. “And if you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”

12. Jesse Welles

A few years ago, Jesse Welles’s father had a heart attack. After the harrowing experience, the shaggy-haired musician began to write songs about current events that blended old-fashioned folk stylings and earnest political messages with an ironic sense of humor and social-media savvy. Welles says he “started singing the news” in order “to make sense of what’s going on around me.” He’s helped the rest of us do the same. In an era in desperate need of a defining protest song, the Arkansas native has cranked out dozens of anthems with titles that say it all: “Ozempic,”“Venezuela,” “War Isn’t Murder,” “The Poor.” This year the staggeringly prolific singer-songwriter released four—count ‘em, four—albums, was nominated for four Grammys, and performed his timely song “Join ICE” on The Late Show in October. “If you’re lackin’ control and authority/come with me and hunt down minorities,” he sang. “Join ICE.”

Meredith Blake is the boss Cultural Columnist of The Contrarian. If we could add her name and her sharp, unfailingly on-point columns to this list without inserting our words into her post, we would.