<![CDATA[The former Empire star made headlines this year when he claimed to be the victim of a racist and homophobic attack near his Chicago home in January. Smollett detailed his side of the story in a sit-down interview with Robin Roberts one month later. After a lengthy investigation, the actor was charged with a felony for making a false police report. Prosecutors dropped the charges, but the city of Chicago expected Smollett to pay a $130,000 fine in return.]]>
<![CDATA[Kevin Hart]]>
<![CDATA[After suffering major injuries in a devastating car accident in September, the Ride Along star has been constantly updating fans on his long road to recovery. The comedian revealed to Ellen DeGeneres in December that he's already healed.]]>
<![CDATA[Lori Loughlin]]>
<![CDATA[The Full House alum drew waves of backlash for her involvement in the nationally scrutinized college admissions scandal. Following her indictment in March, Loughlin and her husband are each facing up to 60 years in prison for money laundering and bribery.]]>
<![CDATA[Felicity Huffman]]>
<![CDATA[The Desperate Housewives alum has served her time for her own role in the college admissions scam and was released from a federal prison in California after 11 days in October. Huffman's sentence also included a $30,000 fine, a year of supervised release and 250 hours of community service.]]>
<![CDATA[Keanu Reeves]]>
<![CDATA[The Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure star had a bit of a renaissance this year, with a stellar cameo in Netflix's Always Be My Maybe, brilliant character work in Toy Story 4 and a huge box office hit that beat the Marvel franchise at its own game, John Wick: Chapter 3.]]>
<![CDATA[Rami Malek]]>
<![CDATA[2019 was a huge year for the Mr. Robot star. In February, Malek became the first person of Egyptian heritage to win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Two months later, it was officially announced that he would be rounding out the cast for the highly-anticipated 2020 movie Bond 25.]]>
<![CDATA[Joaquin Phoenix]]>
<![CDATA[Not only did Phoenix star in what was maybe the most talked about comic book movie of the year, but the Joker actor also announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend, Rooney Mara.]]>
<![CDATA[Kate Beckinsale]]>
<![CDATA[The Serendipity actress is thriving over 40! Though her divorce from Len Wiseman was just finalized in November, Beckinsale has been enjoying single life and even briefly mingled with Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson at the beginning of the year.]]>
<![CDATA[Halle Bailey]]>
<![CDATA[A whole new world! The Grown-ish star scored the role of a lifetime this year: Ariel in Disney's live action remake of The Little Mermaid.]]>
<![CDATA[Maisie Williams]]>
<![CDATA["A girl has no name." The Game of Thrones star was at the center of one of the most shocking television plot twists of the year and some fans still haven't gotten over it.]]>
