top 25 Report/May 1 To 7, 2022

Prepared with commentary by YttriumShrew, Igordebraga, Benmite, SSSB and an anonymous editor

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This week's Report is all about taking us back in time, whether we like it or not, and Great Scott, is it a doozy. While fashion's biggest night (#21) momentarily took us all back to the Gilded Age, a time period rife with egregious wealth inequality and corrupt politicians – or perhaps it just reminded us that the current time period isn't all that different – the Supreme Court decided the 1970s were back in vogue and stripped American women of the abortion rights guaranteed to them nearly half a century ago with Roe v. Wade (#3).

Some of the stars of yesteryear who couldn't make it to the Met Gala still managed to make it onto the list, like blonde bombshells of the '50s (#14) and explosive redheads of the '80s (#5), while bombs continue to explode in a war (#10) that's been in the headlines for so long it's starting to feel like Groundhog Day. Other, more alive celebs (#2 and #4) are still stuck in the past, reopening old wounds for the viewing public in a court case about a long-gone relationship, in which one, both, or neither parties were abusive and manipulative depending on which rabid Twitter fanatic you ask.

Speaking of manipulation, a man who can manipulate time and space is the subject of our top entry, while time and place are all mixed up for Marvel's other big new hero (#11, #18), a man with DID who acts as the vessel for an ancient Egyptian god. Across the pond, the groovy '70s and the roaring '20s are the focus of two films, both of which recently became the third (#24) and fourth (#6) highest-grossing Indian films of all time (#9). Elsewhere, the real McCoy (#23) of the '90s (the 1890s, not the 1990s) got a Google Doodle, and we go back to the future with the potential acquisition of Twitter by a self-proclaimed time lord (#7), plus some sports stuff (#15, #20). Let's do the time warp agaaaaaaain!

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	About
1	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness		3,442,958		The first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie of the year brings back Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Steven Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts, trying to protect multiversal traveler America Chavez. Director Sam Raimi still has the sensibilities that resulted in the first three Spider-Man movies, and shows his horror movie credentials, as the film has many jump scares, cruel deaths, and makes a terrifying villain out of someone who used be on the side of the heroes. Reviews were positive and Multiverse of Madness beat the Distinguished Competition for the biggest opening of the year with $450 million worldwide.
2	Amber Heard		2,513,708		Ah, Depp v. Heard. My favourite thing to write about. Amber Heard took the stand this week in the defamation trial that has occupied a significant part of the news and the internet since it began on April 11.
3	Roe v. Wade		2,373,194		Ruh-Roe! In 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction, effectively legalising abortion. However, now there are hopes/fears (depending on position on abortions) that the world's most famous court ruling might be overturned following a leak of the first draft of a majority opinion. Many states either have laws that uphold the legality of abortion, or have trigger laws that would outlaw abortion in the event of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision being overturned.
4	Johnny Depp		1,981,410		It's unusual to see two legal cases in the top 5, but 2022's weird. Depp's lawsuit focusses on the idea that Amber Heard's 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post about the culture around victims of sexual abuse caused irreparable damage to his career, and in particular his firing from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. This seems a bit dubious because Heard's article wasn't really even about the allegations (although the claim was undeniably part of the story), Depp's firing might not have been about the allegations at all, and even if it was, they were ruled to be substantially true in a previous case in 2020. To me it seems pretty hard to argue that Johnny Depp is in the right here, but then again, I'm not the internet.
5	Naomi Judd		1,704,981		A legendary country singer, mother of both actress Ashley Judd and Naomi's partner in the duo The Judds, Wynonna. The Judds split in 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with hepatitis C, with reunions on occasion, including a Super Bowl halftime show, a 2011 tour and most recently a performance at the 2022 CMT Music Awards. Naomi, who also had a presence as host and judge in television, had long struggled with mental illness and decided to end her life on April 30, at the age of 76, the day before The Judds would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which also forced the cancellation of a farewell tour The Judds would perform in the second semester.
6	K.G.F: Chapter 2		1,396,418		The most expensive and most lucrative Kannada film ever is now the third-highest-grossing Indian film of all time. We already detailed its success last week, so there doesn't seem like much point rehashing it, but FWIW it looks like the K.G.F franchise will continue with a third chapter.
7	Elon Musk		1,184,411		Most of this week's Elon Musk news was about how he plans to finance his acquisition of Twitter. You see, Musk doesn't actually have $44 billion because almost all of his wealth comes from his Tesla stock, which he can't sell because then he'd have to pay taxes on it. He's therefore only paying some of the money out of his own pocket. The rest will come from a loan he's taken out from some banks using Twitter and his own Tesla stock as collateral, and he's also got some money from other billionaires. There have been reports he may be able to lower the price he pays for the company in later negotiations, but the plan as it is now will leave Twitter with a substantial amount of debt going forward, which will likely pose significant challenges to the platform.
8	Cinco de Mayo		1,077,194		The year's most self-explanatory entry returns again. One can only hope this is from people finding out where it comes from as opposed to the date on which it occurs.
9	List of highest-grossing Indian films		1,062,340		Both third and fourth are green on this list, which isn't something you see often.
10	2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine		1,034,627		Ten weeks in, and Russia's invasion is still awful. The news this week was dominated by the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant and U.S. intelligence claims about them helping Ukraine to sink the Moskva and kill Russian generals.
11	Moon Knight (miniseries)		983,691		The same week the MCU returned to theaters with #1, its first Disney+ show of the year finished with the emergence of another Egyptian deity-powered hero, and the reveal of a third personality for the title character. And sadly for those who liked the show, there is no confirmation of Marc Spector returning for more, whether in movies or a second season (but star Oscar Isaac said he's willing to come back).
12	Ashley Judd		934626		#5's daughter who didn't sing with her, but made a name for herself in Hollywood in films like Kiss the Girls, no matter if her career didn't soar so much. She cried a lot having to speak for Naomi and half-sister #17's Country Hall of Fame induction.
13	Deaths in 2022		880,232		And when this building is on fire These flames can't burn any higher I turn sideways to the sun And in a moment I am gone...
14	Marilyn Monroe		792,813		It's been 60 years since the quintessential sex symbol died, and works for this anniversary have started to show. One is the Netflix documentary The Mysteries of Marilyn, that manages to solve a question regarding the identity of Norma Jean Mortenson's father. Kim Kardashian also served up a stunt by wearing her dress to #21.
15	Ronnie O'Sullivan		747,213		As discussed last week, this Englishman won the 2022 World Snooker Championship for a joint-record seventh time, a modern era record he holds jointly with Stephen Hendry.
16	Ozark (TV series)		688,605		The conclusion of this Netflix show (to be specific, seven episodes comprising the second part of the fourth season) was released on April 29.
17	Wynonna Judd		627,170		Christina Claire Ciminella, who once her mother (#5) changed her name did the same thing, taking her surname and a name based on the town of Winona, Arizona, formed a highly successful duo with Naomi and kept herself on the country charts as a solo artist. In the words of her half-sister (#12) as The Judds were inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame, Wynonna is a GOAT - “I don’t think she knows I’m calling her the ‘Greatest of All Time'. She lives on a farm. She’s being a little literal.” - who deserved to be described as ‘Elvis-like’.
18	Moon Knight		583,336		The main character of #11, a mercenary named Marc Spector turned into a vigilante empowered by the Egyptian god Khonshu. He also develops alternate identities for his jobs, which the show treated as downright dissociative identity disorder.
19	Lily-Rose Depp		537,412		The fashionista daughter of Johnny Depp (#4) and Paradis (#22) isn’t the focus of the defamation trial her father is currently involved in with another former lover of his (#2), but her name did come up a few times when said former lover Heard mentioned that she was concerned about her wellbeing during the course of their relationship, specifically when Johnny introduced Lily-Rose to marijuana at age 13.
20	Carlo Ancelotti		530,415		Real Madrid won La Liga this week. This means their manager has become the first manager to win Europe's five main domestic leagues, as he has previously won the Bundesliga, Premier League, Serie A and Ligue 1.
21	Met Gala		509,529		Anna Wintour's annual celebrity-extravagance-fest took place this week at the eponymous Met; this year's event was based on high fashion in the Gilded Age. In case you don't know, the Gilded Age was a period characterised by increasing inequality and wealth concentration, with a wealthy élite living a luxurious life while most people were in poverty. At this point I'm supposed to make a clever connection to the modern era, but I can't think of one. Anyway, the broad tone-deafness of the whole thing didn't exactly help the reputation of an event already often thought of as excessive and tasteless.
22	Vanessa Paradis		504,546		#19's mother during her decades-long relationship to #4, from whom she split in 2012.
23	Elijah McCoy		499,732		An African-American engineer who (among other things) developed a successful system for lubricating steam engines and is thought to have originated the phrase "the real McCoy". As you might have guessed, he's on this list because of a Google Doodle.
24	RRR (film)		475,681		Both RRR and K.G.F 2 were already in the 1000 Crore Club, and are now both in the 10 Million Views Club, as both articles collected their 10 millionth view of 2022. They actually both did it on the same day. Coincidence? Probably.
25	Eid al-Fitr		462,122		Keeping the Depp v. Heard lawsuit itself off the list is the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.