Britney, Bennifer, Beatles and Broadway: Pop culture in 2021

By JOCELYN NOVECK
AP National Writer

It’s never easy to define a year in pop culture, especially in a rollercoaster year like 2021, when we were up and down again, and again, and again. People looked for happiness where they could find it and were cheered by Britney Spears’ new freedom, the renewed love that was Bennifer, and reunions like that of the “Friends” cast — and the Fab Four. And our TV hero was Ted Lasso — the nice guy with an earnest message, whose upbeat show swept the Emmys. Live entertainment was back and people flocked happily to Broadway hits, with the knowledge that at any moment things could change, yet again.