Entertainment
The 7 Most Brat Moments Of 2024
Once Charli XCX’s Brat exploded over the summer, it quickly became a useful barometer to measure the chaos of pop culture.
Charli XCX’s Brat was by far and away the pop culture movement of 2024. The viral, Grammy-nominated album inspired a lime-green wave of listeners leaning into the bold, playful, and sometimes chaotic confidence that comes with knowing — and owning — who you are. Even the album cover’s minimal but iconic artwork speaks to a desire to be disarmingly real. “Where the actual first idea of doing a text cover came from was to save money,” Charli told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, adding her delight at the “punchy” vibe of it all.
Of course, “being brat” is different from being a brat in the pre-Charli sense. That is, the biggest brat moments of 2024 weren’t about being mean or spoiled (per the traditional definition of the word) but about embracing a kind of unpracticed verve we could all use a little more of.
“So many people have asked me, what is brat? And honestly, it’s just, like, an attitude. It’s a vibe,” Charli said during her Saturday Night Live monologue in November — declaring that honestly, “anyone can be brat.”
And in 2024, anyone was. Here’s a recap of some of the best brat moments that defined the year.
Moo Deng
The pygmy hippopotamus with enviably dewy skin captured hearts in 2024. The internet has always celebrated baby animals. But where many of Moo Deng’s predecessors were loved for being cute and cuddly, she caught on for having a little bit of an attitude. Whether nipping at her caregivers or resisting bathtime, Moo Deng has embodied a saucy independent streak that’s total brat-hood.
The Messy Munchkin From Wicked
Airing out the drama is extremely brat. (See: “Girl, so confusing.”) So it’s no surprise that fans celebrated Kirsty Anne Shaw’s so-called “Messy Munchkin” in Wicked — aka, the girl who pushes through the crowd in “No One Mourns the Wicked” to ask Glinda, “Is it true you were her friend?” May we all be so bold in getting to the bottom of it in 2025.
Martha Stewart’s Netflix Documentary
After the release of Martha Stewart’s Netflix documentary, Martha, Charli herself praised the lifestyle mogul for embodying her album’s unapologetic ethos. “When Martha gets mad about an old magazine article, and she says that she’s glad that the journalist who wrote it is dead, that is brat,” Charli said in her SNL monologue. “And then last Friday, when that exact journalist responded and said, ‘Hey! I’m alive, bitch!’ That is extremely brat.”
MJ In The Traitors Castle
Sure, Mercedes “MJ” Javid’s time on The Traitors predated Brat the album. But already, the reality star was embodying the unruffled confrontation that Charli has described as essential to being brat. Watching her sneak around the halls of the Scottish castle in a mesh top and heels, then crash the clandestine meeting of the so-called “Peter Pals” to infiltrate their plotting proves that MJ was ahead of her time in this year of brat-dom.
Chappell Roan’s Red Carpet Call-Out
Noted Charli fan Chappell Roan has earned the distinction of being brat — not just because of the way her music exudes authenticity, but because she’s not afraid to speak up for herself. The singer shouted, “You shut the f*ck up!” in response to a seemingly tense situation at the MTV Video Music Awards red carpet in September.
Kamala HQ
It wouldn’t be a list of 2024’s most brat moments without a nod to Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic campaign for the presidency. Charli tweeting that “kamala IS brat,” and Kamala HQ using the Brat aesthetic across its socials had a viral impact that defined a one-of-a-kind cultural moment.
The “Symphony” Dolphin
If your TikTok FYP looks anything like mine, there was a time when you couldn’t escape the sight of a cute, Lisa Frank-esque dolphin leaping out of the water with joy — accompanied by Zara Larsson and Clean Bandit’s “Symphony” and plain text sharing frank confessions about mental health or embarrassing moments. It works so well in the same way that Charli’s “Apple,” which she’s said is about her “sticky relationship with [her] mom and dad,” does. There’s a lovely juxtaposition in sharing the hard stuff with a fun, infectious beat. It’s the crux of Brat.
