22 Pop Culture Facts Famous Women<\/p>\n
1.<\/p>\n
In Liza Minnelli’s memoir Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, she revealed that her mother, Judy Garland, had a close relationship with John F. Kennedy<\/a>. Their families would vacation together at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port. And whenever Garland and Kennedy had long talks on the phone, he asked her to sing lyrics from “Over the Rainbow,” one of her signature songs from The Wizard of Oz<\/a>. The legendary performer happily obliged.<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n There’s a huge pop culture<\/a> rumor that child pageant queen JonBen\u00e9t Ramsey<\/a> was never murdered<\/a> in her Colorado home in 1996. People believe she grew up to be the pop singer Katy Perry<\/a>, which…is untrue and a rumor that originated with conspiracy theorists on YouTube. Although we still don’t know who really killed Ramsey in the ’90s, she was unfortunately killed. She just didn’t grow up to be Perry<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n Madonna’s long dating history<\/a> not only includes famous men, like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Warren Beatty<\/a>, but also famous women. Back in the ’90s, the Queen of Pop was linked to model Jenny Shimizu (who also dated Angelina Jolie in the ’90s). In the docuseries In Vogue: The 90s, Shimizu recalls their sexual relationship<\/a> and how everything was essentially on Madonna’s terms.<\/p>\n 4.<\/p>\n And speakinggggg of Madonna, while promoting her upcoming album Confessions II, she sat down with Grindr and had an open conversation about sex, revealing a lot of wild secrets<\/a>. When asked about the best lover she’s ever had, she didn’t hesitate to name-drop John F. Kennedy Jr., which, GOOD FOR HER!<\/p>\n 5.<\/p>\n In 2001, Winona Ryder was caught stealing over $5,000 worth of designer items from Saks Fifth Avenue (including Marc Jacobs pieces). She went to court for it, wearing some of Jacobs’ items during her appearances. Because of the incident, Ryder’s acting career didn’t receive as much attention, and she left the public eye for a while. But the coolest thing to come out of this? Marc Jacobs and Winona Ryder started a long-lasting friendship and collaboration. When it came to the Spring 2003 ad campaign, Jacobs revealed<\/a> to Hello! magazine, “I asked Winona to do the campaign because I thought she looked so beautiful in all these pictures that we’ve seen recently, regardless of whether they were from the trial.”<\/p>\n Years later, in 2016 and 2022, they collaborated<\/a> again, and Ryder starred in Jacobs’ beauty product<\/a> and handbag<\/a> ad campaigns. Talk about the sweetest kind of revenge!!! Rock on, Winona.<\/p>\n 6.<\/p>\n In Destiny Child’s “Bootylicious” music video, Beyonc\u00e9, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams had Stevie Nicks playing guitar in the beginning sequence. This was an homage to Nicks, since the group sampled the rock star’s hit “Edge of Seventeen.”<\/p>\n You can listen to “Bootylicious” here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 7.<\/p>\n On an episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Viola Davis sat in the chair to discuss her iconic EGOT-winning career, childhood, and more. But the one story that stuck out was her experience filming Doubt with the legendary Meryl Streep. Davis revealed<\/a> to Poehler that she was beyondddddd starstruck by Streep (naturally) because she had followed her entire career. As a result, she was especially awkward around her and didn’t know how to handle being on set with her. And if you’re a fan of Streep, then you sometimes do silly things to impress her, as Davis did.<\/p>\n 8.<\/p>\n Katharine Hepburn revealed in a rare 1985 interview that, as a teenager, she used to break into houses (and even steal a thing or two, like a crocodile nutcracker).<\/p>\n 9.<\/p>\n Before they made it big as members of Fleetwood Mac in 1975, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham formed a rock band in the late-’60s called Fritz<\/a>. In their early twenties, they played every gig they could land \u2014 and one of their most notable gigs was opening for legendary singer Janis Joplin<\/a> in Cleveland in 1970.<\/p>\n Janis Joplin yelled at Stevie Nicks and the rest of Fritz off the stage because their set went over their allotted time. “Being yelled off the stage by Janis Joplin was one of the greatest honors of my life,” Nicks said<\/a>. “On walks this girl in silky bell-bottoms, a beautiful top, lots of gorgeous jewelry, feathers in her crazy, big natural hair. Lots of attitude, arrogance, the crowd in the palm of her hand. She was not a beautiful woman, but very attractive. I was very taken with her.”<\/p>\n 10.<\/p>\n While filming their makeout scenes in Grease, Jeff Conaway (Kenickie) actually gave Stockard Channing (Rizzo) hickies<\/a> you see in the malt shop scene. Channing said that Conaway was “was really feeling his oats.”<\/p>\n 11.<\/p>\n While some TV actors feel annoyed by being perceived or known only for their most popular role, Lisa Kudrow feels the opposite. When it comes to Phoebe Buffay<\/a>, the hilarious and kooky character she portrayed on Friends for 10 glorious years, she’s not at all bothered when “normal” people recognize her as Phoebe (even 32 years later).<\/p>\n And another fun fact? Lisa Kudrow filmed The Comeback (2026) on Warner Bros. Stage 24, the same set<\/a> where she filmed Friends. Full-circle moment? Full-circle moment!<\/p>\n 12.<\/p>\n Rita Moreno was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Marlon Brando for eight years, which has always been glamorized by the public. In a 2021 interview with AP, Moreno revealed the truth behind her relationship with Brando, which was actually toxic. In the interview, she said<\/a>, “We did a movie together long after I tried to do away with my life, and all of that had to do with my relationship with Marlon Brando. The movie’s called The Night of the Following Day [1969] … and I hauled off and slapped him in this scene … And, to my absolute astonishment, he not only slapped me back, he slapped me back so hard I \u2014 I now understood what it meant when you said, ‘I saw stars.'”<\/p>\n 13.<\/p>\n In Carrie Fisher’s home in California, she collected a ton of eccentric items, placing them around every room, nook, and cranny on the property. In the 2016 documentary Bright Lights, she gave an ultimate tour of her fun house (which was downright iconic). She showed off unique items, like a player piano in the bathroom, funny Prozac art<\/a> in the kitchen, and a traffic light hanging from a tree in front of her house. The only person who could pull off this brilliant type of celebrity home decor was Carrie Fisher, and Carrie Fisher only!<\/p>\n 14.<\/p>\n Olivia Dean, aka the 2026 Grammy winner for Best New Artist<\/a> (!!!!!), was named after the legendary Lauryn Hill. Dean’s parents blessed her with the middle name Lauryn because they’re huge fans of Hill’s music. “I feel like I channel it a bit, the power of Lauryn Hill,” Dean revealed<\/a> to HELLO! Magazine. “I haven’t seen her live, though. I sort of want to just preserve where she exists in time for me. I listen to [The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill] now all the time.”<\/p>\n But the beautiful kicker? Olivia Dean got to see Lauryn Hill perform<\/a> at the 2026 Grammys when Hill gave a stunning tribute to the late D’Angelo and Roberta Flack. Life, man!!!<\/p>\n 15.<\/p>\n Sabrina Carpenter was inspired<\/a> by the 1992 film Death Becomes Her for her “Taste” music video. The video costars Jenna Ortega, and you see the two women fighting over a man in a very bizarre way, much like Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn did in the original film. (Sabrina and Jenna’s version is slightly bloodier, though.)<\/p>\n And she wrote her big hit, “Juno,” after watching…well, Juno (2007). During her NPR Tiny Desk concert, she claimed<\/a> it was initially a “joke song,” but it came to fruition for her album Short n’ Sweet.<\/p>\n 16.<\/p>\n Jennifer Lopez has a personalized (usually bedazzled) Swarovski cup<\/a> made for whatever project she’s working on at the moment. On Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers’ podcast Las Culturistas, Yang recalled this when he worked with Lopez on Saturday Night Live. “She was in Ego [Nwodim]’s office, and her and I were just talking. We were like: ‘Oh my god, J.Lo, we love your cup!’ and she was like: ‘I do one for every project.’ It’s full Swarovski crystal.” D’Arcy Carden, who was a guest on the episode, said<\/a> Lopez had a “small grenade” on her cup when they filmed the upcoming movie Shotgun Wedding together.<\/p>\n 17.<\/p>\n On The Graham Norton Show, Salma Hayek talked about hosting a party with a Donald Tr*mp pi\u00f1ata. She wasn’t afraid to express the joy it gave her when she stepped on it, which, good for her!!!<\/p>\n 18.<\/p>\n In Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker wanted Carrie’s character to use as little profanity as possible while shooting scenes and writing her columns. That’s ultimately the direction they took for all six seasons of the series. If you rewatch it now, notice how little Carrie curses (if at all).<\/p>\n 19.<\/p>\n In the early ’70s, Jessica Lange moved to Paris to study mime<\/a>. “I [discovered mime] through this experimental modern-dance theatre in New York in the ’60s, working with a woman named Ellie Klein,” she revealed<\/a> to Interview Magazine in 2013. “I thought, ‘Mime…I love it, it’s beautiful, but I don’t know if this is something that I can do.’ So, it was a natural next step to try acting.”<\/p>\n 20.<\/p>\n In 2015, Brittany Howard (and Alabama Shakes) performed at Prince’s home, Paisley Park. They jammed together on Alabama Shakes’ song “Gimme All Your Love,” and after the night ended, Prince called Howard up. “He called me, and he had a super-deep voice,” Howard revealed<\/a>. “[He said], ‘Did you have a good time tonight? Check your email \u2014 we should work together.'”<\/p>\n 21.<\/p>\n In 1970 when political activist Angela Davis was arrested in New York City for a crime she was wrongfully accused of \u2014 and even threatened with the death penalty \u2014 many famous musicians came forward to show their support. Big names like Aretha Franklin offered $100,000 to $250,000 to post bail for Davis. “Angela Davis must go free. Black people will be free. I’ve been locked up, and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace,” Franklin told<\/a> Jet Magazine in 1970. “I have the money \u2014 I got it from Black people. They’ve made me financially able to have it, and I want to use it in ways that will help our people.”<\/p>\n Nina Simone also showed her support by visiting Angela Davis in jail and giving her a balloon to lift her spirits. In the 2012 documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners<\/a>, Davis recalled, “Nina Simone came and visited me for a long time. She came in with a balloon, which the jailers did not want me to have, but I fought for that balloon because I love Nina Simone!”<\/p>\n 22.<\/p>\n And Jane Fonda and Marilyn Monroe were in the same Method acting class<\/a> \u2014 the Actors Studio \u2014 which was run by legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg. “I sat next to Marilyn Monroe in Lee Strasberg’s classes. She and I would sit in the back of the room,” Fonda recalled on Oprah’s Master Class in 2012. “She’d have no makeup on, dark sunglasses, and a scarf around her head. She was too scared to get up and do anything.”<\/p>\n