Your 15 Minutes Are Up

It’s Friday, Friday.

1 AMANDA KNOX

KILLER OR VICTIM?

Convicted in 2009 of helping murder her British roommate while they were exchange students in Italy, Knox was exonerated after a retrial this year. In the U.S., the pretty suburbanite was seen as a casualty of an inept Italian judicial system. In an outraged U.K., she was said to be a killer set free. Either way, tabloids rejoiced.

2 QWIKSTER

FAILED VENTURE OF 2011

Before this year, Netflix had always succeeded by keeping its mail-order movie business simple. But when the company renamed its DVD-by-mail service Qwikster–and charged extra for it–800,000 customers fled.

3 CHARLIE SHEEN’S ‘GODDESSES’

GIRLFRIENDS AS PROPS

During his highly publicized implosion, Sheen paraded some of his paramours on various television interviews. (One, Bree Olson, ne Rachel Oberlin, had modeled in Penthouse.) The stunt may have backfired: both of the goddesses left.

4 REBECCA BLACK

FRIDAY’S MUSE

The 14-year-old, an aspiring pop star, posted the year’s most ridiculed video on YouTube. The song, “Friday,” informed us that Friday comes after Thursday and that it is “fun, fun, fun, fun.” Black has so far failed to produce another hit, but the store chain Kohl’s used her song to promote its packed Black Friday sale, which was not as fun, fun, fun, fun.

5 JOHN PIKE

THE PEPPER-SPRAY COP

It was bad enough that Pike, a University of California at Davis police lieutenant, used pepper spray on campus protesters who were sitting on the ground peacefully demonstrating. But it was the casualness of Pike’s brutality that drew an online firestorm. He was later placed on administrative leave.

6 CHRISTOPHER LEE AND DAVID WU

MISBEHAVING CONGRESSMEN

Lee, a New York Republican, resigned from the House of Representatives in February after Gawker published louche e-mails he had sent that included a photo of his naked torso. Wu, an Oregon Democrat, left the House after curious behavior that included dressing in a tiger suit and, more seriously, allegedly forcing himself on a young woman. (He said their encounter was consensual.)

7 MARK BLOCK

STRATEGIST AND SMOKER

A longtime Wisconsin political operative, Block helped persuade pizza mogul Herman Cain to run for President. He then starred in an unconventional ad in which he said Cain would “put united back in the United States,” puffed on a cigarette and then exhaled for a long, seemingly ’70s-inspired moment. It was a gimmick that baffled political analysts but took YouTube by storm.

I keep getting job offers as a bodyguard.

8 WENDI DENG MURDOCH

SPOUSE DEFENDER

Deng Murdoch, 43, sprang into action when a prankster tried to pie her husband, Rupert Murdoch, 80, during a London hearing investigating the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal. Deng Murdoch tackled the assailant, thereby proving she is not just a trophy wife.

9 SOFITEL NEW YORK

WHERE LUXURY MET SCANDAL

In May, International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested after a maid accused him of sexual assault at this hotel. As the charges were reported and disputed by journalists out front, the Sofitel’s facade became famous as a symbol of privilege and impropriety.

10 KRIS HUMPHRIES

A HUSBAND, BRIEFLY

Humphries, a 26-year-old, 6-ft. 9-in. (206 cm) basketball player, married the TV personality Kim Kardashian, 31, after a well-chronicled courtship. Their marriage lasted only 72 days, and now Humphries can retreat into the blithe anonymity of a professional athlete.

11 WILLIAM ADAMS

THE SPANKING JUDGE

Seven years ago, Adams, a county judge in Texas, repeatedly whipped his wailing daughter Hillary, who was 16, with a belt. He was apparently enraged by her illegally downloading songs and video games. Hillary’s surreptitiously recorded video of his brutal, profanity-filled punishment was viewed more than 6 million times after she posted it on YouTube in October. A few weeks later, Adams was suspended from the bench pending the outcome of an inquiry. He has denied wrongdoing.

12 GRACE VAN CUTSEM

THE GRUMPY GIRL AT THE ROYAL WEDDING

A 3-year-old bridesmaid of Kate Middleton’s, Grace covered her ears as crowds cheered when Prince William kissed his new wife. Perhaps unintentionally, the girl conveyed a certain fatigue with all the Windsor hoopla.

13 MILDRED BAENA

SCHWARZENEGGER’S MAID

After California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger left office this year, news emerged that he fathered a boy in 1997 with Baena, a longtime employee. The same year, he fathered another boy with his wife Maria Shriver, who is a former journalist and one of President Kennedy’s nieces. Baena, known as Patty, has tried–with limited success–to shield her son Joseph from media attention.

14 SARAH LANE

NATALIE PORTMAN’S BALLET DOUBLE

Lane told Entertainment Weekly in March that she had been the victim of a cover-up to hide her work on the Portman film Black Swan. Lane said she performed roughly 95% of the full-body dance shots in the movie. The film’s director, Darren Aronofsky, retorted that Lane was featured in only 20% of the shots in his final cut. Lane’s highly public complaint may turn out to be her swan song.

15 TED WILLIAMS

THE GOLDEN-VOICED HOMELESS GUY

A Columbus, Ohio, videographer asked Williams, who was begging for money near a highway, to speak in the basso that Williams had once used in training to become a radio announcer. His crystal-clear delivery earned him a spot on the Today show, but Williams–who had a history of drug and alcohol abuse–had trouble converting his new fame into a full-time job.