We at Playboy did the noble work of searching high and low for the Sexiest Moments of 2025—but far easier (and far more dispiriting) was the compilation of the year’s least sexy moments. This is not a list intended to distinguish who is the least sexy of the year—that would not be very gentlemanly—but rather, an inventory of just how prudish (or downright bizarre) our society’s become. The Labubu and ChatGPT arrived on the scene like twin horsemen of the Apocalypse, for example, and the only thing more alarming than a workplace affair captured at a Coldplay concert was the sudden and pervasive feeling that our sex lives are all going to suffer under the surveillance state. All of this is to say nothing about the legislative and judicial rollbacks of everything from how we watch porn to how we make decisions about reproduction. These are dark times, indeed. Just not the kind of dark we like to fool around in.
1. The SKIMS Faux-Bush Thong
SKIMS generally does sexy well, but their “faux bush” merkin thong stunt was stolen valor. Grow out your real bush, coward!
2. Gooning Enters the Mainstream
You may have already had the sense this year that something was deeply wrong with our sexual culture, but no story cut to the depths of it quite like the Harper’s essay “The Goon Squad,” which details the depravity of the “gooning” subculture of men for whom masturbation is their sole hobby. Read at your own risk, honestly.
3. Katy Perry Goes to Space
She wanted to “put the ‘ass’ in astronaut,” but Katy Perry’s Bezos-sponsored space flight fell flat. The all-female space flight was positioned as a feminist statement — an exploration of the final frontier that has long been dominated by men. In reality, it felt like little more than a stunt, one step closer to the billionaire-led space colony of our dystopian future.
4. The Coldplay Kiss Cam Couple
It was the kiss cam that ruined lives, tore apart families, and led to at least one pseudo-sympathetic New York Times profile. It was also further evidence that workplace affairs really have no place in the age of the surveillance state—or TikTok.
5. Those Taylor Swift Lyrics About Travis Kelce’s Dick
Taylor Swift let herself off the leash this year. She got more candid, talked about sex in her songs, and dipped her toe into feuds with other artists. We’re all for another new era from America’s sweetheart—and we’re big fans of the Showgirl album cover—but the transition to sexual innuendo might require a collaborative effort. “Redwood tree, it ain’t hard to see / His love was the key that opened my thighs.” Guys, we can do better than this.
6. The Wicked Sex Cardigan
Thanks to Wicked: For Good, we now have an answer to the question truly nobody ever asked: What would the Wicked Witch of the West wear before having sex? Apparently, the answer is a confusingly chunky, ratty gray cardigan. Someone send us Elphaba’s address so we can mail her some Honey Birdette.
7. Ryan Lizza’s Substack
Olivia Nuzzi’s book gave us a glimpse into her affair with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr—and if that wasn’t enough, her ex, Ryan Lizza, launched an entire Substack practically hellbent on scorning her. That gave us RFK’s poetry debut, with “Yr open mouth awaiting my harvest” being a particularly hellish lowlight. Infidelity can be pretty unsexy—but a pay-to-play revenge newsletter? Even unsexier.
8. The Supreme Court Upholds Texas’ Porn Ban
In June, SCOTUS upheld Texas’ HB 1181, which is a law that requires age verification—in the form of ID submission—to access sites like PornHub. While the Court’s liberal Justices argued for the protection of the freedom of speech, the conservatives of the Court argued that the law protects children, which they claim is a government interest. Once again, we’re witnessing what Playboy fought against in the founding decades of this publication: a religious minority that imposes its beliefs on our nation, claiming to center the safety of children but really just prioritizing its own Puritanical values. Adult content now faces restrictions in over a dozen states nationwide—forcing PornHub to outright ban consumption in those places altogether.
9. The Continued Erosion of Abortion Access
From attacks on medication abortions to courts doubling down on near-total bans at the state level, abortion restrictions have only spread in 2025. But banned or not, we know that people will always have abortions. Research shows that the number of abortions in the U.S. has increased each year since Roe was overturned in 2022. Agency, bodily autonomy, and consent allow all of us to exercise our freedom of choice, creating an environment in which sex and pleasure are just that — our choice. But this atmosphere in which out-of-touch legislators have the power to make our reproductive decisions? Not sexy at all.
10. Comprehensive Sex Education Goes Back in the Closet
In some places, book bans and religious mandates are making accurate and comprehensive sex ed tough to access. And in 40 states and six territories, the Trump administration is threatening funding for sex ed programs that provide information on education that includes LGBTQ+ people. Abstinence-only sex ed is proven to put people at greater risk for STIs and unwanted pregnancies. So much for keeping our kids safe.
11. Adults Wearing Labubus
You have the right to wear whatever you want. We also have the right to make fun of you for being a grown adult wearing a children’s toy as a keychain.
12. OpenAI Launching Erotica
Friends, therapists, girlfriends. AI has taken over even the most intimate parts of our lives—and there’s not a ton of good to show for it. We’re already suffering the consequences of losing human connection, from the rise of loneliness to the sex recession in Gen Z. And now, the perpetrator of the worst of it, Open AI, is launching erotica. What could possibly go wrong? (We’re begging you: Please put the phone down and have sex with a real person.)
13. The Tea App and the Rise of the Digital Dating Panopticon
Originally promoted under the noble guise of helping keep women safe from dangerous men in the dating pool, the Tea app quickly devolved into an unreliable gossip hub. And just as quickly, men threatened by the premise of the app manipulated its lack of security to leak the data of its users. The whole thing became a nasty example of the current rift between men and women, and how much of dating right now is characterized by digital surveillance and suspicion.
14. The “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing?” Discourse
A funny Vogue article with a controversial headline suddenly became a rallying cry for women all over the world (the article was published in multiple different languages) to dump—or, at the very least, hide—their male significant others. The point was well taken, but damn: If this is where we’re at with modern dating, we’re pretty screwed.
15. Pete Hegseth Performs Masculinity
In September, Pete Hegseth summoned hundreds of generals and admirals stationed around the planet to Quantico on a few days’ notice, each presumably unsure what crisis demanded their presence. China about to invade Taiwan? A rogue state going nuclear? Nope. Hegseth needed them as backdrop for a made-for-TV address against “fat generals in the halls of the Pentagon,” “ridiculous shaving profiles,” and “dudes in dresses.” Whatever you think of the stricter readiness standards he proposed, this was pure theater: a speech that could’ve been a PDF, delivered to a roomful of hardened pros who met the applause lines with silence. God bless our troops.
16. The Slow Death of the Stick Shift
For the first time, manual transmissions slipped below 1 percent of U.S. new-car sales in 2025, down from a third of the market in the 1980s. Automatics won the performance argument years ago. EVs finished the job. Now even Porsche is killing manuals. So if you want to work the clutch like Ryan Gosling in Drive, start learning while you still can.
17. The Sad and Lonely End to the Metaverse
In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg promised the metaverse would deliver “a feeling of presence… like you are right there with another person.” The flagship venue was Horizon Worlds, a virtual hangout sold as a place to party with your cyber pals. Meta spent more than $60 billion trying to make that true, but It hasn’t caught on. The company still won’t publish user numbers, which is Silicon Valley for don’t ask. So instead we’ll meet people the old fashioned way, at a bar, yelling “WHAT?”
18. The Collective Protein Obsession
A protein-heavy diet is great, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be manipulated into every. single. product. Khloe Kardashian’s protein popcorn? Starbucks protein coffee foam? Just add an extra chicken breast to your salad
19. AI Actress Tilly Norwood
Are you sensing a theme? There’s a time and place for AI, but inserting it into uniquely human endeavors — in this case, art — continues to be a huge bummer. The uncanny valley is here, and we’re not having it.
20. Ozempic Butt
Weight loss drugs boomed this year, and that’s great! Having control over your life and your health is always hot. But there’s an unfortunate side effect to these medications: Ozempic butt, and the loss of curves all around. Bodies in all shapes and sizes are part of the extremely sexy spice of life. Let’s keep that in mind as we head into the new year (and don’t forget to do your squats).
21. Mauricio Umansky’s Post-Separation Paparazzi Photos
Mauricio Umansky couldn’t seem to escape the paparazzi lens after his split from Kyle Richards. He’s a single man and he can kiss whomever he likes in whichever airport he chooses, but…must he? A bit of discretion is definitely more sexy.
22. The Rise of Shock Fashion
September’s fashion month is typically a time of freedom and expression, but this season saw clothing that suggested restriction instead. Perhaps a reflection of our time, but an “armless ‘straitjacket’ dress” from Alaïa and metal mouthpieces from Margiela didn’t sit particularly well.
23. Pickleball Anything
As Challengers proved, tennis is an objectively sexy sport. The sweat, the grunting, even tennis terms are sultry (stroke, love, you get it). Pickleball, on the other hand, is like its annoying younger cousin that managed to become extremely popular anyway. If we have to endure one more “dink” water bottle or t-shirt, we’ll scream.
24. The Airport Clothing Discourse
People in positions of power judging those who aren’t for what they wear to an already-unpleasant experience is nauseating — and that’s how we felt when the Department of Transportation launched its recent “civility campaign” urging travelers to dress “with respect.” Maybe people would want to dress nicer while flying if flying itself was a better time. Nevertheless, there is a kernel of truth to it all. Go ahead and keep the matching sweatsuits, but the fuzzy pajama pants really aren’t meant to leave the house.
25. Project 2025
The architects of the current administration’s agenda set us up for an incredibly unsexy year from the start. As promised, Project 2025 has set underway the erosion of numerous personal and public liberties, from attacks on immigration, to increased surveillance, to restricting LGBTQ people’s freedom. What happened to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?”