Year End 2015: 10 of the Biggest Celeb Moments

— -- intro: For a litany of reasons, 2015 was an action-packed year.

For many, it was good. Some stars saw great professional gains: Adele's newest record has shattered records while Taylor Swift performed for screaming crowds around the world. Others, Caitlyn Jenner and Tracy Morgan among them, celebrated personal triumphs.

But 2015 was a difficult year for some too. Josh Duggar and Bill Cosby both had their reputations tarnished, while others faced serious tragedy, including the family of Bobbi Kristina Brown.

With 2016 just a few weeks away, let's look back on the moments that made 2015 so notable in the world of entertainment.

quicklist: 1title: Bobbi Kristina Brown's Premature Deathtext: Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston, was rushed to the hospital in January after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub inside her Roswell, Georgia home. About three months later, her maternal grandmother Cissy Houston said that Brown had sustained "irreversible brain damage and remains unresponsive," and in June, she was moved to hospice. On June 24, she died at the age of 22. "She is finally at peace in the arms of God," her family said in a statement. "We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months." Today, Brown's death is being treated as a criminal investigation, and her estate has sued her longtime partner, Nick Gordon, for wrongful death. He slammed the accusations as "false" and "frivolous," and filed an appeal in September.media: 35640602

quicklist: 2title: Caitlyn Jenner Introduces Herselftext: In late April, former Olympian Bruce Jenner shocked the world by telling ABC's Diane Sawyer: "For all intents and purposes, I’m a woman." “My brain is much more female than it is male,” the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star added. “It’s hard for people to understand that, but that’s what my soul is.” Though Jenner declined to reveal her new name at the time, the public didn't have to wait long. On June 1, she debuted her new look on the cover of Vanity Fair, which bore the quote, "Call me Caitlyn." Since then, Caitlyn Jenner has spoken out as a transgender advocate. "This transition has been harder on me than anything I could imagine," she said, while accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs. "It's about all of us accepting one another."media: 35640599

quicklist: 3title: Welcome, Princess Charlotte!text: Since his birth in 2013, royal-watchers have been cooing over Prince George. However, arguably his most adorable moment to date was on May 2, when his father, Prince William, took him to the London hospital where he was born to visit his mother, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and his new baby sister, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. "It is fantastic having a lovely little family and I am so thrilled,” William said in July, calling Charlotte "little joy of heaven." "Catherine has been doing an amazing job as a mother and I’m very proud of her."media: 35665680

quicklist: 4title: Bill Cosby's Accusers Speak Outtext: Late last year, more than a dozen women came forward to accuse Bill Cosby of drugging and/or sexual misconduct. This year, that number grew to more than 50. New York magazine published a stunning cover story in July featuring 35 of the women sitting in chairs, staring straight into the camera. A few months later, 13 spoke out in an A&E documentary entitled, "Cosby: The Women Speak." "He's given us all a purpose; a sisterhood purpose," Lise-Lotte Lublin said during the special. "We're going to make a change in the world. We've already started." Through his lawyers, Cosby has denied allegations of wrongdoing and has never been charged with a crime. Then, in December, he filed a counter-suit against seven women who were suing him for defamation, accusing them of making "malicious, opportunistic and false and defamatory" comments about him and costing him lucrative business opportunities. Their lawyer wasn't surprised. "It's a standard defense attorney’s play," he told ABC News at the time. A week later, he filed a separate defamation suit against Beverly Johnson, who claims that in 1986, Cosby drugged her. The comedian accused her of spreading lies to further her career. "In cases of rape and abuse, abusers will do whatever they can to intimidate and weaken their victims to force them to stop fighting," she responded. "I ask for your support of all of the victims involved." media: 35640601

quicklist: 5title: Josh Duggar Admits to Acting 'Inexcusably'text: Since their reality show "19 Kids and Counting" premiered in 2008, the Duggar family has been famous for their religious upbringing and strict moral code. Then, in May, a bombshell: Jim-Bob and Michelle Duggar's oldest child, Josh, a 27-year-old father of four, apologized for acting "inexcusably" as a teenager. His parents later explained that Josh "inappropriately touched" young women, including four of their daughters. In July, TLC canceled "19 Kids and Counting," and one month later, amid the Ashley Madison data dump, it was revealed that Josh Duggar had an account with the site. "I have been the biggest hypocrite ever," the reality star said before checking into a rehabilitation facility. "While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife." Anna Duggar has said since that the situation left her "heartbroken." "My only hope was to cling to my faith," she said. "If I went off of what I was feeling, I would turn a mess into a disaster."media: 35645334

quicklist: 6title: Tracy Morgan Returns to the Emmys and 'Saturday Night Live'text: In 2014, Tracy Morgan was involved in a serious auto accident that left him seriously injured, and his friend, comedian James McNair, dead. In September, he made a triumphant comeback, appearing onstage at the Emmy Awards. "It's been a long road back,” he said at the time. “I suffered a traumatic brain injury that put me in a coma for eight days ... [and when I woke up] I was just ecstatic to learn I wasn't the one who messed up." Then, Morgan, who was married over the summer, returned to the place where he got his big break in show-business: "Saturday Night Live. "[After the accident], people were wondering, 'Can he speak? Does he have 100 percent mental capacity?'" he said in his monologue. "But the truth is -- I never did. I might actually be a few points higher now."media: 33910394

quicklist: 7title: David Letterman Bids Farewell to 'The Late Show'text: For a number of reasons, we're living in what has been touted as "the Golden Age of TV." However, 2015 marked the end of several shows that audiences have cherished for some time. David Letterman bid farewell to "The Late Show" in May, and a few months later, Jon Stewart said goodbye to his "Daily Show" fans. Other shows that ended this year included "Mad Men," "Parks and Recreation," "Justified" and "Glee."media: 35645711

quicklist: 8title: Charlie Sheen Reveals He's HIV-Positivetext: In recent years, Charlie Sheen had been as famous for his acting work as he was for his "winning" jokes and partying lifestyle. However, this past November, he gave an interview to the "Today" show to discuss a much more serious topic: His HIV diagnosis. "I'm here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive," he told Matt Lauer. "I have to put a stop on this onslaught, this barrage of attacks, and of sub-truths and very harmful and mercurial stories that are about the threatening the health of so many others, which couldn't be farther from the truth." Sheen explained that he was diagnosed with HIV four years ago, and insisted that he'd been honest about his status with every sexual partner he's had since. Now, he wants to help others. "I have a responsibility now to better myself and to help a lot of other people," he said. "Hopefully with what we're doing today, others may come forward and say, 'Thanks Charlie. Thanks for kicking the door open.'"media: 35645174

quicklist: 9title: Adele's Big Comebacktext: It seemed so unfair: Adele released "21" in 2011, scooped up six Grammy Awards for it, and followed it up immediately with... nothing. For nearly five years, Adele fans anxiously waited for the singer to come out with a new album, and on Nov. 20, 2015, finally, finally, it happened. The singer's third album, "25," which features the singer's hit single, "Hello," sold 3.38 million copies in the U.S. in its first week and broke records previously held by the NSYNC and Britney Spears. After three weeks, it had already sold 5 million units, according to Variety, and the singer announced her 2016 world tour. Here's hoping that means even more Adele next year.media: 35645589

quicklist: 10title: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Premieres to Great Fanfaretext: For more than a year, "Star Wars" fans had been counting down to Dec. 18, the day "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" hit theaters. Then, they came out in droves, causing the J.J. Abrams-directed film to shatter movie records. The Walt Disney Company, which owns the production company behind the movie, Lucasfilm, as well as ABC News, announced that it earned $517 million worldwide over opening weekend. It also set a new record for a Thursday night preview, bringing in $57 million, and became the biggest single-day sales for any movie, and the biggest Friday a film had ever seen, earning $120.5 million. "The Force Awakens" was also the fastest film to reach $100 million, and the first film to earn more than $100 million on a given day. The force was strong with that one.media: 35640544