America is under attack. In January, President Bush delivered his infamous first public speech since 9/11 where he described “regimes that sponsor terror” as an ‘Axis of Evil.’ The world was living in fear and Bush was maximizing the captive audience given his repeated reference to the “evil doers.” Threats of terror thickened the air, making every inkling or suspicious behavior hair rising. 

The entertainment industry was not sparred from crisis. Michael Jackson controversially captivated the world when he dangled Prince Michael II off the balcony of his hotel room in Berlin. While people were questioning their love for the King of Pop, 2002 seemed to have cracked celebrity relationships. A bleached ramen-noodled haired Justin Timberlake called it quits with Britney Spears.

Fresh off a three-peat, Shaq and Kobe took their rings and went separate ways.Even Eminem, after selling 7.6 million copies, couldn’t captivate Mariah Carey’s heart. In a Larry King Live interview  (4:30 mark), she addressed the dating rumors saying, “I hung out with him, I spoke to him on the phone. I think I was probably with him a total of four times. And I don’t consider that dating somebody.”

Jay Z owned last year’s Summer Jam. His performance of “The Takeover” left many hip-hop fans wondering whether or not Nas wanted it with Hov and, after months of silence, it seemed like he did not. Fast-forward to Summer Jam.

Nas chose to take the feud off the record and into performance art. He planned to lynch a life-size animatronic replica of Jay Z, gallows and noose included, on the Summer Jam stage. Luckily, the performance did not happen because of the rumored “mock lynching.” Nas back-pedaled saying the event management had a loyalty to Jay Z and he had no such lynching planned.

Here are some more memories: