Celebrity Vegans and Vegetarians: Miley Cyrus, Milo Ventimiglia and More

Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; Jason Merritt/Radarpics/Shutterstock

Celebrity Vegans and Vegetarians: Miley Cyrus, Milo Ventimiglia and More

No meat here! While some stars love a good hamburger or roast chicken, others prefer to follow a diet that doesn't include meat. Vegetarians, such as Carrie Underwood, avoid foods like red meat, poultry and chicken, whereas vegan celebrities such as Mayim Bialik steer clear of meat as well as animal byproducts, including eggs, cheese, dairy milk and more. The Big Bang Theory alum partnered with chef and friend Ali Cruddas on Bodhi Bowl, a vegan restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, which opened in May 2019. Though the eatery has since closed, it was dedicated to inspiring people to choose a healthier, greener and more compassionate lifestyle through plant-based eating. Bialik, who has been a vegetarian since she was 19, began following a vegan diet more than a decade ago. “It was always a dream of ours to have vegan food be accessible to more people and more reasonably priced because, when I became vegan, there really wasn’t vegan options at all," she told Us Weekly exclusively at the time. "We’ve seen the vegan world explode, which is awesome." [jwplayer V63EaKWP] And even though the Secret Life of the American Teenager alum knows Veganism isn't the "solution for everyone," she is hopeful that more people will be open to the eating regimen, even if it's just for one day a week. "I think the notion of Meatless Mondays is really smart, and I think that’s one way that people can start [vegan diets],” she added. “I always tell people just to start having awareness of what foods they eat that are already delicious even without meat or cheese." For Paul McCartney, who started the Meat Free Monday movement in June 2009, the decision to cut meat from his diet came from his "compassion" for animals. "We've all got this chance in life to survive, and so I like the idea of giving [animals] their best shot," the Brit told National Geographic in November 2017. Regarding Meat Free Mondays, which involves people cutting meat from their diet for one day a week, the "Hey Jude" singer added: "The truth is, there's a lot of [vegetarian] options these days. What we're doing with Meat Free Monday is just urging people to try it for one day, because it will make some kind of a difference if enough people do it or if the idea spreads." Scroll down to see more vegan or vegetarian celebrities!

Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; Jason Merritt/Radarpics/Shutterstock

Celebrity Vegans and Vegetarians: Miley Cyrus, Milo Ventimiglia and More

No meat here! While some stars love a good hamburger or roast chicken, others prefer to follow a diet that doesn't include meat. Vegetarians, such as Carrie Underwood, avoid foods like red meat, poultry and chicken, whereas vegan celebrities such as Mayim Bialik steer clear of meat as well as animal byproducts, including eggs, cheese, dairy milk and more. The Big Bang Theory alum partnered with chef and friend Ali Cruddas on Bodhi Bowl, a vegan restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, which opened in May 2019. Though the eatery has since closed, it was dedicated to inspiring people to choose a healthier, greener and more compassionate lifestyle through plant-based eating. Bialik, who has been a vegetarian since she was 19, began following a vegan diet more than a decade ago. “It was always a dream of ours to have vegan food be accessible to more people and more reasonably priced because, when I became vegan, there really wasn’t vegan options at all," she told Us Weekly exclusively at the time. "We’ve seen the vegan world explode, which is awesome." [jwplayer V63EaKWP] And even though the Secret Life of the American Teenager alum knows Veganism isn't the "solution for everyone," she is hopeful that more people will be open to the eating regimen, even if it's just for one day a week. "I think the notion of Meatless Mondays is really smart, and I think that’s one way that people can start [vegan diets],” she added. “I always tell people just to start having awareness of what foods they eat that are already delicious even without meat or cheese." For Paul McCartney, who started the Meat Free Monday movement in June 2009, the decision to cut meat from his diet came from his "compassion" for animals. "We've all got this chance in life to survive, and so I like the idea of giving [animals] their best shot," the Brit told National Geographic in November 2017. Regarding Meat Free Mondays, which involves people cutting meat from their diet for one day a week, the "Hey Jude" singer added: "The truth is, there's a lot of [vegetarian] options these days. What we're doing with Meat Free Monday is just urging people to try it for one day, because it will make some kind of a difference if enough people do it or if the idea spreads." Scroll down to see more vegan or vegetarian celebrities!

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Cardi B

The “Bodak Yellow” rapper expressed her desire to try veganism in December 2021, tweeting, "I want to go vegan but I love meat... are vegan meat replacements similar to meat in taste or not really?”

Weeks later, Drew Barrymore chimed in, noting her dietary swap has “changed her life” and even shared a few of her favorite meal options via a Twitter video.

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Alicia Silverstone

The California native has been a vegan for decades and her son, Bear, follows a plant-based diet as well. In fact, the Clueless star credits the eating regimen for her son's easygoing personality. "The centering, grounding energy of that nourishment in his organs has left him such a calm boy," she told Us exclusively in May 2020. "I don’t have to yell or scream or discipline. None of that is necessary. All I have to do is say, ‘Oh, Bear, no thank you,’ and he goes, ‘OK, mom.’ He’s got it.”

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Carrie Underwood

The American Idol alum isn't quite vegan (she eats eggs so long as they're from the chickens in her backyard, for example) but she does steer clear of meat. When describing her "wannabe vegan diet" to Women's Health in March 2020, the "Before He Cheats" songstress noted that she typically has a tofu or egg white scramble for breakfast, a vegan sandwich for lunch and roasted vegetables with vegan chicken for dinner. "I carry my own food with me everywhere," she said. "I'm always going to the grocery store, just so I'm prepared."

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Russell Brand

The Get Him to the Greek star has been vegetarian since he was a teen and he experimented with Veganism occasionally until he committed to it for good in early 2019. The Brit spoke about his return to Veganism while on tour in March 2020 saying, "I was nagged into Veganism by society ... I was vegetarian from when I was a little kid, 14, because of The Smiths and because of like 'Oh, they do what in factory farms?' You know, like, it was too brutal."

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Joaquin Phoenix

The Joker star is probably one of the most passionate and outspoken vegans in Hollywood. In fact, Phoenix is so devoted to a more sustainable lifestyle that he spent a portion of his February 2020 Oscars acceptance speech sharing his thoughts with others. "I think we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world. Many of us are guilty of an egocentric world view and we believe that we’re the center of the universe," he said. "We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakeable. Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal."

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Mayim Bialik

The Blossom alum has been a vegetarian since she was 19 and switched to Veganism more than a decade ago. "While being completely vegan may not be the solution for everyone, I think it’s pretty clear, especially for young people, we need to have more options,” she told Us exclusively in May 2019. “And we need to have people expand their idea of what a healthy palate of food is like."

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Nathalie Emmanuel

"I ate vegan for one week at first — I would have reassessed if it made me feel really ill, but it made me feel really good, so I carried on for another week, and then I felt even better," the Game of Thrones alum told Women's Health in April 2019. "People kept coming up to me and telling me I looked glowy and my eyes looked really bright, so I kept going."

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Miley Cyrus

The "Malibu" singer adopted a vegan diet in 2013 after her dog Floyd died following a coyote attack and hasn't looked back. In fact, her dedication to a plant-based lifestyle goes beyond what she eats. In February 2019, the Hannah Montana star told Vanity Fair that she considers herself a "sustainable vegan activist," which translates to "wearing more vintage."

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Milo Ventimiglia

The This Is Us star and his sisters were raised as lacto-vegetarians and Ventimiglia has maintained the diet as an adult. In January 2019, he even took to Twitter to ask that one of his favorite vegetarian foods find its way back to supermarket shelves. "Dear @MorningStrFarms, could you please bring back the veggie #Riblet?" he wrote. "I know a couple million vegetarians (as well as myself) who would be grateful if you did. Lemme know how I can help. MV."

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Taraji P. Henson

The Empire alum opened up about her decision to go vegan in January 2019, telling InStyle: "It took a doctor in Macon, Georgia, to say, 'If you don’t change what you’re doing, you’re going to get stomach cancer.' ... So I switched everything up out of necessity. I want to live. Thank God, because I feel so much better."

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Rooney Mara

Not surprisingly, Phoenix's fiancée also omits meat from her diet. "I’ve been a vegetarian on and off since I was 9 ... On and off only because my parents told me I was a picky eater and wouldn’t always let me," Mara told Coveteur in August 2018. "Then, about seven years ago, someone sent me this horrible undercover video of a pig, which led me to another horrible video and another horrible video. I went down the YouTube rabbit hole."

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Natalie Portman

"I became vegan after reading [Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals] and you know, [I have] been able to find, over the years, really great products,” the Oscar winner told Us exclusively in June 2018. “There’s, like, tempeh bacon, you know, coconut milk, yogurt, cheese is made out of cashews and all sorts of delicious things that they’ve figured out that are great replacements for those things you crave."

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Billie Eilish

The Grammy winner was raised vegetarian, but wrote about why she switched to Veganism on her Tumblr in May 2018. "I went vegan like four years ago. There were a lot of reasons. I love animals and I just think there's no point in creating something out of an animal when the animal is already there. Leave animals alone. Damn," she shared. "Also I'm lactose intolerant and dairy is horrible for your skin and my skin is VERY aware of that."

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Paul McCartney

The former Beatle has been a vegetarian for decades and even started an initiative called "Meat Free Monday" in an effort to help others cut down on their meat consumption. As McCartney explained to National Geographic in November 2017, "compassion" for animals is what led him to remove meat from his diet. "It's a life and I don't see why I shouldn't allow that animal to have that life when I don't need to take it," he said.

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Kristen Bell

In October 2017, the Veronica Mars alum revealed that she ditched her vegan diet for good while she was pregnant with her first child in 2012 and 2013, but she still avoids meat. “During my first pregnancy, I was working and it felt like I needed more calories. I was pretty conscious of it,” she told Today at the time. Though she’s now a vegetarian, the Good Place alum still respects Veganism. “I think being vegan is a wonderful way to live and it has great effects on the body," she continued. "I also think it has really good effects on the environment.”

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Jenna Dewan

The Step Up star gave up meat after watching a documentary about slaughterhouses as a child. "The next day I said, 'I’m never eating meat again.' It just stuck," she told Women's Health in October 2017. "I feel good about it morally and physically."

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Jessica Chastain

The Oscar nominee has been vegan since 2007 and was vegetarian for 15 years before that. "I found myself going to Veganism because a friend of mine had a two-week vegan food delivery program she wasn’t going to use so I used it, and immediately I just had more energy than I’ve ever had in my life," she told W Magazine in July 2017. "I said, 'OK, I’m going to just listen to my body now.' Being vegan was not anything I ever wanted to be. I just really was listening to what my body was telling me."

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Kate Mara

The House of Cards alum, who is a vegan, gushed about one of her favorite meals in June 2017. "I'm completely obsessed right now with the vegan, gluten-free Beyond Meat burger," she told Bon Appétit at the time. "The first time I had it, I thought, 'I must have gotten this wrong.' It looked so bloody because of the beets! I'm completely addicted. I'll cook one up in some olive or coconut oil, top it with a slice of vegan American and put it in a gluten-free bun with ketchup and lettuce."

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Venus Williams

The tennis champion transitioned to a plant-based diet after she was diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome in 2011. "I started for health reasons. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, and I wanted to maintain my performance on the court. Once I started I fell in love with the concept of fueling your body in the best way possible," she told Health in January 2017. "Not only does it help me on the court, but I feel like I’m doing the right thing for me."

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Jared Leto

When the My So-Called Life alum was asked about his youthful appearance by Rolling Stone in July 2016, he credited his plant-based eating regimen and sleep, but he also revealed that he’s been known to bend the rules of his strictly vegan diet from time to time. “I’m actually a ‘cheagan’ — a cheating vegan,” he clarified to the publication. “I don’t eat meat ever. But if someone’s mom made a cookie and handed it to me, I’d probably take a bite, or if I’m in Alaska and there’s wild salmon out of the river, I’d probably eat it.”

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Ariana Grande

The "God Is a Woman" songstress decided to go vegan in 2013 after realizing she cared about animals too much. "I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding," she told The Mirror in December 2014.

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Elliot Page

The Juno star was named PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity in 2014 on account of his vegan diet. "Why are vegans made fun of while the inhumane factory farming process regards animals and the natural world merely as commodities to be exploited for profit?" he tweeted in March 2011.

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Kristen Wiig

The Bridesmaids star was named one of PETA's sexiest vegetarians in 2011. In December 2008, she opened up about her diet to Women's Health, explaining: "I'm a vegetarian. I eat a lot of tofu and soy. I drink a lot of water and I'm addicted to cranberry juice."