Vegan Celebrities in 2026: Who's Actually Vegan and Why They Switched
Billie Eilish, Joaquin Phoenix, Natalie Portman, Lewis Hamilton, Ariana Grande, Travis Barker and Alicia Silverstone are all vegan in 2026, and most of them have been for years. What's more useful than the list is the reasons. Almost none of them went vegan for health alone. They went because of something they saw, read or felt about animals, and the health benefits turned up afterwards. That matters if you're thinking about it yourself, because a reason you feel is what gets you through the first few weeks of cravings.
The list, and why each one switched
Billie Eilish. Vegan since she was 12, raised vegetarian. She's said she can't go on knowing what happens in the animal world. She's also one of the few who talks about the environmental side as much as the animal side.
Joaquin Phoenix. Vegan since age three, after seeing fish killed on a boat. He's been consistent about it for 50 years and used his Oscar speech to talk about it.
Natalie Portman. Vegetarian from childhood, vegan since 2011 after reading Eating Animals. She reminds herself three times a day that she values life and doesn't want to cause pain to other beings.
Lewis Hamilton. Went plant-based in 2017 after a vegan friend walked him through how food is produced. He's won five world titles since and says his energy, recovery, sleep and skin all improved. He eats hummus every day. We cover what he eats in Lewis Hamilton's vegan diet.
Ariana Grande. Vegan since 2013. Her line is that she loves animals more than she loves most people, and she also credits a whole-food vegan diet with how she feels.
Travis Barker. Went vegan after surviving a plane crash in 2008, which made him rethink his health and his values. He says he feels great after every meal and no animal was hurt for it.
Alicia Silverstone. Vegan since 1998, longer than almost anyone on this list, and calls it the secret to her joy and peace.
Sadie Sink. Went vegetarian, then vegan, "solely because of the animals."
RZA. Vegan since the 1990s and blunt about it: he doesn't need dead flesh going into his live body.
Pamela Anderson. A long-time animal advocate who says the more animal products you remove, the better you feel.
Maggie Q, Anitta, Jermaine Dupri and others are vegan for a mix of environmental and animal reasons. And Jane Goodall, who died in 2025, stopped eating meat around 50 years ago after connecting a pork chop on her plate with fear and pain.
What the reasons have in common
Read the quotes again and notice what isn't there. Almost nobody says "I went vegan to lose weight" or "for my cholesterol." The health benefits get mentioned, but as something that happened after the switch. The switch itself came from seeing or learning something about animals that they couldn't unsee.
That's consistent with what people who stick with it tend to report. A reason that's about something other than yourself holds up when you're tired and the pizza has pepperoni on it. A reason that's about a number on a scale is easier to renegotiate. If you're starting, it's worth knowing what your reason is before the first hard craving, because the craving will ask. Our guide to what happens when you stop eating meat covers the first weeks.
Not everyone stays
For every celebrity on this list there's one who went vegan and went back, and their reasons are instructive too: pregnancy, touring, a film role, feeling low on energy, or just food creeping back in. We've collected those in celebrities who quit being vegan. The short version is that most of them quit over practical problems that have practical fixes, not because they changed their minds about animals.
If you're thinking about it
You don't need to do it the way Joaquin Phoenix did, all at once at age three. Most people do better cutting back in stages, which is what our guide to going vegetarian without going cold turkey is about. The hardest part is the ten minutes when a craving hits, and that's what the Spared app is built for: you open it instead of the fridge, ride the craving out, and watch the count of cravings beaten, days and animals spared go up. Whatever you use, the method is the same. Make the moment small and countable.
Common questions
Which celebrities are vegan in 2026?
Billie Eilish, Joaquin Phoenix, Natalie Portman, Lewis Hamilton, Ariana Grande, Travis Barker, Alicia Silverstone, Sadie Sink, RZA, Pamela Anderson, Maggie Q and Anitta are among the best known. Many have been vegan for a decade or more.
Is Billie Eilish still vegan?
Yes. She's been vegan since she was 12, and she talks about it regularly, including the environmental reasons.
Why did Lewis Hamilton go vegan?
A vegan friend in New York showed him how food is produced, and he switched in 2017. He says his energy, recovery and sleep improved, and he's won five world championships since.
Are there vegan athletes?
Yes. Lewis Hamilton is the best known, and tennis player Venus Williams, NFL and NBA players and ultra-runners have followed plant-based diets. The protein question comes up every time; our guide to protein without meat answers it.