Is That Celebrity Actually Vegan? We Investigated So You Do Not Have To

Everyone has that one friend who swears their favourite celebrity is vegan. They saw a post. They read a headline. They heard something on a podcast. And now, armed with this secondhand information, they are absolutely certain that [insert A-lister here] would never touch a plate of chicken wings.

But is it true?

The vegan label gets thrown around a lot in celebrity culture. Some stars live it with full conviction. Others dabble in plant-based eating for a photo shoot or a Netflix documentary, then quietly order a burger backstage. And a few are so aggressively anti-vegan that they have made a personality out of it.

Here at Wild Vegan Bali, we spent time going through the public record so you do not have to. We checked interviews, verified dietary histories, cross-referenced statements, and came back with verdicts. Think of this as the fact-check column for the vegan curious.

And yes, if any of the people below happen to be reading this from somewhere in the world and feel like stopping by our little corner of Bali for a proper plant-based feast, the table is set and the welcome is warm. Just know that the VIP status does not come with a complimentary meal ticket. Fame is appreciated. A reservation and a full bill are more so.

Let us get into it.

SECTION ONE: THE CONFIRMED VEGANhttps://www.peta.org/S

These are the celebrities whose vegan credentials have been verified through sustained public commitment, consistent statements over years, and actions that go well beyond just saying the right things at award shows.

Joaquin Phoenix

Verdict: CONFIRMED VEGAN. And he has been since before most of us knew what the word meant.

Joaquin Phoenix did not go vegan after watching a documentary. He was three years old when his family gave up animal products. The Phoenix family, which includes his late brother River Phoenix, were raised in a vegan household, and Joaquin has maintained that lifestyle for his entire life.

Most people remember his 2020 Academy Awards speech when he won Best Actor for Joker. Rather than delivering the usual string of thank-yous, Phoenix used the global stage to address animal agriculture directly, saying: "We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow, and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that's intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal."

Phoenix has narrated vegan documentaries, participated in animal rights activism, and shown up at protests. He is not vegan because it is trendy. He is vegan because it is the foundation of how he understands his relationship with other living beings.

Credibility score: Maximum. He has had no meat in his diet for over four decades.

Billie Eilish

Verdict: CONFIRMED VEGAN. And she takes it seriously.

Billie Eilish went vegan at the age of twelve. That is a significant life choice for a child, and she has maintained it ever since. The Grammy-winning artist has used her platform repeatedly to advocate for animal welfare, pushing for federal vegan school lunch programs in the United States and insisting that her concert venues offer vegan food options to all attendees.

In a 2020 interview, Eilish said: "If you eat animals and you know about the torture and murder that happens and you pay for that, you pay for them to be killed for you... you are a part of it." She has partnered with organisations pushing for systemic change and does not shy away from the topic even when interviewers make it uncomfortable.

If Billie Eilish walked into Wild Vegan Bali, she would probably know exactly what she was ordering before the menu arrived. We would love to have her. Full price, of course.

Credibility score: Very high. Over a decade of consistent vegan living with a side of public advocacy.

Ariana Grande

Verdict: CONFIRMED VEGAN. Since 2013.

Ariana Grande made the switch to veganism in 2013, citing her love for animals as the driving force. She has since become one of the most prominent celebrity voices for plant-based eating, speaking about it in interviews and on social media with genuine conviction rather than promotional energy.

In a 2014 interview, she said: "I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding." Her commitment has remained steady for over a decade, which in celebrity terms is essentially a lifetime.

She has also been notably careful about what she puts on her skin, opting for cruelty-free beauty products. Grande is the kind of vegan who extends the philosophy beyond the dinner plate.

Natalie Portman

Verdict: CONFIRMED VEGAN. Harvard-educated and committed since 2011.

Natalie Portman was vegetarian for years before reading Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals in 2009, which pushed her toward full veganism by 2011. She has described the book as transformative and has since written the foreword for it, effectively lending her name and credibility to the argument against animal agriculture.

Portman does not eat animal products and does not wear them either. She has refused to wear leather or fur and has partnered with PETA on animal welfare campaigns. The Oscar winner is thoughtful and articulate in her advocacy, which is consistent with the kind of deep research she is known to do before committing to any role or cause.

Credibility score: Confirmed and consistent for well over a decade.

Lewis Hamilton

Verdict: CONFIRMED VEGAN. Since 2017, and he wants to take Formula One with him.

Lewis Hamilton is the most decorated Formula One driver in history. He is also one of the most prominent vegan athletes on the planet. Hamilton made the switch in 2017 after watching the documentary What the Health, and he has maintained the lifestyle ever since, crediting it with improved energy levels and recovery.

Hamilton has co-founded Neat Burger, a plant-based burger chain, and has invested in plant-based pet food company Bramble. He feeds his dog a plant-based diet. He has urged his 30 million social media followers to consider veganism for both health and environmental reasons.

In 2025, Hamilton moved to Scuderia Ferrari in what became one of the most anticipated team changes in the sport's history. The vegan lifestyle came with him.

"Being vegan, I feel so much better," Hamilton has said in multiple interviews. For a man who has won seven world championships, the diet at minimum has not held him back.

Credibility score: High. Backed by business investments, consistent statements, and years of documented plant-based living.

Woody Harrelson

Verdict: CONFIRMED VEGAN. For longer than most vegans have been alive.

Woody Harrelson's journey to veganism started in his early twenties when he realised that dairy was causing him health problems. He cut it out, then progressively removed the rest of animal products from his diet. He has been fully vegan for decades.

Harrelson is also a passionate environmental activist, and for him the two are deeply connected. He grows his own food when possible and is known for a lifestyle that prioritises sustainability in ways that go well beyond what he eats for breakfast.

He is also famously candid about it, which means when Woody Harrelson talks about being vegan, he is not reading off a publicist's script.

Alicia Silverstone

Verdict: CONFIRMED VEGAN. Since 1998. She literally wrote the book.

Alicia Silverstone went vegan in 1998 after learning about the impact of animal agriculture on the environment and animal welfare. She has since authored The Kind Diet, a cookbook and lifestyle guide built entirely around plant-based eating, which became a New York Times bestseller.

Silverstone is active in animal rights advocacy and has been a consistent presence in the vegan space for nearly three decades. In celebrity vegan terms, she is close to founding generation status.

Pamela Anderson

Verdict: CONFIRMED VEGAN. And one of the longest-standing celebrity animal rights advocates.

Pamela Anderson has been vegan for decades and her commitment to animal rights is well-documented through her long-standing relationship with PETA, where she has appeared in numerous campaigns. Unlike some celebrities who cycle in and out of plant-based eating, Anderson has been one of the most consistent and visible figures in the vegan advocacy space.

She uses her platforms to speak about factory farming, fur, and the fashion industry's use of animal products. For Anderson, veganism is not a diet. It is an ethical position she has held publicly since the 1990s.

SECTION TWO: PLANT-BASED ADJACENT (THE COMPLICATED CASES)

These are the celebrities who orbit the vegan world without fully landing in it. Some are close. Some are very close. But close is not confirmed.

Beyonce

Verdict: PLANT-BASED FOR PERFORMANCES. NOT STRICTLY VEGAN.

Beyonce is perhaps the most searched name in relation to veganism and celebrity culture. The truth is nuanced and worth understanding.

In 2013, Beyonce and Jay-Z completed a 22-day vegan challenge with their trainer Marco Borges, who later helped them launch 22 Days Nutrition, a plant-based meal delivery company. Before her landmark Coachella performance, Beyonce committed to a strict plant-based diet: no bread, no dairy, no meat, no fish, no alcohol. The results, as documented in her Homecoming film, were extraordinary.

However, Beyonce herself has said "I still eat meat, but..." in interviews, indicating a flexible rather than fixed approach to plant-based eating. Her nutritionist describes her as largely plant-based, particularly when in performance mode, but she has never publicly declared herself fully vegan.

Verdict: Powerful plant-based ally. Not a confirmed vegan.

Serena Williams

Verdict: MOSTLY PLANT-BASED. Not strictly vegan 365 days a year.

Serena Williams adopted a plant-based diet in 2012, motivated significantly by her sister Venus, who was diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome and switched to a raw vegan diet to manage the condition. Serena saw the results and followed.

She has said: "I'm not 100% plant-based, but I've watched a lot of these documentaries, and they talk about how if everyone cuts back a day or a week, what a difference it can make." During training and tournament seasons, her diet is largely vegan. During the off-season, she allows herself more flexibility.

Through her venture capital firm Serena Ventures, she has invested in plant-based food companies and co-founded Kindred Foods. Her vegan leather fashion line further signals alignment with the broader philosophy.

Verdict: One of the most authentically plant-based athletes in the world, with the investments to back it up. But she will not call herself fully vegan.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Verdict: 70% PLANT-BASED. The Terminator has been mostly terminated by meat.

This one surprises people, and it should. The man who was synonymous with steak-fuelled bodybuilding for decades is now eating mostly plants. Schwarzenegger's shift came after multiple heart surgeries and medical advice from his doctors, who told him to reduce his meat intake to manage his cholesterol and blood pressure.

He has cut his meat consumption by roughly 80 percent compared to his Mr. Olympia days. His current diet is built around oatmeal, vegetable soups, lentils, beans, and veggie burgers. His doctors reportedly told him his bloodwork results looked like those of a completely different person.

He has publicly encouraged people to reduce their meat intake, saying in various interviews that the idea that you need animal protein to build muscle is simply not true.

Is he vegan? No. He is approximately 70 percent plant-based and honest about it. But coming from the man who once embodied the extreme end of carnivore bodybuilding culture, it is a significant shift.

Oprah Winfrey

Verdict: ENTHUSIASTIC DABBLER. Not vegan. But not indifferent either.

Oprah Winfrey has taken multiple plant-based challenges over the years, starting with a 21-day vegan cleanse in 2008. More recently, she has publicly committed to eating one plant-based meal per day as part of a 30-day challenge, sharing meals like butternut squash risotto and cauliflower steaks with her 17 million Instagram followers.

Oprah has invested in vegan oat milk brand Oatly and uses her platform to encourage a gradual approach to plant-based eating, saying: "You do not have to give up everything you have been eating your whole life all at once."

The verdict is clear: Oprah is not vegan, and she has never claimed to be. But she is a consistent advocate for reducing animal product consumption and is clearly more engaged with the plant-based world than most people at her level of fame.

Kim Kardashian

Verdict: FLEXITARIAN. Self-described.

Kim Kardashian calls herself a flexitarian, which means she eats plant-based meals regularly but does not commit to a fully vegan diet. She has promoted Beyond Meat products to her 330 million Instagram followers and has spoken about how reducing animal products improved her psoriasis and energy levels. She has not gone fully vegan and does not claim to have done so.

Kylie Jenner

Verdict: TRYING. And trying counts for something.

Kylie Jenner has made public efforts to reduce her meat consumption and has experimented with veganism. She posted plant-based meals to her Instagram with the caption "Really trying to not eat meat rn." Is that a full vegan conversion? No. Is it evidence of someone genuinely moving in that direction? Yes.

The effort is real, even if the commitment is not yet total.

Bill Gates

Verdict: NOT VEGAN. But a major investor in the vegan future.

Bill Gates is not vegan. He eats meat. But he has publicly stated that wealthy nations should move toward 100 percent synthetic beef to address climate emissions, and he has backed his words with money, investing in Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and other alternative protein companies through his Breakthrough Energy fund.

Gates has said that plant-based and lab-grown meat will eventually be "very good" options. He believes technology will ultimately make the transition more palatable for consumers who are not ready to give up meat through conviction alone.

He is a pragmatist rather than an advocate. But pragmatists with $100 billion in assets move markets, so his influence on the vegan food industry is real regardless of what is on his own plate.

SECTION THREE: DEFINITIVELY NOT VEGAN

For the sake of thoroughness, here are the celebrities who are decidedly not vegan, and in some cases, actively in the opposite direction.

Donald Trump

Verdict: ABSOLUTELY NOT VEGAN. And deeply, philosophically committed to not being vegan.

Donald Trump is famous for his love of fast food. His documented preferences include two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and a large chocolate milkshake from McDonald's in a single sitting. Reports from White House staff during his first term described a president who avoided vegetables whenever possible and preferred his steak well done with ketchup.

In a campaign rally appearance, Trump was brought onstage by the owner of a Milwaukee-based vegan cafe and reportedly said he would "have to try that vegan food," a comment so notable that PETA immediately sent him a care package of plant-based products. There is no record of the package being used.

Trump's administration in his second term has actively moved to roll back nutritional guidelines that promoted reduced meat consumption and has elevated figures who have publicly opposed plant-based food movements.

Verdict: The data is overwhelming. Donald Trump is not vegan. If he ever visits Bali, he is more than welcome at Wild Vegan Bali. A full menu, no special treatment, and the full bill. We believe in conversion experiences.

Elon Musk

Verdict: NOT VEGAN. Currently on a carnivore-adjacent diet.

Elon Musk was briefly vegetarian at some point earlier in his life but abandoned it, saying: "I tried being a vegetarian but I do not really think we are designed to be vegetarians." He has since publicly embraced a diet heavy in steak and eggs, describing his morning routine of steak and eggs on Joe Rogan's podcast as a "power up."

Musk has publicly stated that he does not believe everyone going vegan would solve climate change, a technically accurate but frequently context-free comment that tends to appear whenever veganism comes up in public discourse.

He has also stated that people can "still have a steak" amid the climate crisis, a comment made during a live-streamed conversation with Donald Trump in 2024.

Is Elon Musk vegan? No. Is there any evidence he is moving in that direction? None whatsoever.

Taylor Swift

Verdict: NOT VEGAN. Confirmed meat eater who loves chicken tenders.

Taylor Swift is not vegan and has never claimed to be. She eats meat, dairy, and eggs. She has described chicken tenders as the food she wishes she could eat every day. She bakes with butter and eggs and has been photographed at steakhouses without apparent conflict.

To her credit, Swift has ensured plant-based options were available at her Eras Tour concerts in multiple cities, and she has been spotted carrying vegan leather accessories. But her diet is not vegan, and there is no indication it is heading that way.

Miley Cyrus

Verdict: WAS VEGAN. No longer. And honest about why.

Miley Cyrus is one of the most instructive case studies in the celebrity vegan conversation, not because she failed at veganism, but because her departure from it was honest, specific, and medically grounded.

Cyrus was vegan from 2013 to 2019, adopting the diet after the death of her dog and maintaining what she described as "the strictest vegan diet you have ever known" for six years. She then appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience and said: "I had to introduce fish and omegas into my life because my brain was not functioning properly."

She described feeling mentally foggy and malnourished, and said that after reintroducing fish and eventually other proteins, she felt "much sharper." She now describes herself as a pescatarian.

The vegan community had mixed responses to this disclosure. Some argued she may have been poorly advised on supplementation. Others appreciated her honesty about a real physiological experience.

What is not disputed: Miley Cyrus was genuinely vegan for six years. She no longer is. She did not pretend otherwise.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Verdict: NOT VEGAN. Very much not vegan.

Cristiano Ronaldo's diet is among the most documented in professional sports. He eats six small meals per day, prioritising lean proteins, whole grains, and fresh produce. His protein sources include chicken, fish, and egg whites. His former personal chefs have confirmed that his diet is precise, disciplined, and built around animal protein.

Ronaldo incorporates some plant-friendly items, such as avocado toast and salads, but he is not plant-based and has never suggested he intends to become so.

A FINAL NOTE FROM WILD VEGAN BALI

The vegan landscape among the world's most famous people is messier, more honest, and more interesting than most headlines suggest. Some have been vegan since childhood with no fanfare. Others use the word loosely and inconsistently. A few have tried, found it did not work for them, and said so openly. And some are building empires on the back of plant-based food without ever changing what is on their own plate.

What runs through all of it is that vegan food, vegan values, and vegan culture are no longer niche. They are embedded in the mainstream conversation in ways they were not a decade ago. That shift is happening with or without celebrity endorsement.

Here in Bali, we build every dish on the philosophy that food made entirely from plants can be extraordinary. Not a compromise. Not a sacrifice. The real thing.

If any of the celebrities in this article ever find themselves on the island and curious about what a proper vegan meal in a rice field feels like, the doors at Wild Vegan Bali are open. For Joaquin Phoenix and Billie Eilish, we may even have a table with a view. For the others, we promise the food will be worth paying for.

And pay you will. Because exceptional vegan food is worth every rupiah.

Wild Vegan Bali is a plant-based restaurant located in Bali, Indonesia. Everything on the menu is 100% vegan.