Kevin Hart is the latest celebrity to get into the vegan food industry. Last month, the comedy actor announced plans to open two plant-based fast-food restaurants in Los Angeles and Hollywood.
Called Hart House, the menu will reportedly be 100 per cent plant-based and feature vegan burgers, “chicken” sandwiches and nuggets, fries, tots, salads, and milkshakes. The first Hart House is to open later in the summer.
In 2019, Hart revealed that he followed a “mostly plant-based diet” and invested in Beyond Meat. The following year, he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast, where he continued discussing his lifestyle choice.
“Just because you make the decision to go and try plant-based, doesn’t mean you have to [be engulfed] in that world,” he said. “Learn it, understand it, and see if there are benefits that work for you.”
While Hart certainly isn’t the first celebrity to open up about being on a plant-based diet or a vegan, here’s a look at other famous people who have adopted a similar lifestyle.
Woody Harrelson
The actor has been following a vegan diet for more than 30 years. He’s spoken out about how an encounter with a stranger got him started on going plant-based.
“I used to eat burgers and steak but I would just feel knocked out afterward; I had to give them up. Dairy was first, though. I was on a bus when I was about 24 and this girl saw me blow my nose — and I had acne all over my face,” he said.
“She told me I was obviously lactose intolerant and that if I gave up dairy my symptoms would disappear in a matter of days. She was right.”
Colin Kaepernick
The former NFL quarterback, known for his activism in speaking out against police brutality, is a vegan. He first began following the diet in late 2015, with his partner Nessa Diab confirming that they both started together. Although Kaepernick is relatively quiet about his vegan lifestyle, in 2018, he shared a gym selfie on Twitter, captioning it #NotBadForAVegan.
In early 2021, Ben and Jerry’s even dedicated a new flavour of non-diary ice cream to Kaepernick called Change the Whirled.
Lewis Hamilton
The seven-times Formula One champion became a vegan in 2017 and says he wishes he had started sooner. He’s often taken to social media, where he has 28.9 million followers on Instagram, to urge them to go vegan, ditch leather and to boycott animal exploitation for entertainment purposes.
“Go vegan, it is the only way to truly save our planet today,” he said in a post in 2019. “It can be done so quickly, all you have to do is put your mind to it.”
Lizzo
The Truth Hurts singer has been a vegetarian for more than a decade but became a vegan in 2020. Since then, Lizzo, 34, been using her social media platforms such as TikTok to share plant-based recipes as well as messages of body positivity.
“Shout out to all my fat vegans — we look as good as we feel … and to the haters, good luck chasing that narrow beauty standard,” she once said in response to another TikToker who said there were too many plus-sized vegans.
Peter Dinklage
Dinklage, 53, was a vegetarian for 15 years before becoming a vegan in 2014. The actor has campaigned for American animal protection organisation Farm Sanctuary, narrated a PETA video advocating for vegan diets and been vocal with Game of Thrones fans about adopting dire-wolf looking Huskies from shelters, rather than buying from breeders.
Tobey Maguire
The Spider-Man star has been a vegetarian since 1992 before becoming a vegan in 2009. “I’ve never had any desire to eat meat. In fact, when I was a kid I would have a really difficult time eating meat at all,” he told Parade Magazine in 2008.
It was reported that during the filming of The Great Gatsby he insisted on returning a Mercedes lent to him during production because it had leather seats.
Benedict Cumberbatch
The British actor is a vegan but has been under the radar about his choice of diet. During a trip to Singapore, the Doctor Strange star opened up about trying several local plant-based dishes.
Speaking to Channel News Asia, he said that he visited a food hall market. When asked whether he tasted some of the local dishes, Cumberbatch said, “Yeah, I had local food, as much as a vegan can.”
Rob Zombie
The musician and director, who is known for directing horror films such as House of 1000 Corpses (2003) and The Devil’s Rejects (2005), is an ethical vegan.
He and his wife rescue farm animals and house them at their Connecticut property. While he became a vegetarian in 1982, it was in 2012, he made the transition to becoming a vegan after finding himself repulsed by eggs one morning.
“It was challenging. Vegetarian is easier, because you can still have scrambled eggs or pizza. Once I went vegan, it was, like … now there’s nothing to eat,” Zombie said in an interview with GQ in 2021. “Every day it gets easier, and every day the food gets better. Veggie burgers used to be like tasteless hockey pucks, and now they’re so delicious.”
Jessica Chastain
Chastain, who won an Academy Award for Best Actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye in 2021, is vegan. Like others, she was first a vegetarian for 15 years before deciding to switch to a vegan diet.
“I found myself going to veganism because a friend of mine had a two-week vegan food delivery programme 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.”
Will. I. Am
One of the founding members of the Black Eyed Peas, Will. I. Am once described himself as “violently vegan” in a 2019 interview with British newspaper The Sunday Times.
The rapper has been a vegan since late 2017 after a doctor’s visit prompted him to change his lifestyle habits. He opened about how the health benefits of changing diets during The Thrive Global Podcast with The Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington.
“I switched my regimen, went plant-based and it changed my life. I lost 20lbs. My stress levels came down naturally. I have more energy. My sleep regimen is awesome,” he said.
“It changed my life, and I would encourage everybody to have a plant-based regimen. You don’t need the meat.”
Travis Barker
The drummer of pop-rock band Blink-182 sticks to a gluten-free, vegan diet which he says helps keep him energised during shows.
@peta2 Least i can do. It’s 2014, we have so many other delicious options without having to hurt any animals.
— Travis Barker (@travisbarker) August 21, 2014
“Honestly, ever since I found this way of eating I have endless amounts of energy,” Barker told Men’s Journal. “I can go all day, and after it all I never find myself getting tired. No matter what kind of shows I have done, or workouts I do on top of it, I still have to force myself to sleep at night.”
In the same article, he also explained how he kept to his plant-based diet while on tour.
“For snacks I will eat a lot of strawberries, blueberries, and acai berries. I find myself eating plates of broccoli or cauliflower at times. I also bring a Juicero with us on tour, and I will use that to make some pretty awesome juices.”
Brian May
The guitarist of Queen went vegan at the start of 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic. However, he’s long been known for being an animal-rights activist. He founded the organisation Save Me (named after the Queen song) that campaigns for the protection of all animals against unnecessary and cruel treatment, such as the hunting of foxes and the culling of badgers in the UK.
Opening up to NME about his new plant-based diet in 2020, he said: “To go vegan was just a decision, and I haven’t been preachy about it, but now we’ve seen more of the effects of how eating animals has brought us to our knees as a species. I think it’s time to re-examine our world in a way that doesn’t abuse other species.”
Updated: July 11, 2022, 4:13 AM
