Why You (Probably) Don’t Need to Worry About Ex-Vegan Celebrities

While they can nab the limelight, influencers are less likely to be able to shift our diets to being more (or less) meat-free.

What do Lizzo, Miley Cyrus, and Beyoncé all have in common (besides creating back-to-back songs of the summer)? They’re all ex-vegans.

Their posts and interviews explaining their return to meat-eating have garnered millions of views and often considerable debate from vegans and other meat reduction advocates, who often argue that celebrities could be setting progress back. On one hand, I’m sympathetic to this viewpoint: celebrities are a massive aspect of culture, and logically, their diets would impact how the rest of us view food. But on the other, I’m not convinced that celebrities are a meaningful intervention for diet change, in either direction.

After reviewing the research, I don’t think meat reduction advocates should be overly concerned about celebrities’ diets at all. Here’s why.

Celebrities Probably Can’t Get People To Change Their Diets

Celebrities have been a part of meat reduction advocacy for decades — think Pamela Anderson, Paul McCartney, Moby, and many more. Theoretically, these spokespeople could convince people to eat fewer animal products, engage more with advocacy, and shift social norms. While it’s undoubtedly true that celebs have a large platform, that doesn’t necessarily translate to an ability to shift consumers’ behavior.

We don’t have many studies on the connection between celebs and vegan/vegetarian diets, but the few we do suggest only teeny effects. In a 2020 experiment, researchers created two types of Instagram posts — one set from celebrities (Ben Affleck and Elliot Page) and from regular influencers — then showed them to nearly 300 participants. The participants then indicated their attitudes towards veganism and the likelihood of making a diet change. The results? There was no difference between the groups — the person behind the Instagram post didn’t seem to matter at all.

Then, in 2021, researchers started studying the long-term diet change of new vegans. Among those trying to become vegan or vegetarian, those who had received information from celebrities were actually furthest from their diet goals — celebrity endorsement was actually the best predictor of failure that the researchers examined.

Jump forward to 2022. Researchers identified a group of people who claimed to reduce their animal product consumption due to animal advocacy tactics. Then they asked: Which tactics in particular made you make this switch? Celebrity endorsements were ranked 16th out of 16 — dead last.

All in all, it’s not looking good for celebrities’ ability to change other people’s diets.

Big Following, Small Impact

It might seem surprising how little influence celebrities have, but let’s dig a bit deeper into why this might be the case. Veganism (and any diet change for that matter) is an example of complex social contagion — people need exposure to an idea multiple times from multiple sources before they will make a change. As Damon Centola explains in Change (a book popular in many animal advocacy circles), influencers and celebrities spread ideas via weak ties, as opposed to the strong ties you hold with your loved ones and inner circle. Overall, Centola argues that celebrities and influencers are highly overrated in creating complex behavior change (like diet) since complex social contagion depends on overlapping messages from strong ties.

Data backs this idea up. A 2024 experiment on influencers’ effects on cultivated meat found that micro influencers (fewer than 100k followers) were more effective than mega influencers (over a million followers) in getting people to think about trying slaughter-free meat. That seems surprising at first, but it makes sense if you think about it. You’re probably more likely to believe someone if they seem closer to you and if their interest appears more genuine, which is more associated with smaller influencers than big Hollywood celebrities. Bigger platforms means more eyeballs, but also less influence per person.

The type of celebrity matters too. In a Master’s Thesis, Chinese consumers were more likely to say they wanted to eat plant-based foods if they saw an endorsement from an “expert” celebrity (in this case, well-known scientists and researchers) compared to an athlete or an actor. The study also found that participants were more receptive to male and local celebrities. This study matches broader research on celebrities’ impact on consumption: celebrities who are deemed trustworthy and somehow congruous with the product are more likely to increase purchasing intention. This makes sense! I’m probably more likely to buy a turmeric ginger shot from Zoë Kravitz than Jennifer Lawrence.

This can help explain why some celebrities don’t have a meaningful impact on their fans’ diets: their claim to fame is unrelated to animal welfare and sustainability, so those messages aren’t seen as important as their new boo or swoon-worthy red carpet look.

There May Be Other Indirect Impacts At Play

I need to note that tracking the impact of a celebrity endorsement on the success of a social movement is incredibly challenging. So many questions swirling around: how much influence does their message have? Would it be higher or lower if someone else gave the exact same message? Is the impact of celebrity related to their platform, their charisma, their parasocial relationships, or something else? It’s no wonder then that a 2020 meta-analysis of 79 celebrity endorsements of conservation efforts was unable to conclude whether the endorsements were effective or not. So there may be other impacts from vegan celebrities that aren’t captured in the research.

For one: alternative proteins. Remember that cultivated meat study I mentioned above? In it, Instagram posts from influencers were effective in getting people to say they were willing to buy cultivated meat. The same is true of insect-based foods, according to a 2022 study. Not that I’m advocating for insect production! Rather that celebrities can help get people to try novel foods more generally — maybe celebrities are better at getting people to try alternative proteins instead of becoming vegan.

Celebrities can influence organizations behind the scenes, such as how Billie Eilish and Joaquin Phoenix convince venues like stadiums and award shows to go plant-based. Those are big wins! Celebrities, especially of the Hollywood variety, also influence media. Songs, movies, award show speeches, books, and comedy sketches related to sustainability, animal welfare, and meat reduction could go a long way in changing people’s minds. I suspect these cultural touchstones are far more important than whether or not a celebrity mentions plant-based eating on a podcast.

However, as many scholars point out, celebrity endorsement typically functions to explore veganism in terms of health or lifestyle, rather than as an ethical choice, part of a social movement, or sustainability efforts. That’s why when a celebrity is truly able to shift the conversation to issues that matter, like when Joaquin Phoenix dominated headlines with his Oscar speech on animal welfare, it’s a breath of fresh air.

The Bottom Line

Celebrities speaking out about meat reduction, whether positively or negatively, is unlikely to be a meaningful lever for changing people’s diets or the broader food system. I’d be more interested in storytellers crafting narratives that center on animals and environments, or more localized celebrity endorsements speaking to smaller communities, than whether Lizzo mentions vegan smoothies in an Instagram story.

Thank you

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