Fame doesn’t change the stereotypical face of vegetarianism: white, female, and thin. It may come as a surprise that there are several popular black celebrities that don’t eat meat for various reasons. Some believe in animal rights, others choose to eat meatless for health reasons, but regardless, they prove that vegetarians are black and famous, too! Below is a list of ten black celebrities that don’t eat meat.

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43 Comments

  1. erykah badu’s perspective resonates with me most. outside of specific health concerns, for me, veganism just makes sense. it seems she shares that viewpoint.

  2. Common’s perspective aligned completely with mine. I personally feel that one needs to find the right balance as far as meatless eating is concerned. I just recently became a pescatarian at the beginning of this month, because I took the time to analyze the plethora of eating lifestyles and decided that being a pescatarian provided a platform for me to thrive and never falter. One day, I just got sick and tired of having an unhealthy eating lifestyle and I learned that beef and pork were absolutely horrific for my body. Chicken and turkey didn’t help matters either, so since I’m a lover of seafood and for the most part, it provides omega-3 acids amongst other healthy materials for my body, I felt that the pescatarian lifestyle was the right fit for me. I may transition to vegetarianism or veganism at some point, but for the present, I love being a pescatarian.

    • I get where your at, and good on you for what you are achieving.
      I feel that the majority of people who choose veganism are doing it for the animals more than anything. That’s why it can look so extreme to most.
      Well done and keep that level head thinking on and you will thrive whether you stay where you are or move to vegan based lifestyle. 🙂

    • Thank you for calling yourself a Pescetarian and not a Vegetarian. Everyone should make the choice that is right for them and not be judged for it. But it makes me crazy when people call themselves vegetarian and eat fish. There is no such thing.

  3. I read a few years ago that Nelly was a vegan. That was the first time I heard the term and made me research the diet and lifestyle.

  4. krianne thomasson

    50 Cent doesnt eat any meat lol i remember him doing an interveiw and saying “who yakes a rapper serious when he doesnt eat meat or drink! Thats why i dont tell my public that! I have to protect the image) lol i thought that was so funny when he said that!

  5. I’ve been seriously exploring the pescatarian lifestyle and think I might be ready to go ahead and take the plunge.

  6. I grew up on a traditional diet but after reading Back to Eden and Diet for a Small Planet in college I totally changed my approach to diet and nutrition. I even studied and practiced macrobiotics and raw food preparation. In short, I love being vegetarian and have been primarily vegan for years. It’s better for my body and I am very healthy as a result (knock on wood, so far). There is so much to gain from being vegan — for self and for the planet!

  7. Common’s statement about finding the right balance to fit your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs made sense to me. When it’s explained that way, I think that I am more open to try a vegetarian diet soon.

  8. I agree with other commenters, Common’s approach is the one I’ve taken. I went vegetarian a couple years ago and started vomiting violently all the time. When I re introduced fish into my diet my body stabilized rapidly. I’ve recently reintroduced light poultry into my diet and I feel even better. I hated being shamed by people saying “you’re not a real vegetarian/vegan if…” I don’t care to be a “real” anything. I care to have my health in check and feel comfortable with my food choices.

    • How long were you a vegetarian because it sounds like your body was cleansing out all the toxins, which happens and is different for everybody? Have you tried it again, no meat and no fish, and if not will you try it again in the future?

  9. I love this. This really inspires me to keep trying it. I’ve cut back on meat alot, but it is a process.

  10. Prince. Sexy inside and out. Nuff said.

  11. John Sally (vegan)…. Though he’s not on the list. he did a article with vegnews magazine that really stuck with me. also another artist I love is Canadian rapper K-OS.

  12. Purple Rain, Purple rain…..

  13. I agree with Common’s statement about finding the right balance. Do what works best for you. What I have found is when I’ve gone a long time w/o eating steak, it makes me sick when I go back to eating it again. My body has to adjust to it. Now I just stick to fish….it works for me!! 🙂

  14. Add the entire Jackson family! Including the music icon Janet Jackson. Everyone she’s dated, she’s also turned vegetarian also (it has been recorded…LOL). So Jermaine Dupri, although no longer with Ms. Jackson, is also a vegetarian. The list is much bigger than these 10, but there are some surprises on this list here.

  15. Janet Jackson I’m convinced has a kindred spirit with me. Each time she has elevated her diet to the next level, I have done the same at some point. Love her! No surprise Prince is a Vegetarian. So happy to hear that. Angela Bassett is stunning anyway. I’m happy she’s Vegetarian too. The big surprise for me is Forrest Whitaker. WOW! I had no idea. That’s wonderful!

  16. We as African Americans have to break that long held feeling inside that,” I aint eatin no fish less its fried, I gots ta have my pork, ribs and bar b q baby, I can’ t eat no raw collard greens, what you mean corn wit no butter?” My family been eatin like this since….. Since when? The slave days. It is what we must let go of,(bad health habits) what we call our roots, our culture. We do this for we believe in pride, that this is ours, to hold on to our claim to blackness, is unhealthy hand me down heart attacks and strokes and (sugar) diabetes. We need more of our black celebrities to stand up and the lead the way into the social reform of healthiness. Thug worship in our culture has gone too far too long. Tupac said we are T.he H.ate U. .Gave We need to wake up from our slumber and realize we are the O.G.’s the children Of God. Them belly full but they hungry. I love you all, Meditate Pray and Jog, in love, Mark Melvin Grinage

    • Here is something really radical….fans who embrace alternative healthy eating patterns and the celebrities wondering where did they get this extra energy? Look at the pep in their step and the glide in their stride. Kudos to the celebs profiled here but in some cases, it’s the fans who have to flip the script.

  17. Here is a good video on meat: http://carnism.com

  18. Balance is the key! February 2011 on my 48th Birthday I decided to experiment with eliminating meat from my diet, I was pretty much eating poultry and turkey only, but decided I needed a break. My plan was not to convert to vegetarianism and the experiment was only intended to last 2 weeks ~ 1 month tops, after the first month I felt great and decided to continue with a meatless diet, and I am happy to say I am 1 1/2 years meatless and have no desire to go back. In March 2012 I began introducing fish into my diet (no shell fish, as I am allergic)! My decision and experience as a veggie / pescatarian has been the amazing! I agree with Common’s statement that balance is key!

  19. Well it seems like two of the ten people listed here are not really vegetarians anymore, Brandi and Common. I am a vegan myself, and have always felt great about it. I eliminated animal products from my diet out of compassion for the animals and not wanting to be a part of their suffering. I believe that people who have that as their motivation have a lot less reason to “backslide” once they make the commitment to go vegetarian, and hopefully ultimately vegan. Pescatarians are really not vegetarians, since by eating fish or other sea creatures, you are still eating the flesh of an animal. Fish is not a vegetarian food even by ovo-lacto vegetarian standards. Other than that, though, I am happy that more and more people are looking to eliminate animal products from their diet.

  20. I became vegan once I learned to doubt…the news on TV, my past behaviors, my past beliefs, pretty much the whole eleven yards. That opened me up, a lot, to videos like Earthlings, Gary Yourofsky’s “The Best Speech You’ll Ever Hear” on Youtube. Now I think I’m opposed to just about everything we are asked to believe in, in our culture in America…and I wonder who, if anybody, could appreciate, or tolerate, my opposition to the evening news, which i now consider to be a classroom where rich white People try to teach us how they want us to think ebout things… .Perhaps a Black Woman…which led me to research whether there are any Black vegans. I’m glad to find there ARE, and to all the Black men out there, you’ve got a white brother who’s lookin’ – yeah, you got some competition comin’ soon – I hope you don’t mind! And, to all the Black Sista’s out there, keep an open mind, and look up the work of Michelle Alexander because my first question will be, “Do you know about a writer named Michelle Alexander? and how important do you consider her work to be?” I figure appropriate responses will be either, “OMG, Yes!,” or, “So? What else is new?” (well, it’s new to me, sorry to say, I’ve only been a cautious news consumer for the past two years – Oh, and I’m only looking for mature Black ladies, being 51 years old myself.

  21. I started the vegetarian life style 6 months ago. Best thing I ever done. Good for my spirit and soul since I now respect the temple – my body and have respect for animal life.

  22. hmmmm…..i’m seeing a theme – common/andre 3K (apparently badu is one bad mama) lol

  23. well i’m thinking of joining my dad he’s doing the china study so we’ll see.

  24. LOL if you really think being a vegetarian is any healthier than eating meat. Soil is tainted with chemicals & other impurities. Rainwater is also tainted due to pollutants

    • Also you can buy organically which reduces the amount of chemicals you’re getting in your fruits/veggies.

      • Karen, wouldn’t you say that some convention are safe according to clean 15 and dirty dozen. How the h can people get organic as cheap as conventional especially when on a budget and even if stuck in a place where they can’t grow a garden with space very limited? Everyone’s finances must be taken into consideration with realistic living spaces/

  25. Yes but guess what you can grow your own fruits and veggies! easier and a lot cheaper than trying to raise some live stock. vegetarian are healthier.

  26. I hear you Truth Hurts. Meat, Fish are tainted with much more chemicals than soil or rainwater it seems. Plus, I generally wonder what is the deal with grass-fed meat, beef or milk as they seem like oxymorons?

  27. Saadia Graves-Tatum

    I agree with Common, that you have to find the right balance. I have titter-totter with being a lacto-ovo vegetarian and pescatarian for more than 8 years. I am aspiring to become a vegan sometime this year. I have enjoyed being a lacto-ovo vegetarian more so than the pescatarian lifestyle. I feel it is a travesty if you have not decided to become a vegetarian because as human beings I believe that we do not posses the digestive system to digest meat. I love being a pescatarian but I realize that I love animals more and being healthy is definitely a lifestyle.

  28. I am an ethical vegan first because I love animals. Eating a vegan diet that is whole foods plant based is the best thing you can do for your health. I am a Food For Life Instructor through Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM.org) I teach classes on adopting a plant based lifestyle. I have seen many of my students lose weight, get off of medication, and/or lower medication dosages after adopting a plant based diet. For those of you who are switching to eating vegan/plant-based make sure you take a B12 supplement also anyone over 50 should be taking a B12 supplement.

  29. All animals want to live and all animals deserve to live. Going vegan is an ethical stance for the rights of animals who can’t speak up for themselves. The fact that it’s the healthiest diet and staves off aging is secondary. Veganism is the no bullshit reality that everyone on Earth should be treated with compassion. The barbaric ritual of animal enslavement, abuse, objectification, torture and murder should be an anachronism of the past but is dismissed and is UNRECOGNIZED by most. Thats why slaugherhouses are at the edge of towns where you can’t hear the screams or smell the stink. Most people want to compartmentamentalize their compassion and there is no room for rationalizations when there are suffering beings. It makes a mockery of all humanity when you dismiss the suffering of others as long as its not yourself or your family member. That mentality sets a very bad example for children and it conditions generations of people towards hatred, denial, diseased ethics and a divided mind.

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