Today, smoking is still prevalent in the United States, and even if you don't smoke, you know someone who does. More than 13.7 percent of individuals in the United States smoke cigarettes daily, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states, smoking may lead to a wide range of health problems, including cancers of the lungs and cardiovascular disease as well as diabetes, TB, and COPD.
With these concerns in mind, quitting is still difficult. When it comes to quitting smoking, prominent individuals are no different from the rest of us. In addition to successfully quitting tobacco, the following A-listers have been smoke-free for an extended period.
Keith Richards
The legendary Rolling Stones guitarist said in February 2020 that he finally quit smoking in late 2019. Richards informed Q104.3 New York's Jim Kerr that he hadn't smoked since October when Kerr interviewed him. "I've been there, done that," Richards claims his only weaknesses are rock & roll and the occasional glass of pinot grigio, despite his troubled background with booze and narcotics. Kicking butts, on the other hand, was no walk in the park. For Richards, "nicotine was tougher to stop than heroin," as the late Lou Reed said in 2019: By "cutting down by a fair amount every day," he told Mojo, he was able to overcome his addiction.
Prince Harry
According to the Daily Mail, the Duke of Sussex began smoking as a kid. He continued the practice for years, even when Buckingham Palace and other Royal Household buildings were designated smoke-free zones in 2016. When Harry married now-Duchess Meghan Markle, a yoga enthusiast, and healthy living follower, he reportedly gave up smoking due to her "wonderful influence," according to People magazine. To improve his diet, shed pounds, and quit smoking, Harry reportedly spoke with royal nutritionist Gabriela Peacock, a source said to the publication.
President Barack Obama
Former President Barack Obama tried to quit smoking throughout his 2008 presidential campaign and the early years of his presidency, starting as a teenager. However, White House doctors observed that Obama had effectively quit smoking during his second periodic medical test in 2011. One of the reasons he was able to give up smoking was because of this. An NBC News article from 2013 remarked, "I'm terrified of my wife." During her tenure as First Lady, Michelle Obama promoted a more healthful way of living.
Jon Hamm
Ad exec Don Draper, played by actor Matthew Goode in Mad Men, was a philandering, whiskey-swilling, chain-smoking jerk. At 24, Goode decided to put the cigarettes down for good. "It's lovely on film. Hamm said in a People interview in 2007. He was compelled to smoke for all seven seasons of Mad Men, although he and his co-stars only smoked herbal cigarettes on set.
Jennifer Aniston
Friends and The Morning Show star Rachel Bloom admitted in 2012 that she had recently quit smoking in an interview with GQ after years of being a chain smoker. What was the deciding factor? Glamour.com stated in 2014 that she penned the preface to her yoga teacher Mandy Ingber's Yogalosophy book on how daily yoga helped her kick her coffee and cigarette habits.
Paul Rudd
Actor Paul Rudd, known for his appearances in Clueless, This Is 40, and Avengers: Endgame, successfully stopped smoking with hypnosis as his support system. Actor Kerry Gaynor, a Los Angeles hypnotist, has devised a hypnotherapy-based smoking cessation program based on the Kerry Gaynor technique. Heather Locklear and other celebrities have all spoken about how this strategy helped them kick the habit.
Gisele Bündchen
Gisele Bündchen, the Brazilian supermodel, confesses to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, drinking a bottle of wine at night, and relying on many cups of coffee when she first started modeling in September 2018. She claims she chose to "choose life" in 2003 and began seeking a healthier lifestyle. With yoga and meditation, she learned how to resist cravings for cigarettes. Insider reported in October 2018 that she and her husband Tom Brady pursue a plant-based diet as part of their dedication to healthy living.
Jon Stewart
It wasn't until December 28, 2000, that the former host of Comedy Central's Daily Show finally broke the habit of smoking. On Primetime Glick in June of this year, Stewart addressed why he had been smoking for so long during the show. Smoking cigarettes was his way of numbing the emotional pain that was preventing him from quitting. "It was an activity I engaged in improving my mood." In a 60 Minutes interview in 2001, Stewart said that he uses gum as a "cigarette replacement," according to a report in Entertainment Weekly in August 2015.
Christy Turlington
At the time, she didn't consider smoking addictive since she "didn't [used to] think of smoking as addicting," as she told The Cut in February 2017. However, by age 18, Turlington understood that the practice was affecting her health. At 18, she stated, "It's just silly to go up a flight of stairs and get breathless," she said. The best success of [her] life, according to Turlington's account in O Magazine, was ultimately succeeding in quitting after "becoming fed up for not honoring the commitment to."
Kelly Ripa
Former soap opera actress and Live! with Kelly and Ryan co-host disclosed her secret habit during an appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman. When I was a teen, I used to smoke in secret," she admitted. The only time I did, was when I was out with friends or in the dressing room. The ABC comedy Hope and Faith rekindled Ripa's cigarette habit, and Letterman learned of it when she appeared on the show's Late Show. Ripa hired a trainer and began "exercising obsessively" after realizing she wanted to be around to watch her children grow up. After taking the antidepressant Wellbutrin for three weeks, she informed Letterman she no longer had a smoking habit.
