It is surprising to many fans that Angelina Jolie is against the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving is celebrated in America as a tradition where families gather together and express what they are thankful for. In recent times, the controversial past of this holiday has gained widespread attention, leading many, including celebrities, to refrain from celebrating the tradition.
Apart from the bloody history of the tradition, celebrities often highlight concerns about the killing of thousands of birds, considering it a cruel way to celebrate a family-based event. Then, there are also some celebrities who were born and brought up in other countries and have no idea about American Thanksgiving traditions.
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Emily Blunt
Before she became an American by marrying John Krasinski and settling in Brooklyn Heights, Emily Blunt spent her early years in London. Blunt had no idea that Turkey Day was a thing because Britishers associated turkey with Christmas. Back in 2014, the Oppenheimer actress revealed to E! News, “We don’t do Thanksgiving.” However, Blunt loves to cook for her husband and two daughters, be it Thanksgiving or not.
Shailene Woodley
Shailene Woodley is an environmental activist besides being an actress. Woodley came in support of the Dakota Access Pipeline protestors, who mostly included the Standing Rock Sioux native Indian tribes. On Thanksgiving day, Woodley was vocal about the history of the tradition which spread false narratives about Native Indians. Woodley shared with TYT Politics:
“It’s a day where kids in elementary school in America are taught false narratives about our native brothers and sisters… None of our children know the truth about not only what happened to Native Americans when Westerners decided to colonize this country, but what is still happening to Native Americans.”
The Spectacular Now actress was later arrested along with other protestors, which brought more attention to the issue.
Mayim Bialik
Mayim Bialik is known to most Americans as Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory. Bialik has also amassed a huge following on YouTube, where she openly expressed her dislike for Thanksgiving. In the video titled “4 Reasons I Don’t Like Thanksgiving”, she explained several reasons for her stance.
She hated the excessive consumption of food and alcohol in the name of the tradition. The Blossom actress also highlighted that most Jewish holidays came around the same time, making it tiring for her to celebrate Thanksgiving. However, it was the killing of countless turkeys and the history behind the tradition that made Bialik denounce the tradition.
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman uses her stand-up platform to raise issues against several social taboos and controversial topics. Her highlight performance is her comic character endorsing such controversial topics in a satirical fashion. In a similar satirical commentary, Silverman addressed both the history of Thanksgiving and the killing of thousands of turkeys, during her 2018 Thanksgiving special:
“I realize the true meaning of Thanksgiving, that the turkey we kill is a symbol of the Native Americans we killed. We’re so grateful for their farming techniques that they taught us, as we learned to harvest our own food on the land we took. We are giving thanks for being American. God bless America and its greedy self righteous heritage.”
The Sarah Silverman Program actress became a vegetarian at the age of 10 after witnessing a cow slaughter.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie, with a diverse family of six children, has reportedly expressed her opposition to celebrating Thanksgiving due to its historical context. Fox News quotes a source who revealed that the Gia actress is “grossed out” by the holiday. The source added that Jolie didn’t want her family to celebrate “a story of murder.” The source stated:
“Jolie hates this holiday and wants no part in rewriting history like so many other Americans. To celebrate what the white settlers did to the native Indians, the domination of one culture over another, just isn’t her style. She definitely doesn’t want to teach her multi-cultural family how to celebrate a story of murder.”
Out of Jolie’s six children, Maddox Chivan, Zahara Marley, and Pax Thien were from international adoptions.
