3 Celebrities Who Switched to E-Cigarettes

Smoking has long been common among Hollywood celebrities. In recent years, as the vaping and e-cigarette trends have taken off, many prominent celebrity smokers have switched to the electronic alternative. Here are three celebrities who have gone from cigarettes to e-cigarettes.

Leonardo DiCaprio

With a film career that spans over two decades and includes numerous blockbusters and awards, DiCaprio is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and he loves his e-cigarettes. DiCaprio has smoked for most of his life, and now takes every opportunity to puff on an e-cigarette or vape pen. In an incident that proves how realistic e-cigarettes can look, DiCaprio was once photographed riding a bicycle smoking what many people thought was a cigarette. It turned out to be an e-cigarette.

DiCaprio keeps his vape pen close at hand, and he has been seen smoking it at several major events, including awards shows, fundraisers, and sporting events. Perhaps one of the biggest instances of DiCaprio puffing on his vape pen occurred at the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where DiCaprio was smoking immediately before winning best actor for his work in "The Revenant." At the 2016 Academy Awards, DiCaprio claimed the best actor Oscar for that same role, finally winning the award that had eluded him for so long.

Katherine Heigl

A star who has had both television and film success, Heigl is best known for her work on "Grey's Anatomy." Since that show ended, she starred in several romantic comedies before returning to television.

Heigl began smoking when she was 25, but later decided to give e-cigarettes a try as an alternative. To her credit, she was one of the first celebrities to hope on the e-cigarette bandwagon, drawing particular attention to the product during a David Letterman interview. In that interview, she talked about why she like e-cigarettes, took a puff, and even convinced Letterman to try it.

Charlie Sheen

The son of Martin Sheen and brother of Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen has quite the acting pedigree. He has been in major films and television shows, and although he is known for his comedy roles, he has also starred in powerful dramas, such as "Platoon."

A long-time smoker, Charlie Sheen had an interesting reason for why he switched to e-cigarettes - he was on his "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour and kept receiving fines for smoking inside venues. To avoid any further hits to his bank account, Sheen started using e-cigarettes so he could smoke inside without any issues.

However, Sheen didn't stop at simply using the product, he got into the business with his own line of e-cigarettes. The brand was called Nicosheen.

Why Are Celebrities Making the Switch?

The primary reason is that e-cigarettes and vape pens present a simple alternative to cigarettes that are allowed at far more locations. All it takes is a vape starter kit to try it out, and the user doesn't have to worry about carrying around a whole pack of cigarettes or a lighter. While some locations ban vaping just like they ban smoking (with one notable example being the Dolby Theatre, the site of the Academy Awards), public locations are often more lenient with vaping than they are with cigarettes. E-cigarettes and vape pens don't have the odor of cigarettes, so users can puff in peace.

While DiCaprio, Heigl, and Sheen are three of the more prominent celebrities who vape, they're far from the only ones, as the trend is catching on more and more. Johnny Depp even had a scene related to vaping in his movie "The Tourist." Expect to see more celebrities switch over in the years to come.