Love ’em or hate ’em, cannabis and celebrity partnerships are here to stay. Here are a few of the biggest names who have gone all-in on marijuana:
One of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, Mike Tyson was once more well known for his controversial behavior than his cannabis advocacy. And, well, maybe he is still more well-known for the whole ear-biting thing, but these days, Tyson has mellowed out. After launching and closing down his first canna-biz – the Tyson Ranch, he’s ready for the next big thing.
“My life was just miserable, I was out of control. I was fighting with everybody. If someone asked me for an autograph, I’d punch them in the face. I was just a mess, and then after I retired, I started smoking,” Tyson said. “What a mistake that was — I should have smoked my whole career. I should have smoked when I was fighting because it put me in this different state of mind. I’m very relaxed and the more relaxed you are, the better fighter you are at least in my case.”
Iron Mike credits his most recent comeback to cannabis—so much so that he partnered with Columbia Care to release his own cannabis line, Tyson 2.0
NBA legend Allen Iverson launched the Iverson Collection, a line of cannabis products created in partnership with fellow NBA alum Al Harrington’s cannabis brand, Viola. Not your everyday cannabis, the first strain in the Iverson Collection was designed to taste like Dom Pérignon champagne.
The irony of creating a cannabis line isn’t lost on Iverson, who was once arrested and charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession in Virginia.
“I could hear the people in the crowd calling me weed head on the road. It was bad and now all these years later look where we are and how far we’ve come,” he told Bleacher Report.
And, of course, we can’t talk about cannabis and celebrity partnerships without mentioning Josh Blue. Most recently a finalist on America’s Got Talent, Josh Blue is a stand-up comedian with a long history in the cannabis community. Blue partnered with Mountain High Suckers to create Josh Blue’s Dream Suckers, a THC- and CBD-infused edible.
A comedian and actor extraordinaire, Jim Belushi didn’t partner with a cannabis company. He went all in and started a cannabis farm in Oregon called Belushi’s Farm. Belushi, who uses cannabis to treat his PTSD, is also a cannabis advocate. In addition to his work with veterans suffering from PTSD, Belushi is also a board member for The Last Prisoner Project, a non-profit committed to cannabis criminal justice reform.
Belushi told High Times, “It’s humiliating to the men and women who are incarcerated from the failed War on Drugs, and it also collapses the fabric of their families. It’s time to get these nonviolent cannabis prisoners out. There are millions of dollars being made in our industry today, and these men and women really are the ones who laid the groundwork for our industry, and they’re in jail.”
Famous stoner comedians Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman are using their celebrity to advocate for federal marijuana legalization. They’ve partnered with Cannabis in Common to pressure lawmakers in Congress to end cannabis prohibition.
“Americans can’t agree on anything can we?” Silverman asked in a promotional video. “Fortunately there is at least one thing most Americans have in common: more than two-thirds of us agree cannabis should be legalized and we have a real shot at getting federal legalization done now if we speak up.”
Rogen launched his own line of cannabis, dubbed Houseplant, in Canada after marijuana was legalized there in 2018.
Pop star Justin Bieber is the latest celebrity to jump on the cannabis bandwagon by partnering with Palms Premium, a brand of cannabis pre-rolls. The line of pre-rolls is sold under the name “Peaches,” a reference to his song of the same name.
“I’m a fan of Palms and what they are doing by making cannabis approachable and helping to destigmatize it—especially for the many people who find it helpful for their mental health. I wanted to make sure that I was doing something with them that felt genuine and Peaches felt like a good place to start,” Bieber said.