Christmas is hard to avoid, but some celebrities have opted to skip the trees, presents, and festivities of December 25th.
Hugh Grant
Though Love Actually might be the most-streamed Christmas film of modern times, Hugh Grant has never had much interest in Christmas himself. Hugh has stated that he and his father were not fans of Christmas and explained how, for years, he would take his father abroad to Muslim countries during Christmas in order to avoid it altogether.
Mayim Bialik
Mayim Bialik grew up in an observant Jewish household and did not celebrate Christmas as a child. She continues Jewish traditions with her family. She has even starred in a Christmas-themed film, even though she has said she was unfamiliar with many Christmas traditions.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and did not celebrate Christmas growing up. As an adult, she still associates herself with the religion. She has stated that she does not celebrate Christmas or birthdays.
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick stirred some controversy when he was interviewed about what he was getting his longtime girlfriend Nessa Diab for Christmas. Kaepernick said simply: We don’t celebrate Christmas. Kaepernick explained the couple doesn’t exchange gifts that holiday; instead, they spend money on experiences throughout the year. The couple doesn’t believe love has to be expressed in one giant exchange of presents in December.
Nadiya Hussain
Christmas Day does hold significance in Nadiya Hussain’s household. But not for the religious reason you might think: December 25 is actually her birthday. The Great British Bake Off winner was born into a Muslim family and has stated plainly that her family doesn’t celebrate Christmas. But everyone essentially having the day off makes for an ideal chance to bring family together for her birthday.
Prince
Prince’s connection to holidays altered when he converted to Jehovah’s Witnesses in the early 2000s. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas or birthdays, and Prince was devout in his new faith. Friend Van Jones later remembered Prince joking that President Barack Obama should declare Christmas presents and birthdays over because there were more important things to do.
Richard Attenborough
Attenborough’s reason for stopping the celebration of Christmas was sadly very different. His daughter Jane, granddaughter Lucy, and another family member were killed by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand on Boxing Day. Attenborough was heartbroken over their loss, and reports of his later life revealed he never celebrated Christmas again. For the famed actor and director, Christmas became a season now forever tied to sorrow.
Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam
Cat Stevens became Yusuf Islam and converted to Islam in 1977. He had been born to a Christian family, but spent years searching for spiritual answers before finding Islam. With his conversion, he found himself with a new religious calendar that celebrated Muslim holidays instead of Christian ones. As such, Christmas is not celebrated religiously by Yusuf Islam as it no longer holds any significance.
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman has made jokes throughout her career about being Jewish during America’s heavily Christmas-focused month of December. Instead of claiming Christmas was hers, she often embraced the Jewish perspective of observing it from afar. Hanukkah was her family’s tradition growing up, and Christmas was everyone else’s. Her comedy has made that outsider perspective something of her public persona.
Larry David
Larry David is not fond of Christmas and has even complained about holiday tunes, sappy films, forced gifts, heaps of garbage from gift wrapping, and the expectation to be jovial. Somehow his grumblings led to receiving fewer invitations to Christmas festivities, which he happily noted. Instead, he found himself enjoying December 25 more by staying home by himself and ordering Chinese takeout, which became an annual tradition.
Colin Firth
Colin Firth stars in one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time: Love Actually. However, he has revealed that he doesn’t actually feel fondness toward Christmas. He once labeled his relationship with Christmas as a “profound loathing.” Firth has also said he hates how joyful people try to appear during the holidays and even griped about hearing Christmas music everywhere.
Ozzy Osbourn
Few fans didn’t know that Ozzy Osbourne didn’t like Christmas. He hated how everything closed down for Christmas and couldn’t stand the mountains of gifts and unused wrapping paper that ensued. Decades later, he was still vocalizing that he wasn’t “big on Christmas.” He went on to explain how he’d rather buy people gifts when he thought of them or saw something they’d like.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
Like our content? Be sure to follow us.
14 famous women frequently ranked among the world’s most beautiful
While beauty lists come and go, there are some famous faces that keep turning up again and again, no matter how many decades have passed.
14 famous women frequently ranked among the world’s most beautiful
