More than a year after President Donald Trump began his second term, some celebrities have followed through on the often-touted promises to move out of the United States.
In an interview with The Times on Friday, “Twilight” actress Kristen Stewart spoke about her plans to eventually move out of the country because of Trump’s threat of tariffs on movies made outside the United States.
“Reality is breaking completely under Trump,” she said. “But we should take a page out of his book and create the reality we want to live in.”
Though she has yet to leave the country, Stewart made clear that she was “probably not” going to remain in the states after claiming she “can’t work freely” in America.
Stewart’s comments came less than a week after “Avatar” and “Titanic” director James Cameron spoke about his decision to move from the U.S. to New Zealand. Although Cameron had lived in New Zealand prior to the 2024 presidential election, he became a legal New Zealand citizen in 2025 and cited politics as a factor.
“I’m not there for scenery. I’m there for the sanity,” Cameron said.
He pointed to New Zealand’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic compared to the U.S. under Trump in 2020, suggesting that New Zealand was more “sane.”
“Are you kidding me? Where would you rather live?” Cameron said. “A place that actually believes in science and is sane and where people can work together cohesively to a common goal, or a place where everybody’s at each other’s throats, extremely polarized, turning its back on science and basically would be in utter disarray if another pandemic appears.”
Former daytime talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres directly pointed to Trump’s re-election as the reason she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, have remained in the United Kingdom since moving in 2024.
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“We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, ‘He got in,'” she told broadcaster Richard Bacon, according to the BBC in July. “And we’re like, ‘We’re staying here.'”
The most notable example of an anti-Trump celebrity who moved after his election was comedian Rosie O’Donnell, who confirmed in March that she had moved to Ireland and applied for citizenship after Trump’s re-election.
“Although I was someone who never thought I would move to another country, that’s what I decided would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child,” she said on TikTok.
Some celebrities have moved out of the country following Trump’s election, though they have not directly cited Trump or his policies as a reason.
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In August, “House of Cards” and “The Princess Bride” actress Robin Wright described leaving the U.S. as “liberating,” saying that in America, “everything’s rush, competition and speed.”
“America is a s—show,” she added.
Actors Richard Gere and Eva Longoria are also anti-Trump critics who have moved out of the country, but both have cited other reasons.
Other celebrities such as Barbra Streisand, Cher and Sharon Stone have vowed to leave the U.S. after Trump’s re-election but have yet to do so.
