The answer is no: Beyoncé isn’t a vegan.
And no, Jay-Z isn’t either.
The New York Times put an end to recent speculation with information straight from Bey and Jay’s personal trainer, Marco Borges: “Beyoncé eats ‘a plant-based’ — i.e. vegan — ‘breakfast daily’ and consumes no meat on Mondays. Jay-Z eats ‘two plant-based meals a day.’”
So perhaps the best way to characterise the superstars is as part-time vegans (or rather, excuse me, part-time “plant-based” dieters). And “part-time” is key here, as it seems that Beyoncé’s food schedule only flirts with veganism while leaving ample opportunity for some pizza or ice cream on the side. The trail of evidence for this goes back for years: The New York Times did its due diligence and dug up a Destiny’s Child-era video of Beyoncé declaring her lifelong love for Popeyes fried chicken. “We’ve all promised ourselves that we will stay the same people,” she said emphatically when asked how the trio will navigate fame. “[We] still like Popeyes chicken...”
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The article also cited a 2015 email to The New York Times where Beyoncé explicitly said, “First it’s important that you know I am not a vegan.” This was in response to an article about how she and Jay were touting their newfound love for — and business investment in — the vegan lifestyle.
This revelation might be of interest to any curious potential vegans thinking about entering the new Greenprint Project sweepstakes the superstar couple is currently promoting through 22 Days Nutrition, a food company co-owned by Bey, Jay, and Borges.
To be clear, fans don’t actually have to go vegan to enter the sweepstakes. They simply have to sign up for and promote the Greenprint Project online for the chance to win Beyoncé and Jay-Z concert tickets for life (or, rather, for up to 30 years). Bey did it herself, sharing two images that read: “My Greenprint is Plant-based for breakfast” and “My Greenprint is Meatless Mondays.” In the process, it appears that Bey and Jay want their fans to learn about the benefits of cutting out meat from their lives, and perhaps even adopting a “plant-based” diet themselves.
But that’s where it gets a bit confusing. According to The New York Times, the Greenprint lifestyle is easy to conflate with veganism, but — and this cannot be stressed enough — this is a “plant-based” program. Through 22 Days Nutrition, Greenprint practitioners can even opt into different “plant-based” meal kit options, all of which are soy, dairy, and gluten-free.
Yes, we know what you’re thinking: that looks and sounds exactly like veganism (because, well, it is). Marketing materials for 22 Days Nutrition even use the phrase “Vegan Time” to promote their products, as Beyoncé used that same expression in a few Instagram captions when she was prepping for Coachella.
As Borges explained to The New York Times, “The term vegan typically refers to people who avoid all animal products (meat, dairy, leather, fur, etc...) not just in their diet but also in their lives.” But although it has her stamp of approval, it appears that not even Queen Bey is all plant-based (or vegan, rather) all the time.