Cigarettes are making a comeback in pop culture, with smoking increasingly portrayed as stylish across film, television, and music.
Prominent names, including Dakota Johnson, Beyoncé, Lorde, and Tim Robinson, have all been seen smoking in recent roles, performances, or music videos, signaling a shift in how smoking is portrayed.
Jared Oviatt, creator of the Instagram account @Cigfluencers that showcases glamorous images of celebrities smoking, told The New York Times that he has noted a recent uptick in such content. When he launched the account in 2021, finding new examples was much more challenging.
“In the early days I was really dipping into the archives,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of new examples.”
That has all changed.
Now “every week there’s at least one or two people where I’m like, ‘OK, that’s new.'”
Oviatt’s Instagram account has since gained more than 68,000 followers after being inspired by an image of Dua Lipa smoking.
Although Oviatt describes himself as a casual smoker, he believes the main attraction of celebrities smoking lies in the visual appeal.
Oviatt noted “That general star power makes it that much cooler,” adding that these celebrities appear unfazed about the damage smoking may cause to their teeth or hands.
Smoking also takes on another meaning, notably for singers like Addison Rae and Lorde’s songs, with cigarettes symbolizing bittersweet emotions used to cope with pain or evoke nostalgic memories of past relationships.
“Guess I gotta accept the pain / Need a cigarette to make me feel better,” Rae sings in her single “Headphones On.”
Oviatt has credited Charli XCX with sparking the smoking revival. She is a proud smoker and even once received a cigarette bouquet from Rosalía. She has worked with both Lorde and Rae.
These smokers contrast with celebrities who promote healthy lifestyles, often justifying, “If I smoke and I look bad, well, just in 10 years I can get a face lift to reverse the effects of smoking,” Oviatt said.
And then there is the “ciggy mommy” aesthetic, popularized by Gabby Windey, which reflects a playful, exhausted vibe rather than actual smoking. As the Times noted, it captures the modern smoker’s mix of hedonistic nonchalance and world-weariness.
Robin Koval, CEO of the anti-smoking organization Truth Initiative, has pushed back against the image portrayed by celebrities smoking.
“It’s a source of frustration because people do know that (it can kill),” he told USA Today. “But we have a tobacco industry that is working day and night to actively promote a product that will kill 50% of the people who use it… It is frustrating, and this is why we have to keep talking about it.”
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