18 Celebs Who Have Shared Their Friendsgiving Experiences
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It's that time of year again when we're nearing major holidays like Thanksgiving, a day to be around those you love, express gratitude for your blessings, and eat a hearty, delicious meal!
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While traditionally, this day is geared toward breaking bread with family members, hanging out with friends is another great option for Thanksgiving.
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Here are 18 celebs who have shared the special memories they've made during Friendsgiving events.
1.Taylor Swift
Taylor spent Thanksgiving 2016 with some family members and friends Martha Hunt, Lily Donaldson, and Todrick Hall. She shared photos from the occasion in now-deleted social media posts, and Todrick documented their dinner on Instagram.
In addition, Teen Vogue reported in December 2019 that Taylor had hosted a Friendsgiving celebration with guests like Antoni Porowski, Martha Hunt, and Gigi Hadid. The "Anti-Hero" singer-songwriter posed in a group photo that Gigi posted on her Instagram story, writing, "love you all sm." Antoni then reposted this on his story with the message, "till next year ❤️."
2.JoJo Siwa
In November 2021, JoJo collaborated with Messenger for their How We Friendsgiving series, for which she filmed her first-ever Friendsgiving celebration with Jenna Johnson and Luke Eisner. The social media star opened up to Seventeen about the value of maintaining positive companionships throughout one's journey.
"We do have Friendsgiving, and it's a special day that we get to be with our chosen family," JoJo said. "And, you know, they play such an important role in the life of everybody, in the life of myself and the lives of whoever your chosen family is. So, I think that keeping the people you love close, just keep moving forward and put one foot in front of the other. Everything's going to be okay."
3.Joaquin Phoenix
While chatting on Late Show with David Letterman in December 2014, Joaquin said he'd first visited his sister and nephews that Thanksgiving before meeting up with friends later in the day.
"I have, like, an orphan Thanksgiving, just a few friends that don't have any family came over," Joaquin said.
The Joker star, who is a vegan, explained that he and his buddies ate organic mesquite grass as part of their Thanksgiving meal.
"It sounds disgusting, but it's very good actually," he said.
4.Shay Mitchell
The Pretty Little Liars alum posed with several friends while the group donned red plaid shirts and celebrated Thanksgiving in 2015.
"What a Canadian and American hybrid Friendsgiving looks like...pure plaid bliss," Shay wrote via Instagram.
5.The anchors of Today
Five Today show anchors — Hoda Kotb, Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie, Carson Daly, and Craig Melvin — sat for a televised Friendsgiving potluck in 2021.
"Thanksgiving is about family, and you guys are family," Savannah said as she raised a toast with her colleagues.
The broadcasters went on to share their families' signature Thanksgiving recipes and discuss memories of past holiday moments with loved ones.
6.Rob Lowe
Back in 2018, Rob posted a photo on Instagram of himself alongside his Parks and Recreation costar Aziz Ansari as the two showed off Thanksgiving dishes. Rob explained that he was not able to be with his family members for the holiday, but he still had an enjoyable celebration with his friend.
"Away from home and missing my family," Rob captioned the image. "But was able to share a beautiful Thanksgiving anyway, thanks to this great chef. Literally delicious!"
7.Kylie Jenner
Kylie posted pictures of the dining table for her 2019 Friendsgiving gathering on her Instagram story, per Delish. A card labeled with a name was placed at the seat of each attendee, and Kylie wrote down nicknames for her guests. The card made for Stassie Karanikolaou said "1942" in reference to her fondness for tequila by the Don Julio brand, while Kylie's sister Kendall Jenner was given the title "Daddy Long Legs" on her card. Kylie labeled her own card with "600 Mill," which alluded to the 2019 sale of 51% of her shares in the Kylie Cosmetics brand to Coty Inc. for $600 million.
In addition, Kylie also labeled one seat with the name "Beyoncé." However, this was a joke, and the “Break My Soul” vocalist wasn't at the event.
8.Shannen Doherty
Shannen took to instagram on Thanksgiving day in 2021 to express her appreciation for friendship. Although they were without power during their holiday celebration, she and her friends "made do" and had a pleasant meal together that made the actor full of gratitude.
"No power in Malibu, but we made do. I’m thankful for people who show up in my life. People who make me realize that friendship is everything," the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum wrote alongside a selfie of herself with dinner guests.
9.Lauren Conrad
Lauren participates in an annual Thanksgiving bash with friends, and in 2021, she offered tips to E! News readers for organizing a fun Friendsgiving occasion. When she was asked what people should keep in mind if they want to throw a Friendsgiving party, the TV personality emphasized splitting cooking duties with your besties.
"I think it depends on how you're doing it and the approach you want to take, but I highly recommend sharing the responsibilities," Lauren said. "Cooking can take up the entire day, so I think coming together and having everyone bring a little piece of their holiday to the friend group is a really nice way to go. When you're hosting, you're cooking the main dish. Then, you'd ask others to provide whatever their favorite thing is, whether it be a salad or stuffing or a potato dish. It's fun to do it that way."
10.Emma Roberts
In 2017, Emma posted an image of herself, her ex-boyfriend and American Horror Story costar Evan Peters, another costar, Sarah Paulson, and series co-creator Ryan Murphy as they celebrated Thanksgiving together. The four AHS collaborators sat in front of a festive table setup for the photo.
"American Horror Story Thanksgiving," Emma captioned the Instagram post.
11.Nina Dobrev
Nina went on a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 2016 for a Friendsgiving getaway. She shared a photo on Instagram of herself and her friends gathered around a meal in celebration of Thanksgiving with the caption, "Friends are the family you choose. Happy ThanksGiving from all of us to all of you."
In addition, the Vampire Diaries actor went to the beach with her buddies over the holiday weekend.
"Sunday Funday #CaboGobble Style," Nina wrote with a picture of the group posing by the shore.
12.Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa held a 2016 Friendsgiving event in collaboration with Just Dance 2017. The performer revealed her Thanksgiving menu, which included turkey, pumpkin custard, pumpkin risotto, radish and concord grape salad, and pumpkin gazpacho. The Princess Switch star also opened up about the importance of recognizing the friends in your life during the festive season.
"Thanksgiving is with your family, and it's great that you get to spend time with them, but you don't get to choose your family," Vanessa said to E! News. "So, with Friendsgiving, you get to choose the people you want to spend it with. I think it's really important to slow down and take a second to be grateful for what you have."
13.Michelle Monaghan
During a 2020 Access Hollywood interview, Michelle discussed her experience of filming the thriller series Messiah in Jordan. While she was in the Middle Eastern country, the actor became friends with a driver who invited her to his home for Thanksgiving. He and his wife made her "a traditional Jordanian meal," which she said was "amazing."
" ... He found out that I was alone there for Thanksgiving, and I did not have my family there at the time," Michelle said. "And he insisted that he and his wife host a Thanksgiving for me at their house."
"The food there is fantastic," she added.
14.Amy Schumer
Back in 2015, Amy celebrated Thanksgiving with fellow celebs Jennifer Lawrence and Aziz Ansari. The three took a picture together on the beach at sunset, which Amy shared with her Instagram followers.
"Thanksgiving dreams," the Trainwreck star captioned the post.
15.Ashley Tisdale
A High School Musical reunion took place in 2019, as Ashley and her HSM cast-mate Vanessa Hudgens met up at a Friendsgiving ceremony hosted by a mutual friend. Ashley's husband, Christopher French, and Vanessa's sister, Stella Hudgens, were also in attendance.
“FRIENDSGIVING," Ashley captioned a group photo on Instagram, per Just Jared Jr.
16.Pharrell Williams
Pharrell shared an image on social media that was taken during a 2016 Thanksgiving dinner in Paris in which he was surrounded by friends at a dining table.
"Pear nectar in the Queendom of @colette. Happy Friendsgiving from Paris," the artist wrote.
17.Oprah Winfrey
Oprah had a full house on Thanksgiving in 2016. The media mogul invited a group of students from her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls to join her and her partner, Stedman Graham, for a Thanksgiving meal.
"Dinner Finally! Our house to South Africa to your House.. blesssings," Oprah wrote on Instagram while offering an image of herself, Stedman, and their guests.
She's continued this tradition over the years, and students again visited Oprah and Stedman's home in 2021 for a pre-Thanksgiving get-together with "South African cuisine."
18.Jennifer Aniston
Every year, Jennifer hosts Friendsgiving the day before Thanksgiving. When the Friends star visited Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2018, Jimmy, who is a regular guest at Jennifer's Friendsgiving event, suggested that the cuisine for this party could be something different than traditional Thanksgiving food.
"On Thanksgiving, I cook a lot of stuff. The normal turkey, yams, or sweet potatoes, the whole deal. But at your event, we had all of those things," Jimmy said. "So then, I'm making the same thing everyone had the night before, again. So, in essence, you've turned my meal into leftovers."
The late-night host added, "Maybe on Friendsgiving, we could designate another special meal that we have that's not turkey and not all the stuff."
In response, Jennifer made Jimmy enchiladas for Friendsgiving 2019.
"Ok, @jimmykimmel...here are your f*%king Friendsgiving enchiladas," Jennifer wrote on Instagram with a photo of herself preparing the enchiladas, in addition to an image of a label she made for the dish, which said "Jimmy's f**king enchiladas."
The humorous post also included a video of Jimmy being shown the enchiladas, to which he said, "Finally, someone listened to me!"
