The Reason So Many Celebrities Have Their Own Liquor Brands

Nowadays it may be more challenging to name a celebrity who doesn't have a stake in a liquor brand rather than a celebrity who does. It seems like every star is promoting their personal brand of whiskey, gin, tequila, vodka, or wine, and even more are continuing to enter the market daily. Celebs like Dwayne Johnson, Gabrielle Union, Blake Lively, and Nick Jonas have all jumped on the alcohol brand bandwagon. Most recently "Harry Potter" alum Emma Watson announced she'd joined the realm of celebrity liquor brands with Renais Gin, which she created with her brother. There's a reason for this, and you could probably guess that most of it has to do with money.

Like anything with a star's name attached to it, people tend to want to buy it — and the alcohol market is no different. In the same way that social media influencers make money endorsing products, the company makes money when their brand is associated positively with a celebrity. For a celebrity Like Emma Watson who has over 72 million Instagram followers, there is a built-in customer base that's interested in buying what she's selling. And when spirits like gin have a short turnaround time on production, there's a lot of money to be made quickly.

Statista predicts that between now and 2027, revenue for the alcoholic drinks market will be about $2 trillion, so it makes sense that celebrities with enough wealth to either invest or start their own brand would choose to get in on the profits. 

Many celebrities get into the liquor business with the primary intention of creating another income stream. Still, some are just as obsessed with finding a specific taste or variety and become very hands-on in the business. George Clooney and his pal Rande Gerber created their brand Casamigos because they shared a love of tequila and were constantly searching for the right flavor. "There came a point where George turned to me and said, 'Why don't we create one that's perfect for us?'" Gerber told Business Insider. The pair sold the brand to Diageo for a hefty $1 billion in 2017.

But there are just as many stars who become the face of a brand while having little — if anything — to do with the liquor's production. In October 2022, Seth MacFarlane became the chief storyteller for Bear Fight Whiskey, though he'd previously been a Jack Daniels fan and isn't involved in making the liquor. On The Adam Carolla Show podcast, he admitted that it wasn't something that he sought out, but that Bear Fight Whiskey came to him and asked him to endorse the brand.

With the alcoholic beverage market continuing to grow and wealthy media figures realizing how lucrative the business can be, we can probably expect to see many more celebrity-owned or sponsored brands in the future.