Celebs Who Can't Live Without Their Coffee

There's no denying that Americans love their coffee. According to a 2018 study, a whopping 64 percent of those surveyed said they'd drank a cup of coffee the previous day, while CNBC reported that the average American spends an excess of $1,100 on java each year. 

Drinking coffee is clearly something that transcends cultural and socio-economic boundaries. Not only is coffee the day-starting beverage of choice for average folks — that's also true for an array of wealthy celebrities. In fact, there are some stars who are perennially photographed with a cup of coffee in hand, while others have gone so far as to launch their own branded lines of coffee. So prevalent are the coffee habits of celebs that it's become a matter of course for celebrity-driven media outlets such as People, The Hollywood Reporter, and W Magazine to celebrate National Coffee Day by sharing paparazzi pics of numerous stars enjoying a cup of coffee.

To find out more about these highly caffeinated famous folks, keep on reading to meet the celebrities who can't live without their coffee. 

Given her surname, it would be obvious to assume Ariana Grande would automatically order a grande-sized coffee when visiting Starbucks. However, as the pop star revealed in a 2014 interview with Time, that isn't always the case. As she quipped, "Sometimes I get that venti, you know? Some days that's what you need in your life." Asked if she was "a big coffee drinker," Grande confirmed she was indeed. "Yeah, I love soy lattes," she gushed. "Obviously I don't have dairy because I'm a vegan, but they taste out of this world to me."

Not only has Ariana Grande enjoyed Starbucks' coffee, but in 2019 she entered a deal with the Seattle-based coffee chain to become a Starbucks ambassador. As USA Today reported, Grande's partnership also included the introduction of a new beverage, the Cloud Macchiato. 

Grande's association with Starbucks took a hit in 2020, reported People, when she unfollowed the chain's Instagram account. According to speculation, Grande unfollowed due to the company's refusal to allow employees to wear clothing that supported the Black Lives Matter movement (a prohibition that was quickly reversed in the wake of immediate backlash).  

Jackie Chan boasts a decades-long career as one of the world's most popular action-movie stars. Back in 2006, however, the star of the "Rush Hour" franchise took a detour from the movies to launch his own branded chain of coffee shops in Asia. 

As Business of Cinema reported at the time, Chan opened the first location of Jackie Chan's Java Coffee in the Philippines, with that location set to be the first in a continent-wide chain that would also include outlets in Singapore, Hong Kong and China. According to Chan, some of the proceeds of the venture's profits would be donated to several charities, including the Red Cross, World Wildlife Fund, United Nations Children's Fund, and UNAIDS.

Chan said he was hopeful that his coffee, much like his movies, could transcend international borders. "Coffee is also a language in itself," he explained. "When you watch my movies, you think of Jackie Chan. When you drink coffee, I hope you will also think of Jackie Chan." The chain apparently didn't take off to the degree that Chan and his investors may have hoped, but "several" of the chain's locations were still operating, according to Eater in 2015.

Anyone who's ever experienced David Lynch's bizarrely surreal TV series, "Twin Peaks," will recall the show's protagonist, FBI Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), and his extreme obsession for a damn fine cup of coffee. That particular character trait is apparently one that Lynch lifted from himself, given that he's also a serious coffee aficionado. 

Lynch expounded on his love of coffee in an essay he wrote for HuffPost, revealing how he came to develop his own David Lynch Signature Cup Coffee line. "I now drink about seven large cups per day, and I really look forward to each new cup," said Lynch of his branded coffee (although he also admitted to once guzzling 20 cups of instant coffee each day).

Lynch also explained how coffee has fueled his creativity over the years. "I loved to go to diners and drink coffee and try to catch ideas for the work," he wrote. "Coffee has always seemed to facilitate thinking and catching ideas. Not only that, but the flavor of coffee is beyond the beyond good." Ultimately, Lynch added, "Even bad coffee is better than no coffee at all."

Back in 1994, TV host David Letterman revealed the secret to maintaining his energy level during a taping of his late-night talk show: "Way too much coffee," he told Esquire. "But if it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever," he joked. 

In 2000, the New York Times reported that Letterman underwent heart bypass surgery to repair a blocked artery. After the operation, his doctors advised him to cut caffeine. This forced the coffee-loving comedian to switch to decaf — something about which he continually griped on his show. One example, reported the Seattle Times, was an on-air jingle that sang, "Decaffeinated coffee ... it's what they're drinking in hell!" A different jingle decried decaf as "useless warm brown water," while another cheerily intoned, "Decaffeinated coffee ... say goodbye to the will to live!"

Meanwhile, Letterman also joked about java in one of his famed Top 10 lists, "10 Signs You Drink Too Much Coffee." Introducing the bit, Letterman declared, "Boy, I love the coffee. You know, after my terrible heart surgery I was clinically dead for a year-and-a-half, and they put me back together and they said, 'No more coffee, you gotta drink decaf.' And I'm telling you, I'd rather be dead than drink decaf."

Hugh Jackman's appreciation of coffee is part of his Australian heritage. As he told Redbook, Australia experienced "an influx of Italian immigrants" after the Second World War, popularizing cappuccino Down Under decades before it became mainstream in North America. In fact, he added, one item that will always be found in his kitchen is a coffee grinder. "I love the smell of ground coffee, so I have to do it myself," he said. 

Speaking with CNN, the "self-described coffee snob" explained how a trip to Ethiopia to make a documentary about World Vision's activities in the developing world led him to found his own coffee business, Laughing Man Coffee Company. After meeting an Ethiopian coffee farmer named Dukale, Jackman said, he came to realize that "buying fair-trade coffee" directly from small farmers "enables them to actually create a livelihood where they can provide for themselves and their families, not just now, not just this week, this year, but for generations to come ... I think that people now want to know that when they drink a cup of coffee, that ride along the supply chain hooks people up."

Stylista and television host Stacy London is best known for her years co-hosting TLC's makeover show "What Not to Wear," and she's never been shy about expressing the importance of coffee in her life. In fact, she once insisted that coffee was the most essential element in propelling her forward each morning.

"I'm not one of those people who wakes up and thinks, 'Bring on the day!' I have to have about seven pints of coffee before I'm even remotely awake," London confessed in an interview with Woman's Day. As she revealed to Grub Street, she prefers to lighten her coffee with some almond milk, but will also acquiesce to soy milk in a pinch if almond milk isn't readily available.

Speaking with 29 Secrets, London also noted that one of her travel tips is to always have a pack of gum on hand in order to banish coffee breath. "Simply carrying a pack of Excel gum in your pocket will guarantee you're ready to get close to people in any situation," she explained.

On his eponymous TV series, Jerry Seinfeld and his sitcom pals regularly spent time sipping coffee at their favorite diner. Coffee, in fact, formed the basis of Seinfeld's followup television venture, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." As the title suggests, the series finds Seinfeld driving around in one of his vintage cars with a fellow comic while discussing comedy, ultimately continuing the discussion in a coffee shop over some java. "You have coffee and for some reason it makes you talk a lot," he told NPR of the show's coffee element.

In that interview, Seinfeld also shared his theory on why coffee remains such a popular beverage. "I think the answer is we all need a little help, and the coffee's a little help with everything — social, energy, don't know what to do next, don't know how to start my day, don't know how to get through this afternoon, don't know how to stay alert," he explained. "We want to do a lot of stuff; we're not in great shape. We didn't get a good night's sleep. We're a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup."

Ben Affleck has been seen frequently with a cup of coffee in hand, and on many occasions that coffee has come from Dunkin'. To make that point, People shared a series of 15 photos in which he's accompanied by a cup of Dunkin' coffee. 

In an interview with Collider, Affleck expressed his excitement that Dunkin' — something of a staple in his native New England — had now become available in his adopted home of Los Angeles. "It's amazing! I have Dunkin' Donuts everyday," Affleck proclaimed, revealing he'd become something of a West Coast evangelist for the brand. "It's very weird, I have it every day and people are always like, 'Where is that? Is that near here?' So, I feel like I'm spreading the word," he said.

Affleck's loyalty did not go unnoticed by Dunkin' executives. "We are grateful for Ben Affleck's continued loyalty to Dunkin' and are proud to offer his favorite choices that keep him running," a Dunkin' rep told Vulture, pointing out that the company "does not track Ben's whereabouts or alert franchisees of any preferred order."

While David Letterman may have expressed his unabashed hatred for decaffeinated coffee, his onetime nemesis Oprah Winfrey is a bit more open to decaf. Speaking with Harper's Bazaar about a how a typical day in her life unfolds, Winfrey revealed her preferred way to enjoy a morning cup of coffee. "After I walk the dogs around the yard, I make my favorite espresso," she said. "I mix caffeinated and decaffeinated espresso with milk and a little hazelnut."

While Winfrey hadn't previously thrown her support behind any particular brand of coffee, she did make an exception in 2021 when it came to Clevr, a female-owned company that makes prepackaged instant lattes. 

Including Clvr in the 2021 edition of her annual "Oprah's Favorite Things" list, Winfrey revealed she was introduced to the brand by Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. "My neighbor Meghan (yes, that one) introduced me to this woman-led wellness brand," she wrote of the coffee. "Not a day goes by without me sipping on the golden latte from this kit, which also comes with chai latte mix and a little frother. You can add the mixes to smoothies for a flavor boost, too."

Food Network star Bobby Flay is best known for his skill behind the grill, but has also demonstrated his appreciation of coffee in recipes such as his signature coffee-rubbed ribeye. In fact, as Flay revealed in a 2013 interview with Bon Appetit, his dependence upon coffee had reached the point that he decided to take a bit of a java sabbatical. "I'm drinking very little coffee right now, probably 90 percent tea to 10 percent coffee," he explained. "My problem with coffee is that, once I start drinking it, I drink a lot of it," Flay added. Admitting that he will indulge in the occasional "coffee binge," he was off coffee for about "90 percent of the time." Avoiding coffee, however, wasn't something he particularly enjoyed. "It's not as much fun without [coffee], though, I can say that much," Flay confessed.

A few years later, Flay had apparently turned the coffee spigot back on, and was drinking Cafe Bustelo instant coffee from Cuba. "No more fancy, expensive coffee for me," Flay wrote on Twitter. "I'm all about @CafeBustelo at the moment. Cuban style, strong, wakes you up for sure."

As the former anchor of NBC's "Today," Katie Couric is no stranger to waking up earlier than a rooster. Describing her morning routine to Bon Appetit, Couric revealed that one of the first things she'll do each morning is "get out of bed and head to the kitchen to make coffee. I have a drip machine — it's not a French press — I make hazelnut coffee almost every morning, and I have a foamer for my milk, which has changed my life," she said.

"I am addicted to coffee, I really am," Couric confessed in a video focusing on her favorite way to enjoy coffee, part of a video series promoting the 2012 launch of her daytime talk show. "A day without coffee is like a day without sunshine, really," she added, revealing that her preferred brew is a "hybrid" of standard black coffee ("a cup of joe," she quipped) combined with "a fancier coffee shop coffee." 

That video was mocked by Conan O'Brien, who showed a doctored clip on his late-night show in which Couric's coffee was enhanced by pouring an entire bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey into the cup.

While Ben Affleck has shown his unwavering loyalty to Dunkin' Donuts coffee, Canadian celebrities have demonstrated an even fiercer loyalty to the java from Canada's Tim Hortons chain. Ontario-born pop phenom Justin Bieber, for example, entered into a partnership with Tim Horton's in 2021 for Bieber-themed Timbits (the company's signature donut holes) called Timbiebs. The initiative proved to be wildly successful, and vastly supportive to the company's bottom line. As CNN reported in a piece explaining how Bieber "almost single-handedly" turned the company around, the promotion increased overall sales by more than 10 percent, reversing an 11-percent decline from the previous quarter. The promotion, said Jose Cil, CEO of Tim Hortons' parent company Restaurant Brands International, "was one of the more successful traffic-driving initiatives in recent memory and outperformed our internal expectation."

As Narcity reported, Bieber is far from the only Canadian star to profess love for Tim Hortons coffee. The list includes "Arrested Development" actor Michael Cera, NBA player Tristan Thompson, EDM star DEADMAU5, figure-skating duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and singer Shawn Mendes. 

Hugh Jackman hasn't been the only celebrity to piggyback his love of coffee into an eco-friendly business venture. Back in 2012, the La Colombe coffee company announced it had entered a partnership with Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio to sell a new coffee variety dubbed Lyon, featuring "semi-wild sustainably grown heirloom coffee from the mountains of Haiti." Proceeds from sales of the coffee were earmarked to fund causes supported by the actor's Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. 

"I am thrilled to be a part of this new project with La Colombe," said DiCaprio in a statement, while La Colombe's Todd Carmichael added, "We are excited to be working with The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and find it, as well as its namesake, uniquely qualified to carry out our hope, to make our planet a better place."

Interestingly enough, DiCaprio later became the focus of a series of coffee-related memes in 2020 that had nothing to do with Lyon, but did feature a photo of the smugly smiling actor clutching a cup of coffee. 

Throughout the course of her career, Britney Spears has routinely been photographed by paparazzi while holding a cup of coffee. Spears, in fact, has never been shy about displaying her love of java, but revealed there was a period when she was prohibited from drinking it. In a January 2022 Instagram post, she wrote that while she was performing in Las Vegas at her "Britney: Piece of Me" residency and still under the control of her controversial conservatorship, she was banned from visiting the hotel spa, because "they didn't want me having coffee or tea." 

Not only does Spears enjoy drinking coffee, she also enjoys the way it smells. That became apparent when she unveiled a new addition to her line of perfumes, reported Elle, with the launch of Private Show. Described by Spears as "an uplifting, sexy scent," Private Show combined the scents of three of Spears' favorite things: the Mexican dessert known as dulce de leche, white flowers, and iced coffee.