When Hollywood looks elsewhere: Why some of its biggest stars are leaving the United States

The past few years have seen a steady flow of high-profile entertainers speaking openly about their unease with American politics. While many have criticised President Donald Trump and his administration, only a small number have gone further and chosen to live outside the United States. Their reasons range from political opposition to concerns about safety, family and quality of life, reflecting a deeper sense of dislocation among some of the biggest names in film, television and music.For some, the decision to leave the United States was explicitly tied to Donald Trump’s re-election and concerns about rights and governance. Ellen DeGeneres confirmed that she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, relocated permanently to the United Kingdom because of Trump’s return to office. After completing her final comedy tour, Ellen’s Last Stand … Up, the couple initially planned to spend only a few months in the UK. That plan changed after they arrived the day before the election and woke up to messages from friends reacting to the result. Speaking at a live event in Cheltenham in July 2025, DeGeneres said the outcome convinced them to stay. She also raised concerns about attempts in the US to reverse gay marriage, saying she and de Rossi were considering marrying again in England if such changes were pursued.Rosie O'Donnell, a long-time critic of Trump, moved from the US to Ireland in early 2025. She relocated with her 12-year-old daughter, Clay, and her service dog, Kuma, and is in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship. In a TikTok video shared in March 2025, O’Donnell described the political situation in the US as heartbreaking and said she would only consider returning when equal rights were guaranteed for all citizens.Filmmaker James Cameron, who was born in Canada, has said he has no plans to move back to the United States. Based in New Zealand for the past 14 years, Cameron has expressed hope of gaining New Zealand citizenship. Speaking on Stuff’s The F#$%ing News podcast in February 2025, he criticised what he described as America’s turn away from its core values, warning that the country risked becoming hollow if it no longer stood for what it historically represented.Other celebrities point to a wider accumulation of concerns rather than a single political trigger.Sophie Turner returned to the UK after living in the US during her marriage to Joe Jonas from 2019 to 2024. She has said that a series of issues, including gun violence and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, contributed to her decision. In interviews with Harper’s Bazaar and British Vogue, Turner described feeling trapped in the US and said the 2022 Uvalde school shooting deeply affected her. She questioned how she could raise children in a country that, in her view, prioritised gun rights over the safety and rights of women and children.Eva Longoria has moved her family out of what she previously described as a “dystopian” United States and now splits her time between Mexico and Spain. While she has said her work took her abroad, she has also acknowledged that the atmosphere in the US felt different after COVID and that Trump’s re-election was among the factors influencing her decision.For some, relocation was shaped primarily by family considerations and a desire for a different pace of life, even as political concerns lingered in the background.Richard Gere moved his family to Spain, largely to allow his Spanish-born wife to be closer to her family, friends and culture. Speaking in November 2024, Gere said the move would also benefit their bilingual children. While he did not cite Trump as the reason for leaving, he said he believed the US was heading in a very dark direction and stressed the importance of remaining engaged with American social and political issues despite living abroad.Courtney Love, who has lived in the UK for several years, is now applying for British citizenship. Although she did not directly attribute her move to Trump, she strongly criticised the president and his administration during a March 2025 event at London’s Royal Geographical Society. She described the political atmosphere surrounding Trump as frightening and compared it to an “emperor-core” culture centred on wealth and power.Robin Wright has been working and living in the UK for several years. She has said she enjoys a greater freedom of self in England compared with what she sees as the relentless rush, competition and speed of life in America. While she did not directly blame Trump for her move, she described the state of the US as deeply troubling and contrasted it with the calmer, kinder pace she experiences in the UK.While many celebrities continue to criticise American politics from within the country, this group represents those who chose a more decisive response. Whether driven by Trump’s return to power, concerns over rights and safety, or a search for stability and balance, their moves highlight how political and social pressures can influence even the most privileged lives in Hollywood.