The time has come for PETA to crown the Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrities of 2019, and this year’s titles are going to two athletes at the top of their games: co-captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team Alex Morgan and NBA point guard Kyrie Irving.
“Alex Morgan and Kyrie Irving are saving animals not only by keeping them off their plates but also by showing the world what they can do on vegan fuel,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “They’re living proof that the future of professional sports is vegan.”
Morgan — an Olympic gold medalist who just became only the second player in Women’s World Cup history to score five goals in a match during Team USA’s record-breaking game against Thailand — went vegan shortly after starring in a companion animal campaign for PETA alongside her rescued pup, Blue, and hasn’t looked back. She told Reuters, “[I]t didn’t feel fair to have a dog I adore … and yet eat meat all the time.” On World Vegan Day, she announced on Twitter that she’d “never felt better” after eating vegan for a year.
As an investor in and brand ambassador for vegan company Beyond Meat, Irving credits protein-packed vegan foods with improving his ability to recover after games. He told ESPN, “[M]y energy is up, [and] my body feels amazing.” He’s also put his plant-powered physique and compassion for animals on full display in a commercial for his Nike Kyrie 5 kicks — which are 100% vegan.
Other top contenders this year included JaVale McGee, Colin Kaepernick, Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams, Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink, Swizz Beatz, and singers Billie Eilish and Ellie Goulding.
