How Mariah Carey, Chrissy Teigen, Priyanka Chopra, and More of Your Favorite Celebrities Spent Thanksgiving
Turkey, pumpkin pie, and family were all involved for everyone: Mariah Carey, Chrissy Teigen, Madonna, Reese Witherspoon, Priyanka Chopra…
Thanksgiving may truly be the one holiday when celebrities actually are just like us: They’re not taking private jets to exotic beachy locales à la Memorial Day weekend, and they’re not being showered with lavish gifts and over-the-top parties like they are on their birthdays and at Christmas. Instead, Oscar winners and supermodels spend the third Thursday of November surrounded by their less glamorous in-laws and extended family, chowing down on plates piled high with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.
For proof of Thanksgiving’s status as the great equalizer, look no further than the Instagram posts A-listers like Gabrielle Union, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra, and the entire Kardashian-Jenner family, among many others, shared during this year’s Turkey Day. No matter where in the world each celeb spent the day, the festivities all included at least a handful of friends and family members, a mountain of food, a huge table to gather around, and plenty to be thankful for.
Some celebs were all about the food: Reese Witherspoon shared a photo of her doling out green beans to empty plates, while a massive bowl of mashed potatoes waited patiently nearby, and Mariah Carey documented “the foodies” of her family taking turns stuffing marshmallows in their mouths and placing them on top of the sweet-potato casserole. Jennifer Garner reposted in her Instagram Story several photos from fans who’d followed her recipe for marshmallow-topped sweet-potato pudding, and also shared a throwback picture of her and a friend in full construction-paper Thanksgiving garb. “Food ready yet?” Amy Schumer captioned a photo of her two dogs, followed by a shot of her friends, family, and husband, Chris Fischer, sitting down to dinner. Chrissy Teigen, sadly, burned the crumble topping on her pumpkin pie, but judging by the rest of her Instagram Story, her family did not go hungry.
Other stars were especially excited to spend some downtime with their loved ones. Madonna shared a rare photo of all six of her children, writing in her caption, “Happy ThanksGiving from Malawi!” Kourtney Kardashian explained on Instagram that her entire family—including “father of my children,” Scott Disick, but minus Khloé Kardashian—had gathered together in one of their houses for a massive pre-Thanksgiving sleepover. Her younger sister Kendall Jenner shared several photos and videos from their family’s Thanksgiving, including shots of a midday bike ride, a cuddle with Kylie Jenner, and an oven packed with delicious food. Jessica Alba also appeared to be in charge of hosting a huge family gathering, and posted a handful of photos and videos of her “ride or dies.”
Quite a few stars were celebrating their newborn babies’ first Thanksgivings. Kylie Jenner, for one, shared several photos of her, Travis Scott, and their 9-month-old daughter, Stormi, while her older sister Khloé Kardashian, spending the holiday with Tristan Thompson in Cleveland, shared a cute snap with her own newborn, 7-month-old daughter True. Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade looked positively thrilled in their own post of them showing their 2-week-old daughter, Kaavia James, the wonders of Thanksgiving. Hilary Duff, too, celebrated her 4-week-old daughter Banks’s big day with a photo of her 6-year-old son, Luca, holding his little sister. Both Mindy Kaling and Kate Hudson opted for non-baby photos of their babies: Kaling only showed off her 11-month-old daughter Katherine’s tiny pink Converse-clad feet, and Hudson shared a video of her breast pump in action instead of her 7-week-old daughter, Rani Rose. Lily Aldridge, meanwhile, has yet to welcome her second child with her husband, Caleb Followill, but posted a sweet snap of her cradling her bump in front of a Christmas tree.
Nick Jonas flew to Delhi, India, to be with his fiancée, Priyanka Chopra, who, it seems, brought together her extended family for an elaborate Thanksgiving spread. Bella Hadid was also spending her Turkey Day far from stateside: She uploaded an aerial shot of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Her older sister Gigi Hadid, meanwhile, didn’t post any photos from her Thanksgiving celebrations, choosing instead to share her gratitude for all the globe-trotting she’s done in the last year.
And finally, what would Thanksgiving be without a minor thirst trap, courtesy of Zac Efron?
Related: 9 Thanksgiving Episodes of Television We Couldn’t Be More Grateful For
10 Thanksgiving TV Episodes That Have Us Feeling Extra Grateful
Master of None‘s Denise, played by Lena Waithe, goes home for Thanksgiving and struggles with coming out to her family in this Emmy-winning episode of the series cowritten by Waithe. Photo courtesy of IMDB.
Meredith Grey goes home for Thanksgiving but ends up avoiding her family by returning to the hospital. Relatable. Photo courtesy of IMDB.
Ross is forced to tell everyone why his parents, Jack and Judy, don’t like Chandler. When he tries to escape Thanksgiving he is invited to spend it with Janine and a pack of dancers.
Will’s mother visits for Thanksgiving and puts the kids to work on preparing a meal, but as you might predict, things don’t exactly go according to plan. Photo courtesy of Everett Collection.
Rory and Lorelai try to fit in four Thanksgiving dinners; Lorelai finds out Rory applied to more colleges than just Harvard; and Lane has her first kiss. Photo courtesy of IMDB.
As Thanksgiving hits the Upper East Siders of Gossip Girl, Blair suspects her mother is lying to her, Vanessa ditches dinner with her family to hide in Dan’s loft, and Rufus discovers that Lily has been lying to him about her mother’s health. Photo courtesy of IMDB.
Ryan visits his estranged brother in prison and Marissa tags along to see where he grew up. Photo courtesy of IMDB.
Almaviligerais, Pops’ older sister unexpectedly shows up to the house for Thanksgiving, which excites everyone except Ruby. Bow and Dre go on their last vacation before their new baby arrives, and the kids try to figure out why Ruby hates Almaviligerais so much. Photo courtesy of IMDB.
Kendall begins to plot a vote of no confidence against Logan, Tom questions his prenup, and cousin Greg gets stuck in the car for a long ride with his estranged Grandpa Ewan, setting up a catastrophic chain of events to unfold during the remainder of the season. Photo courtesy of IMDB.
Who could forget Don Draper’s iconic emotional pitch for Kodak, in which he reinvented the wheel as The Carousel? “It’s called ‘The Carousel.’ It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around and back home again. A place where we know that you’re loved,” he says, after skipping out on his wife’s family’s Thanksgiving. Other notable Mad Men Thanksgiving episodes include season four’s “Public Relations” (in which Don spends the holiday with a sex worker, while Sally complains about the food her stepdad Harry is serving) and season five’s “Dark Shadows.” Photo courtesy of IMDb.
