Stars don’t have a smartphone: Who doesn’t have one and what we can learn from it

Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran and Co.
Which stars don’t have a smartphone – and what we can learn from them

The smartphone has long since become indispensable for many people. But many celebrities live openly without it, sometimes for years. Why that’s not such a bad idea and what tricks you can use to make it work.

A quick chat with friends, a quick look at Insta for updates and the latest news via push at any time: without With a smartphone, most people would feel pretty cut off from life. Some celebrities, of all people, deliberately avoid it.

“It really, really overwhelmed me and made me sad to use a smartphone,” Ed Sheeran admitted in the watch podcast “The Collectors Edition” in 2022. The musician had a smartphone for a long time and found the flood of messages, calls and emails increasingly stressful. In 2015, he called it a day – and has since given up his smartphone. “It was as if a veil had been lifted from me,” he remembers.

“It’s just reduced contact”

“It was stressful for me to receive a message and then have to reply. And then the next one came. And another chat,” explains the singer. Now he would have a completely different approach: “I open my laptop every few days, write ten emails in a row and close it. And get on with my life,” he said. He doesn’t see this as a break in contact with his environment. “It’s just reduced contact.”

Sheeran is not alone. An ever-growing group of actors, musicians and other celebrities openly admit that they are giving up their smartphones – often with reasons that are easy to understand. “I’m easily distracted,” explains Oscar winner Christopher Nolan. “I don’t want to have access to the Internet every time I’m bored.”

The list is now quite long. Tom Cruise, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael Cera, Damon Albarn or the German podcaster Tommi Schmidt: In recent years, they have all admitted to completely or partially doing without smartphones. And even though it may of course be easier for stars with their assistants and managers to do without their smartphones in everyday life, even ordinary mortals know the reasons for this far too well.

Avoiding smartphones as a mood booster

Singer Justin Bieber, like Sheeran, put constant availability under pressure. “It taught me to set boundaries and not feel like I owe everyone something,” he told Billboard in 2021 about not using a smartphone.

Maybe he also picked that up from his ex-girlfriend. Selena Gomez voluntarily went through withdrawal in 2016. “It felt refreshing, rejuvenating, calming,” she explained at a conference at the time. However, she didn’t give up entirely: it was a planned smartphone break of 90 days. But the effect lasted back then: “I pick it up a lot less and pay attention to who I want to be in contact with.”

It doesn’t work without it

The renunciation doesn’t quite work for Sheeran either. He revealed to the “NZ Herald” that he speaks regularly on the phone with his mentor, singer Elton John. But not on the phone – because Sir Elton doesn’t have one either. “He calls me about once a month, we talk on Facetime on the iPad.”

But Sheeran did buy a phone again – even if not entirely voluntarily. When the British health authority NHS introduced a tracking requirement for travelers during the pandemic, the internationally touring singer had a problem: he was not available for the mandatory check-ups. So he got a flip cell phone – a classic one, not a smartphone – so that he could be contacted by the authorities. This means he is unlikely to be at risk of addiction: the 70-euro cell phone doesn’t even allow you to install WhatsApp.

Fold instead of touch

Comedian Aziz Ansari says he also uses a flip cell phone. “It’s the only way for me not to be on my cell phone all the time,” he admitted in his Netflix special “Nightclub Comedian,” which was released in 2022. It’s just that sometimes it’s not particularly park-like, he admits. “You can still get where you need to go. You just have to write down exact directions beforehand,” he grins. But the disadvantages are worth it. “You get your mind back, you can see through the fog.” But he can make phone calls and write messages. “Then I must really want to say something. Because it takes a moment when your life consists of T9 again.”

Before that, he simply couldn’t cope anymore. He tried it, deleted Instagram and set time limits. “But that doesn’t work. Then you get this message, ‘You’ve reached your limit’ and you think: Shut up, I’m not done yet.” Ultimately it simply became too much for him. “I had to let go.”

But it doesn’t seem to be that easy for celebrities either. Justin Bieber has been photographed with an iPhone in his hand more often lately.

Sources: The Collector’s Edition, ET Online, Netflix