Is Stephen Colbert Vegan?

The fact that Stephen Colbert promotes and eats his Americone Dream cow’s milk ice cream on the show is evidence that he is almost certainly not vegan. During one interview he ate prosciutto while holding an adorable piglet, as noted in a previous YDV post, “Colbert’s Cognitive Dissonance: Eating Prosciutto While Pigs Watch” .

Why does Colbert cover farmed animal issues, do stories about animals kept captive for entertainment and segments about politicians who screw over animals if he isn’t vegan? Getting at the motivations of a man who plays an often-outlandish parody of himself as a Fox News reactionary is not simple—cognitive dissonance is key to his success as a satirist.

When I look at even a short list of what the Colbert Report has covered on behalf of animals, I see more coverage of animal issues than in any other popular media:

• Steve King’s Dog Fighting Defense
• Whales Aren’t People 
• The Colbert Report has even won the Humane Society of the United States’s Genesis Award for the last three years for his coverage of zoos and bullfighting, among others.
• When the singer Morrissey came to the show last year, he required the whole Report staff to go vegetarian for the day, and they did.

Was “Ham Rove” really made out of ham? Is Stephen Colbert vegan? My real answer is that I don’t care (at least not more than I do about anyone not being vegan). I hope I haven’t let a celebrity’s actions affect mine since I turned 12, and while celebrities often lend their spotlight to important issues, nobody should follow them as if they have special access to truth.

I care that this show reaches millions of viewers, frequently covers important animal issues with depth and clarity, and never fails to entertain. No matter why Colbert does it, I will keep watching.

Photo credit: Jeffery Simpson via Flickr