Not everyone is proud to be an American. While there are many people who express their disagreement with politics and policies in the United States, there are very few who actually do something about it — like completely giving up their citizenship status. While it’s relatively uncommon, some expatriates actually decide to renounce or relinquish their U.S. citizenship once they move abroad. Over the years, those who have said goodbye to America have included a few famous faces, most of who have left and never looked back.
Find out why these stars gave up their citizenship…
Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong recently announced his intentions to renounce his United States citizenship following the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade. During a concert in England, Billie Joe claimed that he had plans to move to the country.
“F— America. I’m f—ing renouncing my citizenship. I’m f—ing coming here. There’s too much f—ing stupid in the world to go back to that miserable f—ing excuse for a country. Oh, I’m not kidding, you’re going to get a lot of me in the coming days,” Billie Joe said on stage.
2. Jet Li
Jet Li was originally born in Beijing, China but in 2003, he became a U.S. citizen after working in the country for many years. In 2009, the actor made the decision to become a citizen of Singapore, reportedly so he could raise his youngest daughters in the country. In order to do so, he had to renounce both his U.S. citizenship and his Chinese citizenship as Singapore does not allow for dual citizenship.
3. Tina Turner
Famed musician Tina Turner may have been born in Tennessee but she ended up spending a lot of her adult life in Switzerland. After living in the country for over two decades, Tina was finally able to acquire citizenship — but had to relinquish her U.S. citizenship in order to do so. According to the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, the “long-time Swiss resident” visited the embassy on October 24, 2013 to sign her “Statement of Voluntary Relinquishment of U.S. Citizenship under Section 349 (a)(1) of the INA” — the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
When Elizabeth Taylor was born in England in 1932, she was given dual citizenship with the U.S. thanks to her American parents. But in 1965, during her marriage to Sir Richard Burton, Elizabeth began the process to renounce her U.S. citizenship. While her first attempt was rendered invalid due to an error on the form, things were finally made official in 1966.
Just a decade later, Elizabeth changed her mind and applied to be a U.S. citizen once again when she married U.S. Senator John Warner.
5. T.S. Eliot
Renowned poet T.S. Eliot was born in Missouri but as he rose to prominence, he found himself becoming more successful in England. When he was 25, he moved across the pond where he received an Oxford education and got married. A decade later, the poet solidified his British citizenship and in the process, gave up his U.S. citizenship.
“In the end I thought: ‘Here I am, making a living, enjoying my friends here. I don’t like being a squatter. I might as well take the full responsibility,'” he reportedly said.
Politician Boris Johnson was born in New York and spent the first few years of his life there with his British parents. In 1969, the family relocated back to England, where Boris retained his dual citizenship. As an adult, Boris joined parliament and eventually became the mayor of London in 2014. Amidst a disagreement about U.S. taxation policies, Boris renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2016. He went on to become the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom in 2016, a position he held until 2018. Boris was elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party in 2019 — and resigned in July 2022.
7. Terry Gilliam
Director Terry Gilliam, an original member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, was born in Minnesota but obtained his British citizenship in 1968. He was a dual citizen for 38 years until he fully renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2006 amid comments about the “absolutely frightening” political state of America. He even went as far as to compare his home country to his dystopian comedy film “Brazil.”
“I don’t live there. I got tired of my taxes paying for exciting little wars around the world. Then I discovered that when I died, my wife would probably have to sell our house to pay for the taxes in America. The fact that Bush was there made it easier,” Terry said.
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