America, and Hollywood specifically, has been home to celebrities for decades — but in recent years, some stars have decided to leave the United States and settle overseas.
Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi chose to leave the sunshine state in 2024 for a more relaxed lifestyle in the United Kingdom.
A local source exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2024 that DeGeneres is “definitely a lot less well-known” in the U.K. but “she’s still famous.” The insider added that Cotswolds, where the couple reportedly settled, is all about anonymity.
“People know who she is but the thing about the Cotswolds is no one gives a f— if you’re Kate Moss or the farmer’s wife,” the source said.
While DeGeneres and de Rossi didn’t instantly announce their relocation, other celebrities have been much more vocal about their U.S. exit. Richard Gere pointed to his wife’s heritage as his reason to move to Spain, while Rosie O’Donnell headed to Ireland in 2025 after President Donald Trump began his second term.
Scroll down to see which A-listers no longer live in the U.S. — or call another country their primary residence:
Rosie O’Donnell
O’Donnell revealed in March 2025 that she and child Clay relocated from New York City to Ireland that January days before Trump was sworn in as president. “[I’m] in the process of getting my Irish citizenship, as I have Irish grandparents,” the actress explained via a TikTok video. “And that’s what’s going on, and that’s where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. And although I was never someone who thought I would move to another country, that’s what I decided would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child. And here we are.”
The A League of Their Own actress adopted Dakota, whose nickname is Clay, in 2013 with her late ex-wife Michelle Rounds, to whom she was married from 2012 to 2015. (O’Donnell adopted her four eldest children — Parker, Chelsea, Blake and Vivienne — with her first wife, Kelli Carpenter.)
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi
News broke in November 2024 that the former Ellen DeGeneres Show host and her wife left their Montecito, California, home and moved to the rural area of the Costwolds, which is two hours outside of London.
Eva Longoria
After spending much of her adult life in Los Angeles, Longoria revealed to Marie Claire in November 2024 that she and husband José Bastón had been living between Spain and Mexico for the past few years. (The couple share son Santiago.)
“The vibe was different,” Longoria told the outlet when asked what made her want to leave L.A. “And then Covid happened, and it pushed it over the edge. Whether it’s the homelessness or the taxes — not that I want to s— on California — it just feels like this chapter in my life is done now.”
Christina Milian
The singer relocated her family from Hollywood to France because of her husband’s heritage. “My husband is French, and we’ve been together for over seven or eight years, and for, like, the last three or four years, we were commuting back and forth every six months,” Milian explained during a November 2024 appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show. “And then we decided to commit to it last year because our kids were going to go to school.”
Milian said she loves living overseas, noting her three children are “all going to school in Paris. What better an opportunity than that.” (Milian shares sons Isaiah and Kenna with husband Matt Pokora, whom she wed in 2020. She shares her eldest child, daughter Violet, with ex The Dream.)
Amber Heard
Us confirmed in May 2024 that Heard relocated from the U.S. to Spain with her daughter, Oonagh, whom she welcomed via surrogate in 2021.
“Amber doesn’t want to raise a child in Hollywood,” a source exclusively told Us at the time, claiming the actress “never liked the energy” of Los Angeles. “She [thinks] Madrid is a more welcoming place for her. She feels safe and secure, and she’s surrounded by better people where she is.”
Richard Gere
The Pretty Woman actor revealed in March 2024 that he planned to move to his wife Alejandra Silva’s home country of Spain that fall with their two children.
“For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends and her culture,” Gere told Vanity Fair Spain at the time of his wife, who was born in Spain. “She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so it is only fair that I give her at least another six living in hers.”
Gere followed through with his plans, selling his $11 million Connecticut home in October 2024. However, the actor still has a house somewhere in the New York countryside.
Shania Twain
Twain was born and raised in Canada but moved to the U.S. once she signed her first country music contract. However, her primary residence is in Corseaux, Switzerland, with husband Frédéric Thiébaud. In March 2023, after living in Europe for 10 years, CNN reported that she had a Golden Pass Express train named after her: the Shania Train.
Lily Collins
The Emily in Paris actress and her husband, Charlie McDowell, moved to Copenhagen from the States in 2023, Vogue previously reported. (The couple, who welcomed their first baby via surrogate in 2025, reportedly still have property on the West Coast.)
When asked what she loves most about Denmark, Collins told Elle Denmark in September 2023, “Life here is just so wonderful and so calm and bright. What I love so much is that there’s so much color and, yet, it’s so calm. I love being able to bike everywhere. It feels like a big city but also very intimate, and everyone is so nice.”
George Clooney
Years after marrying Amal Clooney in 2014, George picked up his life in the U.S. and bought a house in the south of France in 2021. “The property is magical,” a source exclusively told Us in September 2024, noting it’s the family’s primary residence. “They have hundreds of acres, a vineyard and olive trees, and the kids can be outside and totally protected. There’s a small village nearby with shops. It’s a very simple life, and George loves it.”
George and Amal, who share twins Ella and Alexander, also own a villa in Lake Como, Italy. His real estate portfolio also includes homes in New York, England and Mexico.
Pamela Anderson
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Anderson chose to move back to her home country, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. “A few years back, I kind of gave up at some point and needed a change,” Anderson told Better Homes & Gardens in August 2024, attributing the move to how the public perceived her. “I thought, ‘Well, I guess that’s just what people think of me.’ I was not in a good space when I moved back to Canada.”
The Baywatch alum added: “I don’t know what happened over the last few decades, but I feel now so far removed from the image of who I was. I felt very sad and lonely. I didn’t feel just misunderstood, I felt like I had really screwed up, that my whole life was a bundle of mistakes. I was hard on myself, and I thought I put my family through a lot and put my kids through so much.”
Josh Lucas
The Sweet Home Alabama actor gushed about living in Indonesia in 2019, telling Jimmy Kimmel that the country had an environmentally-focused school that his son attended. Lucas, who is from Arkansas, shares one child with ex-wife Jessica Ciencin Henriquez.
“I have this very special 7-year-old child, and I think all of us are trying to figure out how to have an impact in the world, and for myself, the best thing I could do is give my son this extraordinary experience,” Lucas said during a Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance. “Being on the other side of the world and looking back at this madness is amazing.”
Courtney Love
The musician has resided in London since 2019. Love explained in March 2025 that she is in the process of getting her British citizenship.
Melissa George
George uprooted her life from New York City to Paris in 2016, bringing her two sons along for the ride. The actress purchased a home in nearby Provence in 2020, which was featured in a New York Times Magazine home tour video.
Lindsay Lohan
The Parent Trap actress left the U.S. in 2014 and began living in Dubai, where she eventually met her husband, Bader Shammas. The couple, who welcomed son Luai in July 2023, are currently raising him in the United Arab Emirates.
“I love living in New York, but I do love the serenity and peace that I find living in the Middle East because there are no cameras in Dubai,” Lohan told Entertainment Tonight in December 2017. “And I can actually focus on what I want to do in life.”
