Election anxiety: Cardi B's smoking, Rihanna's staying patient and how more celebs are coping
If you've broken out the chips, the pizza, the ice cream — or whatever your stress relief vice may be — you're far from alone.
As election projections rolled in on Tuesday night — and continued to come in throughout Wednesday — celebrities watched from home and felt the same stress as many Americans.
As Stephen Colbert put it, Tuesday was "easily the most stressful National Sandwich Day in my lifetime."
And Colbert wasn't the only one feeling the impact of the election.
Jennifer Aniston and Mindy Kaling each channeled characters they've played on television to express their feelings. Aniston shared a picture on Instagram Stories of her "The Morning Show" character sitting in a restaurant and looking anxious while Kaling posted a gif of her "Mindy Project" character nervously touching her neck.
Meghan McCain also referenced television to share her state of mind on Wednesday, tweeting a picture of Kendall Roy, Jeremy Strong's "Succession" character, with the caption "What's the vote?"
"Current energy..." she wrote.
Lana Del Rey blew off steam on Tuesday with a trip to Denny's, which she documented on Instagram along with her reactions to early projections.
Big Sean echoed what most of us were thinking as elections rolled into Wednesday night: "Bro how it’s taking this long?!!!"
Busy Philipps also went on an excursion, documenting on Instagram Stories her Wednesday trip to purchase crystals. "I wish the crystal ball could tell us everything right now," she wrote.
Chris Evans, meanwhile, went on a nature walk, posting a video to Instagram Stories of a lake and cloudy sky.
"It's all too stressful," he wrote. "Taking a walk to clear my head."
When Jennifer Garner needed a break from the news cycle on Tuesday, she turned to her fish.
"The only TV I can watch right now is FishTV," she wrote on Instagram, captioning a video of a fish tank.
Janelle Monáe decided to sleep through the stress.
"Wake me up when ALL of the votes are counted," she wrote on Twitter, along with a picture of an insect lying in bed. "Until then buzz tf off.-respectfully Flyyyrene"
Padma Lakshmi tweeted that she was staying positive by listening to a Spotify playlist of songs like Diana Ross' "It's My House" and Janet Jackson's "Together Again."
"I made this playlist for voting yesterday but it also works for optimism today," she wrote. "What songs consistently make you feel good?"
Kevin Bacon opened up about how he's staying positive, sharing a video of a father and son playing on a jungle gym on Instagram Stories.
"Think we could all use this support today," he wrote.
Rihanna encouraged her Twitter followers to stay patient, writing "Count Every Vote We’ll Wait," the words interspersed with clapping emojis.
Rapper Lil Pump also said he was exercising patience, but in hopes of a Trump victory.
"Remain calm," he tweeted Wednesday, along with a picture of himself speaking at a Trump rally. "Remain patient. Have trust in the system. Our man will be re-elected."
Ava DuVernay suggested she may have plans to bring the madness of this year to the silver screen, responding to one Twitter user's request that she and Jordan Peele "team up and write the mini series about 2020."
"I’m down if you are,@JordanPeele," DuVernay wrote Wednesday. "Meet you at the laptop in ten years once we’ve figured out what the hell happened."
Chrissy Teigen, who has in the past been in the line of President Donald Trump's fire on Twitter, took to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday night to share that she was playing distraction games with her children and giving her pup "therapy scratches." "Oh lord," she intoned. The TV host and cookbook author also shared images of herself "stress cooking" a chicken while singing "everything's fine."
Cardi B posted a video to Instagram of herself smoking what appeared to be three cigarettes at once with the caption, "how these elections got me watching these states turn red."
Later, the "WAP" and "Bodak Yellow" artist took to Instagram Stories when Democratic nominee Joe Biden gave a speech at nearly 1 a.m. ET on Wednesday, expressing positive feelings about the election's outcome. "I have never seen Joe Biden with a kind of smirk on his face," she said. "He looks so happy! We're going to win!" she exclaimed.
Elizabeth Banks' coping mechanisms seemed to cancel each other out: "I’m just pacing back and forth," she tweeted. "At least I’m burning off the gallon of ice cream I just ate."
Comedian Jim Gaffigan shared on Twitter that he had eaten more than one dinner as votes were tallied Tuesday. "About to start eating my third dinner entree. Not dealing with any stress at all," he wrote.
Maria Shriver asked for recommendations as she contemplated stress-eating on Twitter. "Anyone else eating non-stop? What are you eating? Chips? Guac?" Shriver asked.
She also took a poll on Instagram asking what music her followers were listening to after Hoda Kotb sent her a song Tuesday morning called "Dear Hate" by Maren Morris featuring Vince Gill. "We are going to be okay," she assured.
Ina Garten started her stress-reducing rituals early in the day, sharing video of a crackling fire and an image of her go-to comfort food. "After voting, I’m doing everything I can to stay positive today! Big fire, great music ... and Red Wine Braised Short Ribs going into the oven," she wrote.
Rapper Common, who performed with John Legend on Monday at a campaign event for Biden, offered some calming words for those feeling overwhelmed.
"If you woke up feeling anxious today, you are not alone," he tweeted Tuesday night. "But we will get through this and experience better days ahead."
Since this could become more of an "Election Week" as opposed to an "Election Day," it could be a good time to consider diversifying your coping mechanisms.
Paste BN's Kelly Lawler shared some ideas for how to deal with election-related stress and how to distract yourself. You could go shopping, watch a movie, pick up a new book to read, listen to new music from Dolly Parton, Bon Jovi or Sam Smith, or you could stress bake — after all, a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is how many of us now know how to make banana bread or a loaf of sourdough.
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