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Dakota Johnson was about to host Saturday Night Live for the third time when the show shared a three-second black-and-white clip of her in black bunny ears, a strapless bodysuit and long gloves. Entertainment sites quickly ranked it among the show’s most striking promo images in years. The timing matched the October 2 release of her thriller Verity. Then viewers looked more closely, and one detail in the frame started a very different conversation.
The Cigarette in Dakota Johnson’s Mouth Turned a Stylish SNL Bumper Into a Reddit Debate
The detail was a cigarette. Johnson holds one in her mouth in the clip, a noir-style touch that fit the black-and-white styling. Plenty of viewers did not read it as harmless. Posts about the image spread quickly, and the sharpest debate played out on Reddit, where users questioned whether a movie star promoting a new film should pose this way. The first comment to catch fire sounded more like a prediction than a complaint.
Reddit Users Say Dakota Johnson’s Photo Signals a Big Comeback for Cigarettes
“Cigarettes are making a big comeback,” one Reddit user wrote, according to Tyla. Others sounded less amused. One joked that vapes are out and cigarettes are in, while another sighed at smoking being glamorized again. A third commenter tied the look to Y2K indie sleaze nostalgia and accused celebrities of chasing a recycled trend. Johnson was far from the only star drawing that kind of reaction.
Madonna and Charli XCX Drew Fan Complaints After Smoking Together at Paris Fashion Week
In June at Paris Fashion Week, a Women’s Wear Daily video showed Madonna smoking beside Charli XCX and actor Connor Storrie at the Saint Laurent menswear show. Fans filled the comments with disapproval. Charli XCX had faced that reaction before: in 2024, some fans accused her of promoting smoking to young concertgoers after she held a cigarette onstage in Manchester. Another pop star went further, and the guests at her wedding noticed.
Cigarette Trays at Dua Lipa’s Wedding and a Kylie Jenner Vanity Fair Cover Put Smoking Back on Display
AFP reported that Dua Lipa’s wedding featured trays of cigarettes for guests. Kylie Jenner lit one on the cover of Vanity Fair, and Sabrina Carpenter takes a drag from a cigarette stuck in a fork in her Manchild video. Hailey Bieber posed with one for Interview magazine. Fans have noticed the pattern, and so have people who track tobacco trends. One of Johnson’s own film roles had already put her in that company.
Paul Mescal Said He Refused to Quit Smoking for Gladiator II, and Johnson Lit Up in The Materialists
Johnson lit up on screen in the 2025 dramedy The Materialists, according to Axios. Paul Mescal has also been photographed smoking, and he has said he refused to quit while preparing for Gladiator II. When Gracie Abrams was pictured with him and a cigarette, her fans pointed to a line in her 2021 song Camden about never turning to cigarettes. The online criticism was loud, but a UK survey set out to measure how many people were noticing.
A Survey of 2,500 Britons Found Nearly 30% Think Smoking Is Back in Fashion
Haypp, a company that sells nicotine products, surveyed 2,500 people across the UK and published its findings in January. A third said they had seen more photos of celebrities smoking than in past years. Nearly 30% said smoking looks back in style, and 20% called it cool. Almost half of adults aged 25 to 34 said it was back in style, compared with 11% of people 55 and older. American figures, released this spring, moved the opposite way.
US Adult Smoking Hit a Record-Low 9% in 2025, Even as Cigarette Imagery Spreads
The Associated Press reported in May that CDC survey data put adult cigarette smoking in the US at 9% in 2025, roughly 1 in 11 adults and an all-time low. The rate first dipped below 10% in 2024, compared with about 42% in the mid-1960s. The AP also noted that federal cuts eliminated the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health and its Tips From Former Smokers campaign, which advocates say leaves fewer tools to counter cigarette imagery.
American Lung Association Official Says Making Smoking Look Cool Is Nothing New
“It’s not new to make smoking look cool,” Ranjana Caple, director of federal advocacy at the American Lung Association, told Axios. Her point is that cigarettes have been sold as glamorous for generations. The CDC says smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease, death and disability in the US, with more than 480,000 deaths a year from smoking and secondhand smoke. A single promo clip had pulled all of those concerns into one conversation.
Dakota Johnson’s Cigarette Photo Became the Latest Flashpoint Over Smoking’s Return to Pop Culture
Dakota Johnson’s SNL promo image joined a growing list of celebrity cigarette moments that includes Charli XCX, Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Mescal. Critics see a risky glamorization of smoking, and a UK survey suggests many Britons sense a return to style. Actual smoking in the US sits at its lowest recorded level, yet the habit still kills more than 480,000