Celebrity Cannabis Brands in California

Last verified: March 2026

The Celebrity Cannabis Landscape

California's legal cannabis market has attracted more celebrity involvement than any other state — and for good reason. The state's massive consumer base, cultural influence, and proximity to Hollywood and the music industry make it the natural testing ground for celebrity cannabis ventures. Some have built genuine, sustainable businesses. Others have burned through hundreds of millions of dollars. The difference almost always comes down to whether the celebrity is truly involved or merely lending their name.

For a look at California's non-celebrity brands including STIIIZY, Cookies, Jeeter, and Raw Garden, see our California Brands guide. Cookies and Berner are covered there in depth.

Khalifa Kush: The Sales Champion

Wiz Khalifa's Khalifa Kush is the #1 celebrity cannabis brand by sales — and has held that position for two consecutive years. Unlike many celebrity brands that rely on fame alone, Khalifa Kush has built credibility through genuine product quality and Wiz Khalifa's authentic, decades-long association with cannabis culture.

• Origin: The Khalifa Kush strain was originally bred exclusively for Wiz Khalifa before the brand commercialized it
• Product range: Flower, pre-rolls, vapes, and concentrates. The brand maintains a premium positioning without the ultra-luxury price points that have sunk other celebrity ventures
• Authenticity factor: Khalifa's cannabis use has been central to his public identity since the beginning of his career — "Kush & Orange Juice" (2010) was not a marketing strategy, it was his life

Tyson 2.0: Mike Bites and Mainstream Appeal

Mike Tyson's Tyson 2.0 has become one of the most recognizable celebrity cannabis brands in America, driven by a single genius product decision:

• Mike Bites: Ear-shaped gummies with a bite taken out — a reference to Tyson's infamous 1997 fight with Evander Holyfield. The product went viral and became one of the most talked-about cannabis edibles ever created
• Revenue: $50 million+ in annual revenue, making Tyson 2.0 the #3 celebrity cannabis brand by sales
• Multi-state operation: While California-based, Tyson 2.0 has expanded aggressively into other legal markets
• Tyson's transformation: The brand leverages Tyson's genuine personal transformation — from boxing's most feared fighter to a cannabis advocate who credits the plant with helping manage his mental health

Monogram (Jay-Z): The $575 Million Cautionary Tale

Monogram was supposed to be the crown jewel of celebrity cannabis. Jay-Z, hip-hop's first billionaire and one of the most successful entrepreneurs alive, launched an ultra-premium cannabis brand through TPCO Holding Corp (The Parent Company). What followed is the most expensive failure in cannabis history:

• Ultra-premium positioning: Monogram joints retailed for $50 each. The brand targeted the absolute top of the market with hand-rolled products and luxury packaging
• The collapse: TPCO burned through $575 million in capital before effectively collapsing. The company's vertically integrated California operation — cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and retail — could not generate enough revenue to sustain its massive overhead. The $50 joint found a ceiling very quickly
• The silver lining: TPCO's social equity fund, backed by Jay-Z's involvement, invested in equity-licensed businesses including Josephine & Billie's, a Black-owned and women-owned consumption lounge in Los Angeles. While the parent company imploded, the equity investments continued to support entrepreneurs who might not have launched otherwise

Houseplant: Design-Forward Cannabis

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's Houseplant has taken the most distinctive approach of any celebrity cannabis brand — treating cannabis as a design and lifestyle category rather than a music or athletic one:

• "The Apple of Cannabis": Houseplant has been described as the Apple of cannabis for its obsessive attention to industrial design, packaging aesthetics, and brand experience. The company's home goods line (ashtrays, lighters, vases) is as much a part of the brand as the cannabis itself
• Weather-named strains: Houseplant organizes its cannabis by weather metaphors (Pancake Ice, Diablo Wind) rather than traditional strain names, making the selection process more intuitive for mainstream consumers
• In-House equity mentorship: Houseplant runs an equity mentorship program called "In-House" that provides business guidance, resources, and support to social equity cannabis licensees in California
• Rogen's authenticity: Seth Rogen's cannabis consumption has been a defining element of his on-screen persona since Pineapple Express. His personal involvement in product development and brand direction is well-documented

Death Row Cannabis: Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg's Death Row Cannabis launched after Snoop purchased Death Row Records in February 2022, resurrecting one of hip-hop's most iconic labels as a cannabis brand:

• Brand story: Death Row Records defined West Coast hip-hop in the 1990s. Snoop's purchase of the label — which once held his own contract — was a cultural reclamation that generated massive media attention
• Cannabis portfolio: Flower, pre-rolls, and vapes carrying the Death Row branding and Snoop's personal endorsement
• Snoop's cannabis empire: Death Row Cannabis is the latest in Snoop's long history of cannabis ventures, building on his Leafs by Snoop brand and decades as arguably the most famous cannabis consumer in entertainment

Dr. Greenthumb: B-Real & Cypress Hill

B-Real of Cypress Hill operates Dr. Greenthumb, one of the most authentic celebrity cannabis brands in California:

• Multiple locations: Dr. Greenthumb operates dispensary locations in California including the Inland Empire and other Southern California markets
• Legacy credibility: Cypress Hill has been explicitly pro-cannabis since the early 1990s. "Hits from the Bong" (1993) and "I Wanna Get High" were not marketing — they were manifestos. B-Real's cannabis advocacy predates the legal industry by decades
• The Smokebox: B-Real's YouTube show "The Smokebox" has become a significant media platform, featuring guests who smoke with B-Real in a hotboxed car while discussing cannabis and culture

More Celebrity California Cannabis

• Garcia Hand Picked (Trixie Garcia): Jerry Garcia's daughter Trixie curates a cannabis brand that reflects the Grateful Dead's values of community, craft, and counterculture. The brand focuses on small-batch, sustainably grown flower
• Cann (Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebel Wilson): The leading cannabis beverage brand in California. Paltrow and Wilson are among the investors. Covered in detail on our California Brands page

The One Who Said No: Dr. Dre

No discussion of celebrity cannabis in California is complete without the most conspicuous absence. Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" (1992) is the most culturally significant cannabis-related artwork in history. The album art featuring a cannabis leaf, the title itself, and the West Coast sound it defined are inseparable from cannabis culture.

Yet Dre has declined to launch a cannabis brand. His reported reasoning: he will not risk his fortune on a federally illegal industry. Dre sold Beats to Apple for $3 billion and has no incentive to navigate cannabis's regulatory and banking minefields. It is a rational business decision — and a reminder that the smartest play in cannabis is sometimes not to play at all, at least until federal legalization removes the existential risk.