Celeb Stoner
Video: Bette Midler And Marijuana Advocacy
By Mister D
Dec. 2, 2025
Singer/actress Bette Midler’s marijuana advocacy dates back to the ’70s.
According to Very Important Potheads, “Midler famously planned to put a joint underneath every seat of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles for her New Year’s Eve show in 1975/76, to celebrate California’s pending decriminalization law. Her staff had purportedly rolled 1,800 joints before word leaked out, and she was talked out of the magic moment by her lawyers and the L.A. district attorney. Instead, she dropped her top at midnight.”
In 1976, Midler’s version of the reefer-jazz classic “Sweet Marijuana” was released on Songs for the New Depression (titled “Marijuana” on the album). The song was written in 1934 and initially performed by Gertrude Michael as a Mexican-themed dance number in the film Murder at the Vanities, featuring a chorus of topless women. Julia Lee updated the song and renamed it “Lotus Blossom.”
I was there that night with the man who would become my husband and a few friends. Saw the famous Midler bosom and the girls were gorgeous.
Congrats, Martin