Jim Belushi’s Cannabis Farm Pivot: From SNL to the Greenhouses

Jim Belushi spent three decades making America laugh on Saturday Night Live and According to Jim. These days he is more likely to be found in an Oregon greenhouse than on a soundstage, running Belushi’s Farm and talking openly about his brother John’s legacy. Here’s how the actor traded punchlines for pot, and what that pivot means for his money, his marriage, and his friendship with Dan Aykroyd.

Age: 70 (born June 15, 1954) · Net Worth: $25 million (estimated) · Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) · Spouse: Jennifer Sloan (m. 1998; div. 2023) · Occupation: Actor, comedian, farmer · Known For: SNL, According to Jim, Belushi’s Farm

Eight facts, one pattern: the public face is still Belushi, but the business card now says farmer.

What is Jim Belushi doing nowadays?

Belushi’s second act started with dirt. In 2015, after Oregon legalized recreational cannabis, he bought property along the Rogue River and named it Belushi’s Farm.

Jim Belushi’s cannabis farm in Oregon

• The original property was 13 acres on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon (Discovery (documentary network)).
• Later coverage described the operation as a 93-acre cannabis estate along the same river (Oregon Wine Press (regional magazine)).
• It began with a small number of plants and expanded to multiple greenhouses and multiple states (TheWrap (entertainment news site)).
• Belushi has credited Dan Aykroyd with encouraging him to grow cannabis in Oregon (TheWrap (entertainment news site)).

Acting projects and appearances

• His film résumé includes About Last Night, K-9, Curly Sue, and Wonder Wheel.
• He has kept a hand in acting through occasional film and voice roles, though the farm now gets most of the attention.

His role in ‘Good Girls’ and other TV shows

• After According to Jim, he continued with guest arcs and recurring roles, including a run on Good Girls.
• Voice work and independent film appearances filled out the gaps between farm seasons.

The pattern: Belushi turned personal upheaval into a rebuild. The farm is not a vanity project; it is the business that now defines his public life.

Why did Jim Belushi’s wife leave him?

The legal record is clear: Jim Belushi and Jennifer Sloan married in 1998 and finalized their divorce in 2023. The emotional record is more complicated.

Jennifer Sloan marriage

• Belushi and Sloan were married for 25 years.
• They have two children, Jared and Jamison.
• Public reporting has never pointed to a single trigger for the split.

Divorce reasons reported

• Friends and sources described incompatible lifestyles after Belushi moved to Oregon.
• Stress from the cannabis business and frequent travel were cited as contributing pressure.

Impact on his life and farm

• Belushi has publicly linked the farm to healing from trauma (Newsweek (national news magazine)).
• He has also said cannabis helped him cope and rebuild purpose (Newswire (news distribution service)).

The implication: the same pivot that gave Belushi purpose also created distance in the marriage. The farm and the split are two sides of the same reinvention.

Did Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi get along?

By every public indicator, yes. Aykroyd did not just tolerate Belushi — he helped shape the farm idea.

Their partnership in Blues Brothers and According to Jim

• The two worked together on According to Jim, the sitcom that became Belushi’s biggest TV hit.
• Both remained connected to the Blues Brothers brand through John Belushi’s original act and later tribute events.

Friendship with John Belushi

• Aykroyd was John Belushi’s close friend, and he stayed close to the Belushi family after John’s death.
• Belushi has said Aykroyd suggested Captain Jack as a grower for the farm (Vegas Cannabis Magazine (cannabis lifestyle publication)).

Public statements and mutual respect

• Aykroyd has called Jim a “tremendous talent” and said they always got along.
• No credible report of a feud between the two has surfaced.

The pattern: Aykroyd is more of a mentor than a co-star. The farm origin story is the clearest example of that trust.

What ethnicity is Jim Belushi?

Belushi’s family tree is a study in Mediterranean identity: Albanian on his father’s side, Greek on his mother’s.

Albanian heritage

• His father, Adam Belushi, was Albanian.

Greek ancestry

• His mother, Agnes Demetri, was of Greek descent.

Family background and immigration

• He grew up in Chicago in an Albanian-American household.
• He identifies as both Albanian-American and Greek-American.

The pattern: that immigrant backstory gave Belushi the work ethic that later defined both his sitcom grind and his farm expansion.

Is Jim Belushi considered a nice guy?

“Nice” is a verdict delivered by people who have worked with him, not a fact in a filing. The best answer is mixed but broadly warm.

Colleagues’ opinions

• Aykroyd has repeatedly described him as funny, professional, and easy to work with.
• SNL-era colleagues have characterized him as approachable and generous with newcomers.

Fan perception

• Most fans remember the everyman dad from According to Jim more than the live-TV wild card of the 1980s.
• In the cannabis community, he is treated as a working farmer with a real product, not a celebrity endorser.

Reports of clashes on set

• A handful of reports mention a demanding or sharp-edged side, but no major public controversy has stuck.

The implication: Belushi’s reputation is layered. He can be generous and funny in public while still carrying the intensity that made him a comic force.

Who was partying with John Belushi the night he died?

John Belushi’s death on March 5, 1982, at the Chateau Marmont is one of Hollywood’s most revisited tragedies. The roster of people there that night is still argued over.

The final night at Chateau Marmont

• John Belushi died in 1982 at age 33 (Newswire (news distribution service)).
• Accounts place him in a bungalow at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles.

Catherine Smith and other attendees

• Catherine Smith was among the people who were with John in his final hours, alongside a friend named Cathy Evelyn Smith; exact movements remain disputed.
• Catherine Smith later gave an account from the night, saying she was with John but did not give him the drugs.

Robert De Niro’s absence

• Robert De Niro, who had been reported as a possible witness, was not present; he had left earlier.

John Belushi’s best friend Dan Aykroyd

• Dan Aykroyd was not in Los Angeles that night; he was deeply affected by the loss.

The catch: the full sequence of John’s last night has never been nailed down. What is documented is the weight that night carried for Jim Belushi for the rest of his life.

Belushi’s Farm vs. Hollywood Career: How the Balance Shifted

Five points of comparison show the direction of travel.

The pattern: the acting career built the fame, but the farm is where the future revenue and identity now sit.

Belushi’s story is not a retirement plan; it’s a pivot. The actor who once anchored a long-running sitcom now runs a cannabis company with licenses across multiple states (CannTech Today (cannabis trade publication)). The farm sets the terms for Jim Belushi’s future, not the other way around.