Talk show host, comedienne, and vegan Ellen DeGeneres celebrated her 52nd birthday today with guests Adam Lambert, Harry Connick Jr., and Will Arnett. In a video montage prepared by her show’s staff, Ellen received birthday wishes from celebrities Jeff Bridges, Oprah, Clint Eastwood, Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban, and Queen Latifa, to name a handful.

DeGeneres made the switch to a vegan lifestyle in 2008. “I personally chose to go vegan because I educated myself on factory farming and cruelty to animals, and I suddenly realized that what was on my plate were living things, with feelings,” DeGeneres writes on her website. “And I just couldn’t disconnect myself from it any longer. I read books like ‘Diet for a New America’ and saw documentaries like ‘Earthlings’ and ‘Meet your Meat,’ and it became an easy choice for me.”

Since becoming a vegan, the comedienne has used her show and high profile status to encourage others to try cruelty-free living.

In December, DeGeneres was named the 2009 Woman of the Year by PETA because of her “exceptional effort to place animal rights issues before a large audience.”