21 Celebrities Who Are Battling Rare Chronic Illnesses
Living with, treating and understanding the effects of a rare and/or chronic illness is a serious undertaking for a patient and their loved ones. Regardless of the prognosis, a rare illness affects every part of a person’s life and it takes time, energy, and emotional labor to process it all and begin to come to terms with your “new normal.”
And these conditions are increasingly common: In 2017, the CDC reported that half of all adults in America live with one chronic illness while 1 in 4 adults has two or more. Common among those include conditions like heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. And being rich, famous or successful doesn’t give you immunity to these chronic or rare conditions. When it comes to celebrities with rare and/or chronic illnesses, the list includes stars like Lady Gaga, Yolanda Hadid, Venus Williams, Kim Kardashian, and Michael J. Fox who live with chronic pain, Lyme disease, Sj?gren’s syndrome, psoriasis, and Parkinson’s, respectively.
Whether it’s to help their fans understand their experiences, to help others in their communities who have the same illness, or educate folks, a number of these celebs have used their influence and platforms to share their stories of living with these conditions — which, along with being a powerful, personal, and vulnerable thing to share, can do wonders for dispelling stigma and making it easier for the non-famous peers who experience these illnesses to be understood, appreciated, and supported by the general public.
Keep clicking to see which celebs are currently dealing with (and talking about) their rare and/or chronic illness.
A version of this story was published August 2018.
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Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith has been open about her struggle with alopecia, which causes hair loss, ever since first sharing the diagnosis with fans on an episode of Red Table Talk in 2018. Later, in 2021, the actress went on Instagram to share a candid, up-close look at her hair loss journey. “Look at this line right here,” Pinkett Smith said in the video, pointing out some of the bare patches. “This is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide, so I thought I’d just share it so y’all not asking any questions — but you know, mama’s going to put some rhinestones in there, and I’m going to make me a little crown.”
More recently, Pinkett Smith even dedicated a chapter of her 2023 memoir, Worthy, to her experience with the condition in order to lift the stigma around it. “A lot of people who suffer from alopecia have shame about their condition,” Pinkett Smith told SheKnows in October 2023. “And one of the things about this book that I’m hoping, you know, people will embrace and receive is that there’s no need to have shame about any of it.”
Céline Dion
Music icon Céline Dion has been open about her battle with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disease that affects 1 or 2 out of every 1 million people, per studies. She first shared the diagnosis in an emotional social media in 2022, telling fans that she suffered severe muscle spasms that affect “every aspect of my daily life.” That included having difficulty walking and using her vocal cords properly, including to speak and sing.
Dion will share a vulnerable look at her life with SPS in an Amazon Prime documentary, I Am: Céline Dion, coming out in June 2024. In the lead up to the documentary’s release, the “My Heart Will Go On” singer told outlets like People and NBC News that her battle with SPS began 17 years ago, and that she resorted to high doses of muscle relaxers like Valium in order to perform. Now, with an intense treatment plan that includes physical rehabilitation, medication, immune therapy, and vocal therapy, the five-time Grammy winner is determined to return to the stage sooner rather than later. In the meantime, she’s also embraced her new role as a health advocate. “The fact that I found the strength to communicate my condition with the world makes me very proud,” she told People. “Maybe my purpose in this life is to help others, and that is the greatest gift.”
Tisha Campbell
Martin alum Tisha Campbell has had sarcoidosis for decades after first being diagnosed with the inflammatory disease in 2002. “I just could not breathe,” Campbell recalled of her early symptoms of sarcoidosis, in a June 2024 interview with the mibo show podcast. The condition occurs when lumps or nodules called granulomas form in the lungs, lymph nodes, skin, eyes, and elsewhere on the body. For Campbell, they presented in her lungs and the base of her brain.
The disease progressed to stage 2 after Campbell had her firsts child, which prompted her to prioritize her health through diet, exercise, and managing stress. “I have been in remission for four years now,” Campbell said on the podcast. “They can’t find it at the base of my brain at all.”
Keltie Knight
E! News correspondent Keltie Knight opened up about her health struggles in March 2024, sharing in an essay for E! that she’d been “silently suffering for most of the last decade” before finally being diagnosed with “a very stubborn type of blood disorder called microcytic anemia.” Knight explained, “In basic terms, I have smaller and less blood cells than a normal person, which means my body carries less oxygen to my tissues and it messes up everything.”
After trying a variety of treatments from acupuncture to hormone replacement, Knight’s “last resort” was having a hysterectomy, to preserve “as much of my precious healthy, oxygen rich blood as possible,” she wrote. While Knight said she felt “terrified” of getting the surgery on Instagram, she wrote that she was also excited to feel better. “I look forward to the day my body doesn’t throb, my head doesn’t ache from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep,” she wrote.
Lady Gaga
As recently as 2016, Lady Gaga has spoken in social media posts about chronic pain and chronic illness, but it wasn't until the documentary Five Foot Two was released that fans saw just how much pain she was in and how much it affected her life.
Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez was diagnosed with lupus in October 2015, notably taking a step back from professional duties in 2017 in order to have a kidney transplant necessitated by the disease.
Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins
Former TLC member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia when she was a child but didn't feel comfortable publicly discussing how the disease affected her life until she was much older.
Shannen Doherty
Doherty has been public about her battle with breast cancer but has been quieter when openly discussing how she deals with Crohn's disease, which has been a part of her life since the '90s.
Venus Williams
In 2011, Time magazine reported that Venus Williams had withdrawn from the U.S. Open following her diagnosis with Sj?gren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain.
Yolanda Hadid
Since getting diagnosed in 2012, Yolanda Hadid has dutifully documented her journey with Lyme disease, including the various treatments (both prescribed by health care professionals and treatments that fall outside the purview of the medical community) over the years. Her medical journey even became part of her narrative during her time on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Cher
Cher spoke about her diagnosis with Epstein-Barr in a Vanity Fair profile in 1990, confirming she's been dealing with its effects while trying to work and seeing multiple doctors to get properly diagnosed.
Kristin Chenoweth
Broadway legend Kristin Chenoweth was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, a rare illness that affects the inner ear and can cause vertigo and hearing issues, in her '30s.
Sia
Sia confirmed in 2010 via Twitter that she has Grave's disease, an autoimmune disease which affects the thyroid.
Lena Dunham
In February 2018, Dunham revealed that she'd had a hysterectomy to deal with her endometriosis, the effects of which she had dealt with since her early teen years and had attempted to treat with other methods.
Kim Kardashian West
Kardashian West has been open about how she deals with psoriasis, which she was diagnosed with in 2010, including discussing new kinds of treatments (like the seaweed-based skin care regimen she documented on her app in 2018) that have worked for her.
Charlie Sheen
In 2015, Sheen revealed on Today that he was HIV positive and had been diagnosed four years before, in 2011, but was unsure of how he contracted it.
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox has been living with Parkinson's since he was diagnosed in 1991 and has not only maintained a thriving career but has frequently spoken about his journey with the disease.
Jillian Michaels
Michaels revealed on her own website that she has dealt with polycystic ovarian syndrome since she was a teenager.
Toni Braxton
Braxton revealed in 2010 that she had been diagnosed with lupus. Hospital visits from lupus-related complications have been documented in the press in the years since.
Montel Williams
Williams deals with the effects of multiple sclerosis, which he was diagnosed with in the '90s and still speaks candidly about in interviews.
Sarah Hyland
Back in 2012, Sarah Hyland had to have a kidney transplant due to a condition called kidney dysplasia that she has had since birth.
