Celebs with link to Lupus

Cindy Frey

Cindy Frey, wife of Glen Frey (formerly of the band the Eagles, deceased 2015), has lupus.

She said "Lupus has been raging through our population of young women, cutting short the opportunity for them to reach their full potential, often it targets the very driven woman who has so much to give. Lupus LA has been a front-runner in the fight to cure this disease by raising funds for research and supporting patients."

Hugh Gaitskell

Hugh Gaitskell was a British politician, leader of the Labour Party from 1955. He died after a sudden attack of SLE in 1963, aged 56, and left an opening for Harold Wilson in the party leadership.

The abrupt and unexpected nature of his death led to speculation that foul play was involved, the most popular conspiracy theory involving a KGB plot to ensure that Wilson (supposedly a KGB agent himself) became prime minister. This claim was given new life by Peter Wright’s controversial 1987 book Spycatcher

Selena Gomez

In 2015 Selena Gomez said she was receiving chemotherapy after being diagnosed with lupus. Concerns about her health were first raised in 2013, when she cancelled a tour of Asia and Australia.She later sought treatment at the Dawn at the Meadows rehab facility, with her representatives denying she was dealing with substance abuse. But the singer has revealed her break was "really about" her lupus diagnosis, adding: "I could have had a stroke."

In an interview with Billboard, the actress-singer, explained that she underwent chemotherapy for the autoimmune disease amid intense fan and media speculation (some reports said she was in rehab for addiction, adding insult to injury) about why she was keeping a low profile.“I was diagnosed with lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy. That’s what my break was really about. I could’ve had a stroke,” Gomez told the magazine. “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re a–holes.’ I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again.”

Ian Harding

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Actor Ian Harding appears as Ezra Fitz in the USA TV series, Pretty Little Liars. He’s also a huge animal rights activist and raises money for lupus in his spare time.

Ian Harding’s mother, Mary, was diagnosed with lupus in 1994, after graduating with a degree in nursing from Walter Reed Military Medical Centre in Virginia. Ian was 7 at the timeand unaware that the disease was life-threatening. Neither side of his family had a history of lupus.

Despite the obstacles Mary faced, she continued to work full-time as a cardiology nurse at Walter Reed. She was determined not to let her illness affect her children’s lives. Mary was in full support of Ian choosing to act with his life but urged him to attend a university where he could study acting technique.

Eva Ibbotson

The children's author  died on 20th October 2010, at the age of 85 at her home in Newcastle. She was best known for the Amazon adventure tale Journey to the River Sea, winner of the Nestlé children's gold award and shortlisted for the Carnegie medal, and for her funny, magical stories for younger children, including The Secret of Platform 13 and The Great Ghost Rescue.

Although she had battled poor health in latter years and was suffering from lupus, Eva continued to write. The last of her "romps", The Ogre of Oglefort, was published just a few months prior to her death and was shortlisted for the Guardian children's fiction prize and the Roald Dahl funny prize. "The thing you have to do is keep writing, the habit is too ingrained, you can't stop," she said at the time.

Jess Impiazzi

Actress, Author and Reality TV star Jess Impiazzi was diagnosed with lupus in July 2023. Jess’s crippling symptoms started in January, one month after she had her breast implants replaced when one of them ruptured.

She said "My body was just completely failing me and I couldn’t get any answers. I was tired all the time, aching all over and then this angry rash appeared on my chest and face. One day I started coughing up blood, which was incredibly scary. I thought it was stomach cancer. Then I started panicking that it was multiple autoimmune."

Michael Jackson

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From CBS News ”It reveals a rare court affidavit detailing several skin conditions that Jackson treats including Jackson’s use of a powerful bleaching cream called Benoquin, because, according to his maid, “he does not like being black and he feels that blacks are not liked as much as people of other races.”

The affidavit also shows that Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and discoid lupus, which causes skin blotches”.

Kristen Johnston

After months of experiencing a ‘mysterious illness’ Third Rock actor Kristen Johnston was diagnosed with lupus myelitis (a type of Lupus that afflicts the spinal cord).

It was only after her official diagnosis that the actress took to Facebook in December 2013 to share with her fans the news and breadth of her symptoms, which included 'full body muscle weakness.'  'I've been really, really sick since early September... Full body muscle weakness to the extent that just walking difficult, stairs impossible and I even need a neck brace to hold my head up,' the actress shared online.

The symptoms became so much that Kristen - who currently stars as divorce attorney Holly Franklin on the TV Land comedy The Exes - was forced to take some time off from her role.

Michael B Jordan

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Michael Bakari Jordan is an American actor. He is known for his film roles as shooting victim Oscar Grant in the drama Fruitvale Station, boxer Adonis Creed in the Rocky sequel film Creed and main antagonist Erik Killmonger in Black Panther.

Michael's mother, Donna, has lupus. He said:

“My mom’s always smiling even when I know she’s not feeling her best. She just moved up to Los Angeles a couple months ago, so she’s closer to me now.”

Michael is also involved in the fight to find a cure for lupus and has hosted events to raise funds for lupus research including the MBJAM event which he created in 2017..

Teddi King

Teddi King (September 18, 1929 - November 18, 1977) was an American jazz and pop vocalist. In the 1960s, she opened the Playboy Club, where she often performed.

After developing lupus, she managed to make a brief comeback with a 1977 album and with two more albums recorded for Audiophile released posthumously. She died of the disease on November 18, 1977.

 

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga's Aunt Joan died of lupus complications. In an interview for the Times she was asked if she had been tested for lupus and said: “Yes. but I don’t want anyone to be worried.” She did not actually reveal if the tests were negative or positive. She has since confirmed that her test shows she has ‘borderline’ lupus in an interview with Larry King 2nd June 2010.

Robyn Lawley

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Australian model Robyn Lawley was diagnosed with lupus in 2015, saying it was "the most 'painful' ordeal she’s ever been through".

She went on to say " “I had symptoms towards the end of the pregnancy. It started in the muscles. I couldn’t pick up things very well and I was losing the ability to walk and to talk. I have a super high pain threshold ... I delivered an 11 pound baby ... so when I couldn’t even pick up things, the doctors, at first, didn’t take me seriously.

It wasn’t until my family — my sisters and my mum came over and saw me and said ‘That’s not how Robyn is’. They wheelchaired me off to hospital and that’s when I got checked out [and diagnosed].”

In 2018 Robyn revealed via Instagram photographs that she had a seizure and fell down the stairs at her home. Full story here.

Muni Long

Muni Long is an American singer and songwriter who was diagnosed with lupus in 2018.

Her lyrics have been sung by artists like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Madonna, Demi Lovato, and countless others. The song Hrs and Hrs written and performed by Muni had over 169.2M video views on TikTok and 109 million views on Youtube..

“Lupus is a stress-related disease, it’s a silent, invisible struggle ’cause you can’t see it. You wake up in the morning and you look just fine, but you really feel like you got ran over by a train. There’s a lot of different things that I’ve experienced with this diagnosis, everything from hair loss to skin rashes. Being in this business is vainglorious, so that affects my output so much. When I feel good, I look good, I produce well. When I feel like crap, and I gotta go out… Even something as small as someone touching my arm, it hurts. But I gotta smile, and I gotta talk to people when I don’t feel like talking.”

President Ferdinand Marcos

During the 1980s, Ferdinand Marcos was seriously ill and was in and out of office. He had systemic lupus erythematosus, which led to kidney failure. He was then on dialysis and later had a kidney transplant. Marcos finally died in Honolulu in 1989.

Doctors said lung and kidney failure and a widespread infection contributed to the cardiac arrest that was listed as the cause of death.