Celebrities Who Have Lupus

The singer-actress announced she had lupus in 2015, a year after she got the diagnosis. Her condition got more news coverage in 2017 when Gomez had a kidney transplant due to lupus-related kidney failure. The donor was her close friend Francia Raisa.

This former member of the women’s U.S. national soccer team and a gold medalist kept her lupus diagnosis under wraps for 5 years because she was afraid it would hurt her career. She finally made her condition public in 2012, just before she competed in the London Olympics. The now retired athlete pushed through pain and extreme fatigue to compete in numerous Olympic Games and World Cups.

Discoid lupus erythematosus caused the distinctive scars on the pop singer’s face. The condition, which he got as a teenager, caused his hair loss, too. This type of lupus mostly affects the skin of the face and scalp, but it can hit anywhere.

Years after she played an alien on 3rd Rock from the Sun, this TV and movie actress learned at age 46 that she had lupus myelitis, a rare form of lupus that affects the spinal cord. It took 17 doctor visits before she got a diagnosis. Her first symptom was difficulty climbing stairs. At her worst, she couldn’t lift her neck without a brace. Today, her condition is well-controlled and, she says, “Every day is a gift.”

The TV host of America’s Got Talent and other shows had kidney failure and blood clots in his lungs before he knew he had lupus. Cannon has said he was afraid after his diagnosis but learned to live with and manage his condition. His web series, The NCredible Health Hustle, documents his life with lupus from diagnosis to his return to work.

The Grammy Award-winning singer revealed she had lupus in 2010, and blood clots from the condition hospitalized her in 2012. In 2023, she told Today that she now has good and bad days, and the condition is starting to affect her kidneys, but she remains hopeful. “I’ll never be able to do shows 7 days a week again” she told hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. “But I can do one-offs; I can do a show here and there.” And there are “so many new things I’m discovering that I can do.”

The late “King of Pop” saw the first signs of lupus in a malar rash on his face. This symmetrical face rash forms the shape of a butterfly with a large pink wing on each cheek just under the eyes. Besides this telltale sign, Jackson had crusting on his scalp. This was enough for his dermatologist to order a skin biopsy, which tested positive for lupus.

This singer-dancer-writer-producer has lived with lupus all her life. She has chronic, severe flare-ups that affect her kidneys, lungs, and nervous system. Tancharoen writes about her condition on her blog It’s So Not Sexy. As a teenager, she was a dancer in fellow lupus patient Michael Jackson’s musical film Moonwalker. But her best-known work is Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which she co-created, co-wrote, and co-executive produced.

The singer, dancer, and American Idol judge is a lupus advocate and spreads awareness through social media. Her lupus is currently in remission, but she also lives with rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disorder, too.

The pop singer has said that she tested “borderline positive” for lupus. This means that symptoms or bloodwork can look like lupus, but there’s not enough other evidence for a diagnosis. A few people with borderline lupus go on to develop the autoimmune condition. Anyone with a borderline result should continue to see a doctor for monitoring.