11 Celebrities Who Have Rheumatic Diseases

That ’70s Show actor Ashton Kutcher said he’s “lucky to be alive” after battling vasculitis, a serious autoimmune disease that impaired his hearing, vision, and walking ability.

“You don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone,” Kutcher, 46, added. “Until you go, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to see again, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to hear again, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to walk again.’”

“I can’t hear very well because I’m hard of hearing in one ear and I can only hear in the other,” he said. “I don’t know who’s yelling my name, but I know there’s a lot of people yelling, going, ‘Reese, Ashton, over here, over here! Look at this one, look at that one!’”

Ted Danson has remained an A-lister ever since he played the hilariously vain bartender Sam Malone on the ’80s sitcom Cheers, going on to star in numerous films and shows, including NBC’s series The Good Place, costarring Kristen Bell. His friendship with Bell and her husband Dax Shepard led to a discovery that both men have psoriatic arthritis.

“You’ve hit the right humor vein,” Danson, now 76, told Shepard, “because there is nothing less sexy than turning to your wife and saying, ‘My psoriasis is bothering me.’”

Danson added that psoriatic arthritis "is no fun because it does mess up your joints.," but said he manages his recurring back and hip pain through meditation, breathing exercises, and diet.

“By and large I don’t eat wheats or grasses of any kind,” Danson explained, adding that he tries to consume as much “healthy good fish” and vegetables as he can.

“People would come up and compliment me or think of me as Sam Malone or whatever, and I was always lying, because part of my brain was going, ‘If only you knew,’” Danson said. “This is not a boohoo moment, meaning life has been very kind to me. I'm so blessed. But it does make you feel like you got to hide something, and that's not a good way to go through life.”

Gomez, who is the most followed woman on Instagram, took to the social media site in 2017 to share that complications from her lupus required her to get a kidney transplant.

The 37-year-old lead singer of the band Imagine Dragons has ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a form of inflammatory arthritis that affects the joints, ligaments, and tendons of the spine. Prior to learning of his AS, Reynolds was diagnosed with a type of inflammatory bowel disease called ulcerative colitis when he was 21.

This Canadian actor, writer, and director, known for her role as the cheerleader Grace Bowman on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, went public about her health condition in 2015, revealing that she’d been living with rheumatoid arthritis since she was a teenager.

Despite the common misconception that RA is a disease that only affects elderly people, Park notes, “Rheumatoid arthritis can affect anybody at any age,” adding the disease “ebbs and flows.”

However, Park added that the disease has not affected her career, and has actually made her a better actor. “I think that it has made me more empathetic toward people’s individual plights, and that has helped me as an actor,” she said.

On the image, he wrote: “Constant reminder that health is the real wealth!!! #lupuswarrior.”

“Now it's starting to affect my kidneys. ... My skin, my hair, my heart, my vital organs are starting to become affected,” she said. “I love performing. I love touring, but I know I can't do six to seven shows a week. My body's not gonna let me do that. But I always try to find the silver lining. Maybe I can do two to three shows a week.”

The five-time Wimbledon champion with four Olympic gold medals said extreme fatigue has been the most challenging symptom of her disease. “When you crash, you go so hard that you can’t get up, literally,” she said. “But I still got up, because I had to. Lying in bed is not fun. There is no substitute for being well. I had to change my pace.”

Before he wowed audiences with his uncanny portrayals in WeCrashed and House of Gucci, this method actor and musician gained 67 pounds in 2007 to play the role of Mark David Chapman — John Lennon’s assassin — in the movie Chapter 27, which caused him to suffer a possible bout of gout.

Phil Mickelson, a professional golfer and 2013 British Open champion, started feeling pain near his right ankle that made it hard to walk in the weeks leading up to the 2010 U.S. Open. Then his wrist and fingers began hurting. At first, he chalked the aches and pains up to his rigorous golf training. But when the pain became more widespread and severe in the following days, he sought help. In the week after the U.S. Open, Mickelson was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at age 40.

“I was so lucky, because I got on it right away, so I was able to slow or stop any further damage,” he said.

Mickelson now says he’s been able to manage his condition for years without taking any medications. Instead, he said he stays healthy by eating a healthy diet, intermittent fasting, and drinking coffee with supplements. (Mickelson cofounded a company in 2020 called For Wellness that sells what they call “antioxidant coffee.”) These lifestyle changes may not work for everyone; talk to your doctor before dieting, fasting, or taking any supplements.

Matt Iseman won The Celebrity Apprentice in 2017, raising over $570,000 for the Arthritis Foundation. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 32, the American Ninja Warrior host has helped dispel stigma around RA.

“From the first day, the first minute, I got to say, ‘Not only am I competing for the Arthritis Foundation, I have rheumatoid arthritis,’” he has said.

The former physician, now 53, was first diagnosed in late 2002.

“The good news is when I started treatment (with a biologic medicine that helps reduce inflammation), it gave me my life back,” he continues.

Iseman said he likes to tell his story to inspire others with the condition.

“I want them to see me, someone who won The Celebrity Apprentice, who hosts American Ninja Warrior, and travels the country doing stand-up comedy,” he said. “I love sharing my story. There is hope. This is a disease you can lead a full life with.”

The Takeaway

• There are more than 100 different rheumatic diseases, including lupus, arthritis, and gout.
• Many celebrities have rheumatic diseases, from Ted Danson to Selena Gomez to Venus Williams.
• A-listers have been open about their rheumatic diseases to inspire others to get diagnosed, seek early treatment, and live their lives to the fullest.