Val Kilmer Responds To Cancer Rumors
The Top Gun (1986) actor recently opened up about those cancer rumors.
On a Reddit AMA on April 26, 2017, Val Kilmer addressed rumors, largely propagated by his The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) co-star Michael Douglas, that he was battling cancer. "A while ago, Michael Douglas claimed you had terminal cancer," a fan asked (via Us Weekly). "What was the story behind that?"
"He was probably trying to help me cause press probably asked where I was these days," Kilmer, 57, stated. "I did have a healing of cancer, but my tongue is still swollen altho healing all the time."
He continued, "Because I don't sound my normal self yet people think I may still be under the weather."
In an interview with Jonathan Ross (via the Daily Mail) on Oct. 30, 2016, Douglas, 72, said that Kilmer, whom his rep admitted he hadn't seen in a year, had been diagnosed with oral cancer. Speaking of the movie he starred in with Kilmer, Douglas, an oral cancer survivor, stated, "The picture didn't turn out as well as I hoped but I had a wonderful time. Val was a wonderful guy who is dealing with exactly what I had, and things don't look too good for him."
Douglas added, "My prayers are with him. That's why you haven't heard too much from Val lately."
After the interview went viral, Kilmer responded to Douglas' claims. In a Facebook post, he wrote, "I love Michael Douglas but he is misinformed. The last time I spoke to him was almost two years ago, when I asked him for a referral for a specialist to get a diagnosis for a lump in my throat, which prevented me from continuing a tour of my play CITIZEN TWAIN. I ended up using a team at UCLA and have no cancer whatsoever."
However, Douglas wasn't the first to theorize about Kilmer's health. Rumors that Kilmer was suffering from throat cancer started in 2015 and were further fueled when photos showing Kilmer wearing a tracheostomy tube were released in December of that same year.
Luckily, it sounds like Kilmer's now on the up and up. He's set to reprise his role as Iceman in Top Gun 2 and has been cast to play Mark Twain in the film Mark Twain and Mary Baker Eddy.