Key Takeaways

• These celebrities are managing diabetes through diet, discipline, and lifestyle changes, showing that health is a daily commitment.
• Family history and personal health scares have motivated stars like Sherri Shepherd and Patti LaBelle to take control of their wellness.
• Ghostface Killah and Angie Stone have spoken candidly about the mental and physical toll of diabetes, using their platforms to raise awareness.

Diabetes is one of those health conditions that doesn’t get taken seriously enough, especially considering how widespread it is. According to CDC data from 2021, over 38.4 million Americans (11.6 percent of the country) had diabetes, and one in five (22.8%) didn’t even know it. That’s why raising awareness matters.

For anyone unfamiliar, diabetes is a chronic condition that can shape almost every part of someone’s daily routine — from diet changes to medication — and can lead to severe complications, including heart disease, kidney issues, and stroke. Patti LaBelle, for example, had to rethink how she cooked by cutting down the calories, oil, and “all that jazz.” Meanwhile, Ghostface Killah and Sherri Shepherd have both spoken about their experiences with insulin.

Of course, they aren’t the only ones who’ve shared their experiences or encouraged people to be more proactive about their health. From Halle Berry to Anthony Anderson, here are seven celebrities who’ve opened up about living with diabetes.

1. Halle Berry

Halle Berry has spoken about her experience with diabetes several times, particularly about how she keeps it in check to maintain her health. “I’ve had issues managing my sugar since I was 19 years old,” she wrote in an Instagram post in 2022. “I learned that taking care of my gut health has been a huge help in managing my diabetes.”

A few years earlier, in 2018, the Monster’s Ball actress talked about having to “take food very seriously” for most of her life, which eventually led her to the ketogenic diet. Speaking on the benefits of going keto, she said, “If you’re like me, you can possibly reverse type 2 diabetes, you’ll experience better physical endurance, better skin, and also less acne if that’s an issue.”

2. Sherri Shepherd

Sherri Shepherd was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2007, though it was something she’d been aware of most of her life. Both the “Sherri” host’s mother and aunt passed from diabetes-related complications. “I saw a lot of my mother having to go to the hospital because she had an insulin issue,” she shared.

One of the main things that led Shepherd to get checked was “tingling and always having to go to the bathroom,” she told Yahoo! Life. The actress later explained that she used to think sugar-free candy would help manage cravings, but eventually realized you “gotta moderate what you eat.”

3. Anthony Anderson

Being diagnosed with diabetes later in life comes with its own set of challenges, as Anthony Anderson would be the first to tell you. “Old habits are hard to change, especially if you are not going to make an effort at it,” the “Grown-ish” actor told Healio about receiving his diagnosis at 30.

Having already lost his father to diabetes, Anderson understood the importance of building better habits and sticking to a routine, although he admits that's easier said than done. “It’s about having the discipline to stick with it. And we’re going to fall off... I am guilty of it,” he explained. “But then you get back on path and you get back on track, because I know what the outcome will be from this.”

4. Patti LaBelle

Like many other celebrities mentioned here, diabetes runs in Patti LaBelle’s family. Admittedly not the type of girl “who goes to the doctor,” it wasn’t until she collapsed on stage in 1994 and ended up hospitalized that she received her diagnosis. Speaking with Yahoo! Life, the “On My Own” singer explained that checking her blood daily and taking medication made her “feel better.”

That, plus eating healthier, helped her stay on top of her symptoms. “I realized I couldn’t eat some of the foods I loved anymore,” she told the outlet. “I stopped with cheesecake, fried chicken, those things.” While touring usually keeps her moving, LaBelle added that she’ll walk her dog or “dance in the basement” when she’s not on the road.

5. Patrice O’Neal

Comedians know how to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation. While doing stand-up, Patrice O’Neal recalled seeing chocolate-covered Oreos (“heroin” for someone living with diabetes, in his words) in the supermarket. “I’m sitting there, I’m shaking. I’m praying to God for strength — I’m wasting a good prayer not to eat cookies,” he said, before joking, “I’m lactose intolerant, but if I eat these cookies, I gotta have some milk.”

Tragically, O’Neal passed away in 2011 at age 41 after a stroke, which is a risk for people living with diabetes.

6. Angie Stone

Angie Stone, who passed away in March 2025, was understandably “a little angry” when she first learned she had diabetes. The “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” singer recalled a family trip to Six Flags, during which she had to “use the restroom quite often” on the drive there. “First and foremost, I was in denial,” she admitted to NPR. “So, for the longest time I felt like if I just stopped eating the wrong foods today, it will go away.”

In arguably one of her most informative conversations about the disease, Stone emphasized that just because diabetes runs in your family, it doesn’t mean you have to accept it. She explained, “You can eat anything you have been eating, but proportionately.” The Mahogany Soul artist also warned about the dangers of diabetes going unnoticed, which can create serious problems if not caught early enough.

7. Ghostface Killah

Ghostface Killah found out he had diabetes while working on one of the greatest Hip Hop albums of his era, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… During an appearance on the “Touré Show,” the Wu-Tang Clan rapper recalled the “dark” period that led him to a psychiatrist and, ultimately, his diagnosis.

"When you got bad blood in you, that dirty blood as far as sugar, like, you know, diabetes, it can play with your mind,” Ghostface explained to Touré. “It’s not pure, so you’re gonna have bad thoughts." As the Staten Island native later explained, the negative symptoms he initially faced disappeared once he started taking insulin.