Val Kilmer Takes to Social Media to Dispel Illness Rumors Once and for All

Val Kilmer wants something to be very clear: He does not have cancer. The star of such beloved Hollywood films as The Doors, Tombstone, and Heat has taken to social media to fight back against months-long rumors that he’s battling throat cancer. He’s even soliciting his active fan base to help dispel the health gossip.

This campaign, of sorts, started this past fall, when Michael Douglas, with whom Kilmer co-starred in The Ghost and the Darkness some 20 years ago, was quoted in the press as saying Kilmer was “dealing with exactly what I had,” referring to Douglas’s throat cancer battle in 2013. “And things don’t look too good for him,” Douglas concluded. Shortly after making these statements, Douglas apologized for jumping to conclusions publicly.

Yet, since that time, Kilmer seems to be relentlessly pushing back in defense of his health and, quite possibly, his career. In between posts about an ongoing one-man theatrical show and film project based on Mark Twain, Kilmer is steadily attempting to prove that he’s in great shape. “Does this look ill?” Kilmer questions in his social media post. “This is like 7 in the morning with no make up or movie trick photoshop friends! Take that national inquirer [sic]…”

Whether or not these messages may seem like overkill, Kilmer’s fans seem to appreciate and applaud his dispatches.

“You look very much healthy, alive, and happy! Tabloids are tabloids. Aside from that, why is your health anyone else’s business but your own? People are soooo nosy about things that have NOTHING to do with them! On the flipside, thank you for sharing so much of your life with us!”

“The thing is, what’s being done to you is what is done to women all the time. The media expects you to look twenty until you die. They did the same thing to Renee Zellweger. There were pictures of her all over the media saying she didn’t look like herself. Problem is, she looked exactly like a late forties version of herself! She looked beautiful and healthy and happy. Did she look 20? No. But that was just fine. Same with you. Do you look like you did in your twenties? No. Do you look like a handsome, healthy, CURRENT version of yourself? Absolutely. Ignore them. Don’t address them anymore. Live your life, post your pictures and let the media go to hell where they belong. ????”

“This is exactly what they want you/us to do…talk about their crappy “newspaper” with nothing more than unfounded gibberish and ridiculous stories just to get someone to pick it up and hopefully read it.

As a further show of support, Kilmer is even asking his fans to write to some of the media outlets that seem to be persistent in trying to shine light on his rumored illness, particularly the National Enquirer, which Kilmer keeps referring to as the “national inquirer” in his posts.

Given the fact that Kilmer is reportedly a follower of the Christian Scientist faith, this apparent extra attention on his health may make some sense. Because Christian Science believes that sickness can best be cured by prayer, concerns about whether Kilmer is seeking or has sought medical care for what he actually seems to be suffering from may have merit. While denying he has cancer, Kilmer did admit to some physical ailments dealing with his throat and tongue. Kilmer addressed these concerns in November 2016: “Some fans have mistakenly thought my silence about my personal issues meant that somehow I wasn’t being responsible to my health, because of my reliance on prayer and Love,” Kilmer posted on Facebook. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.