Shannen Doherty, Catherine Zeta-Jones and More React to Kate Middleton’s Cancer Reveal

After Kate Middleton revealed she is battling cancer following heightened speculation about her whereabouts and health, many took to social media to react to the news.

In a video shared on social media Friday, the Princess of Wales detailed, “In January I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful; however, tests after the operation found cancer had been present,” the Princess of Wales said in a video update shared on social media. She said that she has begun a course of preventative chemotherapy treatment.

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“This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Middleton said in the video. “As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken us time for me to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that’s appropriate for them and to reassure them I’m going to be OK.”

After the announcement, Shannen Doherty, Katie Couric, Maria Shriver and Olivia Munn were among those taking to social media to react to the news.

Doherty, who has stage four breast cancer, took to Instagram Friday evening, noting that she admires Middleton’s strength through “the endless onslaught you’ve been under while going thru cancer.” She wrote, in part, “Being a public figure does not mean the public owns that person. We ALL have the right to ho thru illness or life privately.”

Couric, who had revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in September 2022, honored Middleton on social media writing, “Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed Friday that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is being treated with preventative chemotherapy. As someone who has experienced cancer, I was deeply moved by her comments. Sending her and her family healing thoughts.”

Shriver expressed hope that everyone will now leave Middleton alone and “allow the privacy she and her family need.”

Munn, who recently revealed her breast cancer diagnosis, commented on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram post. “Thank you for showing what it’s like to fight with grace and determination for yourself and for your family. Wishing you all the best.”

Ivanka Trump wrote that she was “deeply saddened to hear about Princess Kate’s diagnosis.” She went on to note that “it’s disheartening to see the speculation that has surrounded her, particularly during a time when support and kindness are most needed.”

Meanwhile, others expressed how apologetic they were for leaning into the viral conspiracies and originally making light of everything. Blake Lively seemingly apologized for making light of the “manipulated” image released by the royal family on the U.K.’s Mother’s Day.

“I’m sure no one cares today but I feel like I have to acknowledge this. I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always,” Lively wrote on her Instagram Story.

During Monday’s broadcast of The View, hosts Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Ana Navarro and Sara Haines admitted to feeling “awful” for originally promoting conspiracy theories. Last week the hosts had broken down the theories, by dissecting the manipulated image of Middleton and her children and raising suggestions of a potential body double.

“I’m guilty of having gotten into the fun of ‘Where’s Kate?’ and thinking it’s funny and sharing the memes and playing into that, and I forgot something fundamental that we all know: Every person, whether they’re a princess, somebody in a high-privileged position or just the person next to you, is dealing with personal struggles that we don’t know about. I send my love to her and strength to her,” Farah Griffin said. “Sure, the Palace totally mishandled the PR of this, but the public mishandled it. … I didn’t think there’s something more serious here that she’s dealing with. I feel awful over it.”

“You just never know what someone is going through. I’ve always questioned the way the Royal Family handles women, whether it was Princess Diana or Fergie or Meghan Markle,” Haines added. “I was not blaming Kate for what was going on, it really bothered me the way it was handled — whether it was my business or not could be debated.”

Navarro quipped, “When Whoopi Goldberg tells me to mind my own damn business, I will mind my own damn business from now on.” Navarro also told the audience. Hostin first poked fun at her colleagues for dragging her down the “rabbit hole.” “The photos, I went down this crazy rabbit hole, thank you to my co-hosts, and to myself, I have to take blame for that, because I also didn’t listen to Whoopi Goldberg, who told me to stop, and I didn’t. Here I am,” she said.

Goldberg on the other hand explained why she had originally refused to participate in the discussion about the conspiracy theories: “Once you’ve had this experience, it can scar you. Everybody jumps on board, and there’s no way to stop it. People don’t want to hear the truth.”

Prior to Middleton’s reveal, some in Hollywood voiced their opinions on the speculation surrounding Middleton, with Jamie Lee Curtis among those condemning the public scrutiny.

“Can we please just STOP with this bullshit conspiracy theory?” Curtis wrote on her Instagram. “This is a human being with young children, and clearly some sort of a health issue. That is a private matter. Do we not have better things to do and more important things to think about and be concerned about than this? It’s a really low point in our society when there are SO MANY crucial issues that need our attention.”

During his March 21 monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host questioned why everyone was so eager to know her whereabouts: “Maybe it’s because I’m American, but I don’t understand the craziness around this. Why do we have to know where she is? It’s not like she’s the bus driver,” he said. He then urged everyone to leave her alone.

“She had an operation, she had abdominal surgery,” he added. “Maybe she has a colostomy bag and doesn’t want everybody to see it. I mean, really. People are demanding she get dressed up and march through London so we can have a look at her. Leave this woman alone!”

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March 25, 10:44 a.m. Updated with quotes from The View discussion.

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