Toni Braxton Says She 'Was Told to Hide' That She Had Lupus
The singer looks back on her struggle to get a diagnosis — and how the autoimmune disorder impacted her career
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Toni Braxton.Toni Braxton says that she was instructed to hide that she had lupus, the autoimmune disorder she was first diagnosed with in 2008.
“I was told to hide that I had lupus. Like, ’Don’t tell anyone,’ " the singer, 56, shared during an appearance on the April 16 episode of SHE MD podcast.
“Who told you that?” co-host Dr. Thais Aliabadi — or "Dr. A" — asked.
“Management,” Braxton said, explaining that she was told “people get scared around sick celebrities. Nobody gets insured, and I couldn’t get insured.”
Rheumatologist Dr. Daniel Jeffrey Wallace, who diagnosed Braxton with lupus, was also on the podcast and chimed in, “I was president of the Lupus Foundation of America and our problem was we had all these celebrities with lupus but none of them would come out.”
SHE MD Podcast/YouTube
Toni Braxton on the SHE MD podcast“You would not get work,” Braxon said. “I didn't get work at first. No one wanted to put me on the stage. ‘Well, suppose she collapses on stage? And insurance? How are we going to do that?’ "
The “Un-Break My Heart” singer also looked back on her road to getting a diagnosis, sharing that she felt like a “hypochondriac” before she was confirmed to have the disease, which occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs.
Part of the problem, she says, is that “lupus doesn't have a look to it.”
Related: The Braxton Sisters: All About Toni, Traci, Towanda, Trina and Tamar
Some people with lupus develop a facial rash “that resembles the wings of a butterfly unfolding across both cheeks,” according to the Mayo Clinic but it does not occur in all cases of lupus.
The rash is the “one physical symptom to lupus,” and as the Mayo Clinic notes, lupus can be “difficult to diagnose” because symptoms like fever, fatigue, joint pain, and swelling often “mimic those of other ailments.”
As Wallace said, “It takes an average of three and a half years for somebody with non-organ threatening lupus to get diagnosed and an average of four different doctors.”
Braxton shared that she visited “at least” six doctors before getting her diagnosis, which she didn’t receive until she collapsed during a performance in Las Vegas.
Paras Griffin/Getty
Toni Braxton performs in March 2024“I was telling people I don't feel well,” she said.
“We always try to fake that we're feeling great or we don't want to worry anyone,” Braxton, who shares sons Denim, 22, and Diezel, 21, with ex Keri Lewis, said. “As mothers and women we tend to do anyway.”
It’s why it’s “important that I pioneer and be an advocate, and tell other people about it and talk about my story, and hopefully you can help someone," said Braxton, who is returning to TV with her family on the upcoming WeTV show The Braxtons.
She added that she wants to tell other women with lupus, “There's nothing to be ashamed of, nothing.”
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