Celebrities Who Are Changing the Conversation About Psoriasis

The media personality and businesswoman is very public with her psoriasis journey, sharing photos on social media of her flares. She developed a line of body makeup that she uses to help cover plaques, and she offers encouragement and advice for others dealing with the condition.

As a style expert on TV’s What Not to Wear, she helped people find confidence. During the show’s last season in 2013, London, who had psoriasis as a child, was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. She’s been a spokesperson for the National Psoriasis Foundation and this year offered tips to manage psoriatic arthritis in a recent issue of Parade magazine. In 2021, London, who’s now CEO of State Of, a beauty company for people in menopause, made her debut as a model for swimsuit company Summersalt.

Funny man Jon Lovitz’s national awareness campaign “Are You Serious?” combined humor and education to help empower the psoriasis community. Along with parody songs and comedy, Lovitz helped bring attention to the disease by talking about his everyday challenges.

Olympic swimmer Dara Torres used her platform as a strong role model to champion people with psoriasis, speaking out often about the disease. She talks openly and honestly about how the condition impacted her physical and mental health, and encourages others not to feel shame about their psoriasis.

Celebrated novelist John Updike, who died in 2009, dealt with his diagnosis by doing what he did best: writing. He explored the journey of his symptoms and treatment in “At War With My Skin,” a 1985 essay in The New Yorker, publicly grappling with the ways psoriasis shaped his life and work.

Actor and director Eli Roth turned his skin struggles into creative inspiration. He used his experience with severe psoriasis outbreaks to help make his feature-length film Cabin Fever.