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Billy Porter has taken to Instagram to share an update on his health, after suffering from “a serious case of sepsis.” As BroadwayWorld reported in September, Porter withdrew from the Broadway production of Cabaret, in which he was starring as the Emcee, to recover from the sepsis. The show closed for good a few weeks later, with alternates Marty Lauter and David Merino stepping in for the remaining shows. Porter had also dropped out of his previously scheduled appearance at Manchester Pride due to his illness.
Now, he has shared that he is on the mend.
“It’s been a very, very challenging four months,” he said. “And I want everybody to know that I am on the road to a full recovery. I’m not there yet, but I’m on the road to that.”
Porter continued by thanking his friends, family, and fans for their support. “I wanted to thank everybody for your prayers and your love and sending me all the vibes,” he said. “I felt every single one of them. And I know that I’m alive today because of my fans.”
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Billy Porter most recently appeared on Broadway as the Emcee in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Next up, he will star in La Cage aux Folles at New York City Center Encores! in 2026.
He won an Emmy Award for Lead Actor for his role in FX’s Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated drama Pose. He earned three Emmy nominations for his role in the series. In 2024, Porter received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his activism and contributions to the LGBTQ+ community.
A Hollywood Walk of Fame inductee, Porter has numerous theatre credits, including the role of Lola in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, which he originated in 2013 and for which he won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards, as well as the Grammy for best musical-theatre album. He won his second Tony Award in 2022 for Best Musical as a producer on A Strange Loop. Currently, he is starring as the Emcee in the West End revival of the musical Cabaret and will soon make his London directorial debut with Harrison David Rivers’ This Bitter Earth at the Soho Theatre.
Recently, he starred in the film Our Son alongside Luke Evans, the Paramount comedy 80 For Brady alongside Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field, and Prime Video’s Cinderella remake. His feature directorial debut Anything’s Possible, a coming-of-age film written by Ximena García Lecuona, was released in July 2022 on Prime Video. In 2023, he directed an episode of Fox’s anthology series Accused.
Upcoming, he will co-write and star in a James Baldwin biopic. In 2022, Porter launched his production company, Incognegro, alongside his producing partner, D.J. Gugenheim. Porter released his first literary project, Unprotected, in October 2021, which was published by Abrams Press. As a recording artist, Porter most recently released his album Black Mona Lisa under his record deal with Island Records (UK) and Republic Records (US).
