Douglas ‘lied’ about cancer
Michael Douglas lied about being diagnosed with tongue cancer.
The Behind the Candelabra – who announced in 2010 that he was suffering from throat cancer – hid the truth about his diagnosis with tongue cancer because surgeons told him he may have had to undergo potentially disfiguring surgery.
During an interview with Samuel L Jackson for Male Cancer Awareness Week, on UK TV’s This Morning, he explained: "This was right before I had to go on a big tour for Wall Street 2, so we kind of said there’s no way we can cancel the tour and say we don’t feel well … You’ve got to tell them. I said, ‘I’ve just got to come out and just tell them I’ve got cancer and that’s that’.
"But the surgeon said, ‘Let’s just say it’s throat cancer.’ I said ‘Okay, you don’t want to say it’s tongue cancer? Why’s that?’ and he said, ‘Well, if you really want to know why, if we do have to have surgery it’s not going to be pretty. You’ll lose part of your jaw and your tongue and all of that stuff.’ So I said, ‘Okay sure.’ "
Douglas – who revealed that he was diagnosed with stage four cancer – says he is now "clean".
He added: "I’ve had my last check up, I’m past two years and I’m clean and with my type of cancer if you’re clean there is a 95 per cent chance it’s not coming back."
