Andy Cohen kicked off the April 1 episode of his SiriusXM radio show by sharing regret over fueling conspiracy theories about Kate Middleton‘s public absence (via Vanity Fair). It was Cohen’s first show back on the air since Middleton revealed her cancer diagnosis.
“I just want to say, I am heartbroken by the news about Princess Kate, and I think someone on Sky News called me a numpty during that whole conversation and they were right,” Cohen said, later adding: “And of course, I wish I had kept my mouth shut and we are all praying for Princess Kate and King Charles. And so, I just had to say that right at the beginning. It’s the first opportunity back in front of a live microphone.”
King Charles revealed his battle with cancer in February. Before Middleton announced her diagnosis last month, she had not been seen in public since December 2023. Her absence generated an onslaught of conspiracy theories online. Many public figures who fueled those conspiracies or joked about them have since apologized or expressed regret following Middleton disclosing her recent health struggle.
Cohen fueled conspiracy theories about Middleton’s whereabouts on social media. When video footage of Middleton appearing to visit a farm shop circulated online last month, Cohen tweeted, “That ain’t Kate …” He also posted a screenshot of Middleton’s controversial Mother’s Day photo to his Instagram story and asked: “Is this Princess Kate?”
Middleton announced her cancer diagnosis in a video posted March 22. She also informed the public that she was undergoing preemptive chemotherapy.
“This of course came as a huge shock, and [Prince] William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Middleton said. “As you can imagine, this has taken time.”
Stephen Colbert recently addressed backlash he received for joking about Middleton’s whereabouts being linked to her husband’s alleged infidelity.
“We do a lot of shows. I tell a lot of jokes. I tell jokes about a lot of different things, mostly about what everybody is talking about,” Colbert said. “For the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton’s disappearance from public life. Two weeks ago, we did some jokes about that mystery. When I made those jokes, that upset some people…even before her diagnosis was revealed. I can understand that a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past and some of my jokes will upset people in the future, but there’s a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy.”
“I don’t know if her prognosis is a tragic one…regardless of what it is, far too many of us know that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family,” Colbert continued. “Though I’m sure they don’t need it from me, I and everyone here at ‘The Late Show’ would like to extend our well-wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.”
Shortly before Middleton went public with her diagnosis, celebrity figures such as Jimmy Kimmel and Jamie Lee Curtis took to social media to rail against the conspiracy theories about Middleton’s whereabouts.
“She had an operation, she had abdominal surgery. Maybe she has a colostomy bag and doesn’t want everybody to see it,” Kimmel said. “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!”
“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 poin in our society when there are SO MANY crucial issues that need our attention.”
In her video post, Middleton said that while her condition was originally thought to be non-cancerous, cancer was found in her system following abdominal surgery. She did not confirm the type of cancer.
