Bijou Phillips has been hospitalized amid a dire need for a second kidney transplant.
Phillips, 45, confirmed the news on Wednesday, February 11, via Instagram, telling followers that she is seeking a living donor while currently in stable condition at UCLA Health after battling health complications from her first transplant. Phillips, who received the first transplant in 2017, was put back on dialysis after her kidney failed.
“I’m asking as a friend, a sister, an aunt, and, most importantly, a single mother to an incredible and brave daughter. I am in need of a kidney,” wrote Phillips, who revealed she was “born with underdeveloped kidneys and spent the first three months of life in the NICU on dialysis.”
“In 2017, I received the incredible gift of a kidney from a dear friend. That transplant gave me 8 precious years to be a mother to my daughter — but I have had many complications since, including the BK virus which led to both a cellular and antibody rejection,” she continued. “I am currently under care of Dr Anjay Rastogi at UCLA and back on dialysis. Please help me find a living donor so that I can have more time with my daughter, family, and friends.”
Phillips concluded the post by noting that “time is of the essence.”
Before her transplant in 2017, Phillips was hospitalized because of a blood infection. Her then-husband, Danny Masterson, spoke out about Phillips’ health struggles and how it affected her life.
“Bijou was born with small kidneys and has been quietly dealing with kidney disease for the last five years, including being on the transplant list,” he said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight at the time. “In an effort to heal her body, she has led a stress-free life with a vegan diet which eventually wasn’t enough, and she’s been privately having weekly dialysis.”
Phillips filed for divorce from Masterson, 49, in September 2023 after 12 years of marriage, days after Masterson was sentenced to 30 years in prison in his sexual assault retrial. He was found guilty on two counts of forcible rape for incidents that occurred in the early 2000s. The actor has vehemently denied the allegations since he was arrested and charged in 2020.
Phillips, who shares 12-year-old daughter Fianna with Masterson, referenced her health issues when advocating for Masterson’s character before his sentencing.
“I am writing to you to ask that you consider this information when sentencing my husband, Danny Masterson,” she wrote in a letter to Judge Charlaine Olmedo, which was obtained in early 2023 by The Underground Bunker, which specializes in news about Scientology. “I depended on Danny to take care of me and our daughter. I always felt that she would be OK because Danny is an amazing father. He was devoted to our daughter, would read her books, take her on walks and to ballet lessons. I never once heard him complain. The two were inseparable.”
Phillips, who married Masterson in 2011, said she and Fianna were “heartbroken” by his absence.
“More than anything, she loves her father. When he calls us each day, she ends with ‘I love you too much Daddy,’” she continued. “We need him more than you can imagine. I know he has been convicted of serious crimes. But the man I married has only been an extraordinary husband to me and a devoted father to our daughter.”
After Phillips ended her marriage to Masterson and was awarded full custody in October 2023, a source told Us that Phillips was focused on her future, sharing, “Bijou is trying to put the whole sordid mess behind her and concentrate on building a new chapter.”
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