Val Kilmer plays down Douglas cancer claims
Val Kilmer at an event in September 2013. Photo: Getty
Actor Val Kilmer has hosed down claims by friend and fellow actor Michael Douglas that Kilmer is battling oral cancer.
Douglas, 72, let the news slip during a Q&A session in London last weekend, while discussing the 1996 film The Ghost and the Darkness, also starring Kilmer.
“The picture didn’t turn out as well as I hoped but I had a wonderful time,” Douglas told host Jonathan Ross.
“Val was a wonderful guy who is dealing with exactly what I had, and things don’t look too good for him.”
Douglas was previously diagnosed with stage-4 oral cancer in 2010. Following treatment, he was declared cancer-free in 2011.
Regarding Kilmer, 56, Douglas added: “My prayers are with him. That’s why you haven’t heard too much from Val lately.”
The Batman actor had previously denied that he was ill in January 2015, after news circulated that he began bleeding from the throat.
Rumours again circulated in October 2015 that a tumour had been spotted after a visit to medical centre.
Val Kilmer pictured in September last year. Photo: Getty.
While not addressing Douglas’s comments directly, Kilmer took to Facebook and reprised the celebrated Mark Twain quote:
“‘The recent news of my death has been greatly exaggerated…’ MARK TWAIN. And his values and spirit live on even now! And I’m sure still standing!” he wrote.
Kilmer has repeatedly denied rumours about him having cancer, saying they were “totally untrue” and that he had undergone a medical procedure which left him with severe swelling.
Kilmer has also pressed on with conducting publicity and promotions for his movie Cinema Twain, a cinema version of his one-man play about Mark Twain.
In a note posted to Facebook on Monday, Kilmer wrote: “Hope I see some of you out there on the trail!”
Kilmer’s representatives have yet to respond to media requests for comment.
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