Billy Porter has opened up about his severe, months-long health battle with sepsis, a condition that left him clinically "dead for three days." The Tony and Emmy-winning star first revealed the diagnosis after stepping away from the Broadway production of "Cabaret" in September 2025.
Speaking on the TS Madison’s Outlaws podcast, Porter recounted his ordeal. It began with a misdiagnosed kidney infection and kidney stones while in the U.K., treated with multiple rounds of antibiotics. The pain returned during rehearsals in the U.S., leading to hospitalization.
Doctors discovered a trapped kidney stone causing a severe infection. "When they got in there, there was so much pus, and bile, and infection... I went uroseptic in minutes," Porter said. He was placed on life support. "I was dead for three days. I am a miracle," he stated.
While in a coma, Porter developed compartment syndrome in his leg, requiring emergency surgery to save the limb. He spent two days with the leg open from knee to hip.
In a December update via Instagram, Porter described a "very challenging four months" but confirmed he is now "on the road to a full recovery."