Porter pulled out of “Cabaret” on Broadway in September after contracting urosepsis, a serious infection of the urinary tract.

Billy Porter shares health update after sepsis hospitalization: ‘A very, very challenging 4 months’

Porter pulled out of "Cabaret" on Broadway in September after contracting urosepsis, a serious infection of the urinary tract.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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on December 22, 2025 6:25 p.m. ET

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Billy Porter. Credit:

Billy Porter/Instagram; Santiago Felipe/Getty

Billy Porter will be home for Christmas.

The *Pose *star shared a health update to his 2 million Instagram followers amid his long, harrowing battle with sepsis. "I'm here first and foremost to say happy holidays, Merry Christmas, happy Kwanzaa, happy Hanukkah, and everything in between," Porter said in a video shared on Monday.

"Some of you may or may not know that I was in the hospital very ill this fall with urosepsis," he explained. "It was not easy. It's been a very, very challenging four months. And I want everybody to know that I am on the road to a full recovery. I'm not there yet, but I'm on the road to that."**

"I wanted to thank everybody for your prayers, and your love, and sending me all the vibes. I felt every single one of them," Porter continued, his voice breaking with rising emotion. "I know that I'm alive today," he concluded, echoing the video's caption, in which he humorously wrote, "She’s ALIVE!!! Proof of life, PTL!!!"

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Urosepsis is a serious infection of the urinary tract, according to the Sepsis Alliance. The condition is primarily caused by untreated urinary tract infections and is considered life-threatening, requiring immediate medical intervention.**

'Cabaret' to close on Broadway nearly a month early after Billy Porter pulls out due to illness

Scorpions drummer Mikkey Dee says he nearly died of sepsis, spent three weeks in the hospital

Porter had to pull out of the Broadway production of *Cabaret *in September after being diagnosed with the condition. The new production, directed by Rebecca Frecknall at the August Wilson Theatre, closed a month early due to Porter's withdrawal.

"His doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery but have advised him to maintain a restful schedule," the musical's producers noted in a statement at the time. Porter had played the Emcee, originated on stage by Joel Grey in 1966, since July. The seductive tale set in the nightclub underground of Weimar-era Berlin swept the Tony Awards the following year, earning Grey a trophy. Alan Cumming won another for the 1998 revival, and Eddie Redmayne earned a nomination for the current revival.**

Billy Porter in Broadway's 'Cabaret'.

Next up, Porter is set to appear in *The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping*, the latest chapter in the epic, dystopian saga that helped launch Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson to fame.

Francis Lawrence, who helmed four of the five previous films in the franchise, will direct Porter as Magno Stift, the stylist husband of Glenn Close's villainous Drusilla Sickle, an escort for the tributes from District 12.**

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