Bijou Phillips Faces Setback in Search for New Kidney Donor Following Transplant Challenges

Bijou Phillips is grappling with a significant health challenge, as the actress has been hospitalized in Los Angeles, according to recent reports.

The 45-year-old, known for her roles in film and television, recently shared on Instagram that she is undergoing dialysis and urgently needs a kidney transplant. Encouragingly, her plea for help on social media has garnered a positive response, with over 1,000 individuals stepping forward to share their information in hopes of being a suitable kidney donor, as reported by TMZ on Thursday.

Despite this wave of goodwill, sources indicate that Phillips’s doctors have yet to identify a compatible donor from the recent batch of volunteers. The ongoing search underscores the critical nature of her situation.

Efforts to reach Phillips’s representative for further comments by the Daily Mail have so far gone unanswered.

In a personal turn of events, Phillips, who recently filed to change her daughter’s last name following the conviction and sentencing of her estranged husband Danny Masterson on multiple rape charges, has made it easier for potential donors to help. She has provided a link in her Instagram bio directing interested parties to a survey that could determine their compatibility as a donor match.

One of the questions inquires about blood type, as Phillips has type B negative blood, which means that she requires a donor with either B negative, B positive, O negative or O positive blood type.

More than 1,000 people shared their information after Bijou Phillips, 45, put out a call for potential kidney donors on Wednesday, but so far a match has not emerged, sources told TMZ on Thursday; Phillips is pictured on January 20 in LA

Despite the outpouring of support and interest, TMZ’s sources said people are being encouraged to get tested to see if they could potentially be a donor, as many people may not know their blood type.

They added that Phillips is expected to stay in the hospital until a matching donor is discovered. 

Sources said Phillips, who is particularly ill due to her kidney condition, has been resting in the hospital due to the toll the dialysis takes on her body. While she was said to be alert and communicative, the sources also claimed that her condition waxes and wanes throughout the day.

Phillips is reportedly surrounded by family in her hour of need. Sources told the publication that her half-sisters, Chynna and Mackenzie Phillips, have been in to visit her, while her daughter Fianna has also been visiting the hospital. 

When they aren’t there, Phillips’s other family members and a close family friend have been alternating trips to be by her side. 

On Wednesday, a source told Us Weekly that Phillips’s condition is ‘dire.’ 

They reportedly said that, even though Phillips is now on dialysis, the process can only do so much because there is ‘natural wear on her other kidney,’ and she has also dealt with ‘issues for years.’

They added that Phillips’s friends and family ‘have gone through the process’ to see if they could be a match, but so far ‘there are no prospective donors…’

The actress, who is hospitalized at UCLA Health and is on dialysis, is reportedly alert and communicative, but her condition varies; pictured in 2004 in LA

Sources said her daughter Fianna and half-sisters Chynna and Mackenzie Phillips have visited her in hospital

Despite that, source said she remained ‘optimistic’ that a donor match could be discovered within a ‘couple months.’

The source claimed that Phillips has also had visits from two of her famous friends, Paris and Nicky Hilton.

Phillips received her first kidney transplant from a friend in 2017, but complications over the years, including the BK virus, led to both cellular and antibody rejection, according to Phillips’s Instagram post.

Her last public appearance was just a few weeks ago at Paris Hilton’s premiere for her Infinite Icon documentary, where she posed on the red carpet. 

Moments after the news broke, Phillips took to Instagram with an emotional plea for help, urging followers to share her message and consider becoming a living donor.

‘please read and share. and if you are interested in becoming a living donor, please go to the link in my bio and fill out a brief form. I am so grateful for your support, ’ she wrote alongside baby photos of her daughter, Fianna Francis Masterson, 12, whom she shares with ex-husband Danny Masterson.

In one of the posts, Phillips detailed her lifelong battle with kidney disease, writing: ‘I 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.

A source told Us Weekly on Wednesday that Phillips, who remains ‘optimistic’ about finding a donor in a ‘couple months,’ was also visited by her pals Paris and Nicky Hilton; the trio are pictured in 2005 in LA

Moments after the news broke, Phillips took to Instagram with an emotional plea for help, urging followers to share her message and consider becoming a living donor

‘That transplant gave me 5 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.

‘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. Time is of the essence.’

Another post, shared alongside a separate photo, underscored the urgency of her situation as she appealed directly to potential donors.

She wrote: ‘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.’

A third image included further information for those willing to help, reading: ‘Learn more about the donor process and how you can help.

‘If you are interested in making a difference and becoming a living donor, please fill out the brief questionnaire via the link below. It will only take 15 seconds and can save a life.’

Back in 2017, Phillips’s then-husband Masterson publicly shared news of her kidney transplant, revealing on social media that she had received a life-saving donation and was beginning her recovery.

Another post, shared alongside a separate photo, underscored the urgency of her situation as she appealed directly to potential donors

In one of the posts, Phillips detailed her lifelong battle with kidney disease, writing: ‘I was born with underdeveloped kidneys and spent the first three months of life in the NICU on dialysis’

Back in 2017, Phillips’s then-husband Masterson publicly shared news of her kidney transplant, revealing on social media that she had received a life-saving donation and was beginning her recovery

Masterson, Phillips and their daughter Fianna are pictured years before he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rape 

The That ’70s Show actor posted a black-and-white image showing Phillips and her donor holding hands from neighboring hospital beds, alongside the caption: ‘100% successful transplant. Now the real work begins.’

In a longer message, Masterson wrote that his wife had been ‘slowly dying for the past 7 years of an incurable kidney disease,’ before thanking ‘the amazing person who donated their kidney to Bijou,’ saying she had been ‘given the gift of an encore by a tall angel.’

He added, ‘We do not take lightly how incredibly fortunate we are. 100% successful transplant,’ before continuing: ‘Now the real work begins for her to silence any chance of rejection,’ wrote the New York native. 

According to the Mayo Clinic, kidney transplant recipients face roughly a four per cent risk of failure or serious complications within the first year following surgery, a figure that rises to around 21 per cent after five years.

Phillips’s health struggles were first made public in February 2017, when she was rushed to a hospital in Santa Barbara after developing a blood infection that left her seriously ill with a high fever.

At the time, a representative for the couple said Phillips ‘was born with small kidneys’ and had been ‘quietly dealing with [the] disease for the last five years, including being on the transplant list.’

Phillips and Masterson, both Scientologists, married in Ireland in 2011 after eight years together and welcomed their daughter in 2014.

She filed for divorce from Masterson in September 2023 — less than two weeks after he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rape — citing irreconcilable differences and seeking custody of their daughter.