Jameela Jamil Refutes Claims from Critics Who Say She Has Munchausen Syndrome

Jameela Jamil is firing back at online critics who have accused her of making up some of her health problems.

On Wednesday, the Good Place actress, 33, addressed viral social media posts that claimed she has Munchausen syndrome, or
factitious disorder, a mental illness that causes people to feign health scares for attention.

The criticism, which followed other Twitter attacks on Jamil for coming out as queer — cited what some believed to be discrepancies in the star’s past interviews about suffering injuries in car accidents, among other anecdotes.

“First I’m lying about my sexuality, now I’m now being accused of munchausens? By an unhinged idiot who didn’t even realize in all her ‘research’ that my car accident injury stories are ‘different’ because they were about TWO SEPARATE CAR ACCIDENTS 13 years apart? You can keep it,” Jamil wrote on Twitter.

In a follow-up tweet, Jamil said she suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects one’s connective tissues, mainly skin, joints and blood vessels — a mostly hidden condition she said is frustrating because people “doubt your illness and injuries because you look okay.”

Jamil referred to two car accidents: one that came when she was a 17-year-old, the other while on a jog during filming the first season of The Good Place.

In November, Jamil opened up to Cosmopolitan about the first accident, which she said ended her modeling career by landing her in the hospital — an outcome she later saw as a blessing for putting an end to her disordered eating habits.

Critics questioned how the actress claimed she suffered a concussion and broken tooth after being involved in the second accident, yet continued to film, a feat she attributed to adrenaline masking her pain. Skeptical commenters also pointed out how both car accidents involved swarming bees — a coincidence Jamil stands by.

Jamil also addressed critics of a past cancer scare, experiences with mercury poisoning, and dealing with a bout of seizures.

When one fan commented that they don’t understand why Jamil needs to “explain her life because you don’t believe her,” the actress replied, “It’s because of my skin colour and my gender.”

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Sharing a quote from Brené Brown, Jamil expressed her annoyance in online vitriol, tweeting that she wished people would better delegate their focuses.

“Man, if as many people spent their time and energy helping others/fighting injustice as they do dragging and slandering people on the internet the world would be in such good shape,” she wrote.

Jamil, in a subsequent tweet, disputed the claims as nothing more than “dumb internet conspiracy theories” and said she would continue to be an advocate for the wellbeing of others.

“Not afraid of you or your dumb internet conspiracy theories. Keep them coming. You just add to my relevance,” she wrote. “I’m gonna keep helping people with eating disorders, and changing laws and global policies to protect kids and their mental health and there’s NOTHING you can do about it.”

If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.