Debbie Allen Urges Others to Stop Making 'Hurtful' Comments About People Living with Diabetes (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Debbie Allen.Photo:Marvin Joseph

Marvin Joseph

Debbie Allenremembers the first time she saw someone make a hurtful comment towards someone with diabetes.

“We were at a family birthday party, and one of my aunts made a remark to someone in the family who was living with diabetes,” the actress, producer, and choreographer tells PEOPLE. “She said, ‘Girl, you better put down that cake. We don’t want to end up in the hospital with you in a coma.’ And people laughed. It was supposed to be a joke, but it really wasn’t funny, and it was hurtful, and I saw that.”

It’s part of why theGrey’s Anatomystar, 75, has teamed up with Abbott for the “Above the Bias” campaign to encourage empathy toward people with diabetes.

TheU.S. Centers for Disease Controlestimates that up to 23% of adults living with diabetes remain undiagnosed — and it’s the stigma behind the disease that contributes to these numbers.

Allen, who has shared herpre-diabetes diagnosis, said, “When I got the numbers, I changed immediately because I know how serious it is. And for me, health is everything.”

“TheDebbie Allen Dance Academykeeps me on my toes, busy all the time,” she said of her nonprofit dance school celebrating 25 years in business this year. “I can’t do all that I do if I’m not healthy.”

Debbie Allen with students from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in 2021.Randy Shropshire/Getty

Randy Shropshire/Getty

There’s also the perception that diabetes is a life sentence in terms of diet. “If people pay attention and they get the guidance from their health care giver, they can have those moments of splurge and do those other things they really love,” Allen says. “My mom’s 101 and mysisterPhylicia [Rashad] [says she] needs gluten-free. Mama likes a good old fashioned croissant, and she can have the one that she wants.”

Monitoring diabetes these days is also much easier, she points out. “Technology is superior to what it was when my dad was suffering with it. This is why it’s important to go to the doctor.”

As Allen says. “It’s not funny. It’s mostly family and friends that are the ones, because who would know that you’re living with the diabetes other than your family and your friends, and they are the ones that have been the most insensitive.”

“Be a little more caring and loving to people,” she says. “That would help a lot.”

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source: people.com