London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

‘If it can happen to Jada, it can happen to us’: meet the people living with alopecia

‘If it can happen to Jada, it can happen to us’: meet the people living with alopecia

Oscars incident shone a light on Jada Pinkett Smith’s condition – and raised awareness for millions living with it

After Shaily Malik discovered a bald patch on her head three years ago, mornings grew tough as she would wake to discover chunks of hair on her pillow. The thought of washing her hair became dreadful, knowing she would only lose more. She grew reluctant to have her photograph taken, and when looking in the mirror struggled to identify with her reflection.

As a 32-year-old business analyst born in India and living in Brighton with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that causes patchy hair loss, Malik understands the strength it requires to dress up, go out and be yourself. She has endured people staring at her on the street, and others accosting her asking her to wear hats or wigs at the park where she takes her three-year-old son.

Shaily Malik.


On Sunday, when Will Smith slapped the Oscar presenter Chris Rock after the comedian cracked a joke at the expense of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia, Malik recalled her experiences and realised: “If that can happen to Jada at the Oscars, it can definitely happen to us on the streets.”

For Malik, the impact was huge. “People are actually talking about it. They’re considering that people are actually bullied because of their visible difference,” she said. “I have personally experienced it.”

Pinkett Smith, who shaved her head after “struggling with alopecia”, is far from the only person to be ridiculed for her visible difference. The British comedian Matt Lucas, who is also outspoken about living with alopecia, said recently he finds it “so weird” that one newspaper always refers to him as an “egghead”.

The TV presenter Ranvir Singh also spoke of her experience living with alopecia this week, saying: “It started when my dad had a heart attack and when he died, when I was eight or nine, it’s never come back, so I understand a little bit of the real discomfort you live with having it.”

Others told of the emotional toll of living with different types of alopecia that has resulted in isolation, depression and identity loss.

After Malik was diagnosed with 80% hair loss in November, she decided to shave her head in January. “It’s definitely not been an easy journey, because I’m somebody who has always had very good hair,” she said.

After some time, and with support from her husband, Malik decided to get it together, she said: “I realised if I cannot accept myself with that hair loss or how I look right now, I cannot teach the same thing to my child.”

While the Oscars unscripted slap incident has sparked awareness, for some “dealing with unwelcome remarks and being the butt of jokes is sadly an all too real part of having alopecia”, said the charity Alopecia UK. Other organisations have called for erasing “the stigma, discrimination and societal barriers”.

Alopecia is a loosely given term referring to hair loss. It is commonly caused by an autoimmune condition that attacks hair follicles. In nearly 20% of cases, there is a family history. While there is treatment, there is no cure.

For Dr Anita Takwale, a consultant dermatologist and hair specialist in Gloucester, the Oscars incident has become a topic of discussion with patients. “I’ve got patients who would just stay at home, parents who are absolutely distraught, and so this has kind of made it mainstream,” she said. “If anything comes out of this, it’s awareness.”

However, for Helen Rowlands, 33, it is more complex. While she did not watch the Oscars live, as someone living with alopecia she said she felt empowered seeing Pinkett Smith attend. But the day after the video went viral, Rowlands felt self-conscious at the gym with her own shaved head, paranoid that eyes would be on her.

Helen Rowlands.


“It’s great that it’s bringing the awareness, but it’s almost bringing it out there for the wrong reasons,” she said. “The joke never should have been made.”

Living with alopecia from the age of 10, Rowlands has found herself a target of bullying. As a child she wore wigs and hats, only to have other children steal them and throw them into gardens. Into adulthood, people often assume she is ill or has cancer, and ask what stage of chemotherapy treatment she is in. On one occasion, a stranger stroked her head at a nightclub.

“While I don’t want people to treat me any differently because I’ve got alopecia – I think a lot of people with alopecia want to be seen as the same as everyone else,” said Rowlands. “But ultimately, hair is an important part of a lot of women’s lives, so to lose that is a loss of identity.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
×