Celebrity barber Sam Kitiki narrates impact of fake claims linking his illness to HIV

Ailing celebrity barber Sam Kitiki has opened up on the emotional toll caused by false claims that questioned his cancer diagnosis and instead alleged that he was HIV positive.

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Saturday, January 24, 2026, Kitiki revealed that the rumours significantly affected both the support he received and his mental well-being at a time when he was struggling with a serious illness.

He stated that some individuals openly accused him of faking his illness, arguing that he had previously appeared healthy and successful, which made it difficult for them to believe that he was genuinely unwell.

“Some people even said that I was faking my illness. I remember during the Gen Z protests, people started comparing how I looked when I was healthy and how much I had changed,” he shared.

The barber recalled that the situation worsened during the period of the Gen Z protests, when social media users began circulating before-and-after images comparing his appearance, with some claiming that his deteriorating health was linked to HIV rather than cancer.

The ailing barber disclosed that the weight of the rumours pushed him into a severe emotional crisis, during which he briefly considered ending his life.

“And Such claims were bad for my mental health. And I remember on that one day, I was at home, and those claims were surfacing, and I decided to take my life. I decided to take a load of brufens but I thought those were not enough, so I decided to take 17 paracetamol tablets at once,” he said.

Kitiki shared that at the height of that emotional breakdown, an unexpected interruption by his sister’s child, who innocently asked whether everything was alright and suggested going for a walk, caused him to pause and reconsider.

He said that the moment felt like divine intervention, adding that the child’s concern pulled him back from the brink and reminded him that his life still mattered despite the pain he was experiencing.

“And before I could swallow, I started thinking, And its Like God was speaking to my sister’s child, because when I wanted to swallow, the child came and asked me if all was well. And the child asked if we could take a walk,” he shared.

While speaking about his troubles, Kitiki also explained that when he reached out for help, assistance was not forthcoming because many people assumed he was financially stable due to his past work with high-profile clients.

“When I asked for help, it was hard to come by because people knew that I had been shaving famous people, and they thought I was doing well,´he said.

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