Some people may feel abashed to wear hearing aids in the public. Hearing loss is actually very common in the society. According to a study, over 48 million Americans have some form of hearing damage, including famous celebrities you may know.
Halle Berry
Halle Maria Berry is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Miss World 1986. The actress lost 80% of her hearing in her right ear after being physically abused by a former boyfriend. Luckily Halle has turned her tragedy into triumph. She has been advocating for and raising awareness on behalf of victims of domestic violence.
Bill Clinton
The 42nd president of the United States began to wear completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids in 1997. His hearing damage was probably due to too-loud band practice as a teenager. His hearing had progressively worsened throughout his adult life. He’s now a major advocate of hearing aid technology and has even travelled to Africa to promote hearing health in the developing world.
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert is a political satirist and Emmy-winning talk show host. He has severe hearing loss in his rigt ear because doctors discovered a tumor in his right ear when he was in elementary school. He's been open about this experience, joking on TV interviews that they "scooped it all out with a melon baller," and while pointing to his deaf ear, calling his external ear "just a prop."
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson, known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg, is an American actor, comedian, author and television personality. A recipient of numerous accolades, she is one of 18 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award.
Whoopi Goldberg believes her hearing loss is the result of years of listening to loud music without proper ear protection.
Marlee Matlin
As a successful American actress, author, and activist, Marlee Matlin is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a BAFTA Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards.
Marlee is the most famous deaf actors in Hollywood. Hearing loss has accompanied her since birth, but Matlin managed her hearing loss by learning sign language as a child and is actively involved in philanthropic work for hearing loss and other disabilities.
Lance Allred
Lance Allred was the first deaf player in the NBA. Allred is legally deaf, with 75%–80% hearing loss due to Rh complications at birth.