8 Celebrities Who Have Overcome Their Fears and Phobias

Find out what fears these stars overcame…

Jennifer Aniston has dealt with an “extreme fear of flying” for years, especially after being on a plane that had to make an emergency landing. While she used to be superstitious about getting onto a plane, including rituals she had to perform before getting on board, she underwent hypnotherapy to help her overcome her fears.  

“I have been doing some hypnosis lately, and one of the requirements is to remove all of those superstitions. I have not been doing the right hand, right foot [rituals] -- and now it's shockingly good!” she told Travel + Leisure, adding that she also plugs into “a good meditation” during the flight to help.

DJ Khaled also overcame his fear of flying after the birth of his son Asahd. The musician explained that the phobia began in the late 2000s when he had a “terrible” experience on a small plane. For a decade, he traveled exclusively in cars and buses -- but decided to put fear behind him so he could travel with Asahd. 

“I kept saying, ‘My son goes on a plane. Why am I not on a plane?’” he told Forbes. “So immediately I became fearless.”

Daisy Ridley has long had a fear of open water but decided to overcome her fear so that she could star as ocean-swimmer Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle in Young Woman and the Sea. She says she worked with professionals and used her passion for the film to help get through the tough moments. 

“I don’t like the open water…I knew that I would have the support necessary to train, and I knew I would mentally be able to overcome it even though it was difficult,” she told People. “I loved the script, it's one of those things. Really, I wanted to be part of the story so much that even with the fear, I knew I wanted to try.”

The Weeknd, AKA Abel Tesfaye, used to deal with terrible stage fright. While he admits he got nervous before performing, especially on television, he says the fear began to subside the more famous he became. He explained that knowing he had supporters who wanted him to do well was very encouraging. 

“Now, when I step out at the American Music Awards or on Saturday Night Live, I have fans,” he told Billboard in 2016. “Before, I was just some indie R&B singer and I had to prove myself. You could hear a pin drop in some of those TV stations. Now, people come out and buy tickets. I hear them scream my name, so I know I’ll be fine. They want me to do well.”

Andrea Bocelli admits he also struggled with debilitating stage fright for years. He called the experience a “kind of fear that can't be put into words” but explained that he suffered from “vicious palpitations” and “unmanageable anxiety” throughout his concerts. It wasn’t until he met opera singer Maestro Pavarotti and realized that it was his own imperfect technique that was holding him back.

“When I first rehearsed with this great artist, I realized he didn’t struggle at all whilst I struggled a lot. That’s when I figured he had perfect technique. I didn’t,” he said ​​in Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe. “Today, thanks to the technical awareness which I have attained through a lot of effort…I don’t have that kind of anxiety anymore.”

Donny Osmond has struggled with social anxiety for many years, including the fear of being in public places like shopping malls. In order to overcome his fear of malls, he worked with a therapist who eased him in social situations like returning items, which “terrified” him. She also gave him techniques to help the anxiety subside in public places.

“Public places like malls always frightened me because so many people were there. I'd made it a habit many years before to walk from point A to point B as quickly as possible. When I was a teenager, if I ever stopped walking, there was always the chance that a crowd would gather. My fear wasn’t about people or crowds per se, but the fact that I could never predict or control what they would think or say about me,” he explained in his book, Life Is Just What You Make It. 

Thankfully, Donny says he eventually “learned to laugh along with the people I always feared were laughing at me.”

After surviving the devastating tsunami in Asia in 2004, Nate Berkus dealt with a fear of the ocean. Through the years, he was unable to step foot into the water and unable to play with his children in the ocean. But in 2021, Nate’s husband Jeremiah Brent shared that Nate had overcome his fears, 17 years after the tragic incident. Jeremiah partially credited living near the water in New York with helping Nate move forward. 

“One of the most profound and unrecognized parts of Nate’s spirit is his strength. I watched my husband, who survived such tragedy and such loss in 2004, walk our children into the ocean earlier this week,” Jeremiah wrote on Instagram. “He has broken the chain of fear and wades in the water, full of laughter and full of joy. There is no one like him."

After being in a deadly plane crash, Travis Barker dealt with PTSD and suffered from an extreme fear of flying. At times, he couldn’t even look at the sky to see planes flying by and didn’t step foot on an aircraft for years. But with the help of his wife Kourtney Kardashian, he was finally able to take his first trip in 2021.

“She just knew, and she stuck by me and toughed it out. And it was the best flight. And I wasn’t scared once,” told GQ. 

While recent aviation accidents have admittedly caused Travis’ PTSD to get “much worse,” he’s still taking flights and working through it.