The 2025 Oscars set social media alight with fans lauding Morgan Freeman for an emotional tribute to his ‘dear friend’ and co-star Gene Hackman who died in mysterious circumstances last month.
Although the 87-year-old kept his hands clasped behind his back for much of his TV appearance, some eagle-eyed viewers were quick to highlight his outfit choice — a singular black glove on his left hand.
‘Morgan Freeman wears a glove on his left hand!!! What??? When were you going to tell me this!!,’ one X user wrote.
‘Why was Morgan Freeman wearing a black glove? #Oscars2025,’ another said.
Freeman has been spotted with the glove for several years to help alleviate an agonising health issue.
The Se7en star previously revealed he suffers from fibromyalgia — a condition for which there is no cure — following nerve damage after a serious car crash.
In 2008, the vehicle he was driving flipped multiple times near his home in Charleston, Mississippi, with the actor having to be cut free by emergency workers before being airlifted to a hospital.
Freeman, who was 71 at the time of the accident, was reportedly ‘hospitalised for four days after the collision and his injuries included a broken arm and elbow’.
Fans lauded Morgan Freeman for an emotional tribute at the Oscars to his ‘dear friend’ and co-star Gene Hackman who died in mysterious circumstances last month
Although the 87-year-old kept his hands clasped behind his back for much of his TV appearance, some eagle-eyed viewers were quick to highlight his outfit choice — a singular black glove on his left hand
He told Esquire magazine in 2012 that it had also left his hand paralysed, with the condition causing pain ‘up and down the arm’.
‘That’s where it gets so bad. Excruciating.’
Fibromyalgia is thought to affect between 1.8million and 2.9million people in the UK and roughly 4 million adults in the US.
What causes the condition is unknown. But it is believed to be related to misfiring brain signals changing the way the nerves carry pain messages around the body.
It causes a range of symptoms including increased pain sensitivity, muscle stiffness, fatigue and problems concentrating, as well as low mood, according to the NHS.
There are limited treatments for fibromyalgia — and campaigners have long been fighting for further research into the condition.
Currently, the NHS recommends a combination of exercise, talking therapies and drugs that are usually used to treat anxiety and depression.
There’s little or no evidence to show that other types of medication help reduce long-term pain.
The Se7en star previously revealed he suffers from fibromyalgia — a condition for which there is no cure — following nerve damage after a serious car crash. Pictured with Nicole Kidman in April 2024
Fibromyalgia is thought to affect between 1.8 million and 2.9 million people in the UK and roughly 4 million adults in the US. Pictured Freeman in January 2025
Driving near his home in Charleston, Mississippi, in 2008 the actor was cut free by emergency workers before being airlifted to a hospital in a serious condition 90 miles away in Memphis, Tennessee
In 2010, Freeman spoke about wearing a compression glove in order to keep the blood flowing.
‘I suffered nerve damage and it hasn’t gotten better. I can’t move it,’ he told People magazine.
‘If you don’t move your hand, it will swell up. Do you know you move your hand about a million times a day?’
Freeman was spotted wearing an elbow length glove when he presented at the 2023 Oscars alongside Margot Robbie, and also in his recent role in Paramount+’s series Special Ops: Lioness.
Such gloves are recommended by the health service, who say the gentle compression ‘helps to “push” the excess fluid out of the hand’.
They added: ‘For joint pain, the gloves provide support, compression and warmth to the joints.’
According to the NHS, fibromyalgia symptoms also vary over time — and can suddenly vastly improve as brain signals regulate.
But the condition can decline just as rapidly, and becoming increasingly debilitating.
Freeman was spotted wearing an elbow length glove when he presented at the 2023 Oscars alongside Margot Robbie (pictured), and also in his recent role in Paramount+’s series Special Ops: Lioness
In 2010, Freeman spoke about wearing a compression glove in order to keep the blood flowing. Here the actor is pictured in 1988
‘We know that fibromyalgia is a relapsing condition and that means most people will experience some fluctuations in their symptoms,’ says GP Dr Philippa Kaye.
‘In fact one of the signs of the disease is that symptoms are inter-changeable — they can suddenly get better or worse.’
‘While there is no cure, for lots of people, the pain will go away for a very long period of time.’
Dr Kaye adds there’s lots of things patients can do to ‘help manage’ the disease.
These can include exercise programmes and cognitive behavioural therapy.
