Bijou Phillips's close friend Kathy Hilton gives update on star's health crisis amid desperate search for kidney donor

Bijou Phillips has put on a brave face through her daunting health battle with kidney disease, after putting out a public plea for a donor. 

The 45-year-old actress-socialite has been focused on being present for her daughter Fianna, 12, as she continues to undergo treatments linked to the life-threatening ailment, her friend Kathy Hilton, 67, revealed Wednesday.

Hilton, who is the mother of Phillips' close friends Paris and Nicky Hilton, detailed the strong emotions the second-generation star has experienced as she fights the disease.

'She was really afraid, and she was crying,' Hilton told Us Weekly of Phillips, the daughter of late Mamas and the Papas frontman Papa John Phillips and late model Genevieve Waite.

Hilton said Phillips was 'afraid if she did the dialysis that she might not make it.'

It was Hilton's husband Richard Hilton who pressed Phillips on the importance of being diligent with her medical visits despite her fears, as he helped her get treatment at UCLA.

'He got her on the phone [and] he said, "Listen, you listen to the doctor … you have a young child,"' Kathy told the publication. 'She was like, "You're right, you're right."'

Paris and Nicky Hilton were among the 'big family of friends' who have tirelessly supported Phillips as she visits the hospital for treatments, Hilton said.

Hilton said Phillips has been supported by a 'great group of friends' and 'incredible' relatives - her siblings are singer Chynna Phillips and actress Mackenzie Phillips - amid the health crisis.

'There are a lot of people that were there every minute with her,' Hilton told the magazine.

Hilton said that 'almost 1,000 people have signed up' to be a donor for Phillips, who is 'really grateful' for the way the community has rallied to help her.

Hilton said she was moved by the mass of people who provided their names in an effort to help Phillips in her health battle.

'How unbelievable is that, and how great is that for the hospital,' Hilton said. 'Not everybody will be a match, but these people are into it and want to stay on the list to help other people.'

That group included a confidante for Nicky, who was not a match for the kidney but wanted to help.

'She's never met Bijou,' Kathy said, 'but she still wants to continue on the journey.'

In February, Phillips said in a statement on Instagram that she was hospitalized and seeking a donor so she could undergo a kidney transplant for the second time, after dealing with a similar scenario in 2017.

The actress said the 'first transplant gave me 8 precious years to be a mother to my daughter - but I have had many complications since, including the BK virus which led to both a cellular and antibody rejection.

'I am currently under care of Dr Anjay Rastogi at UCLA and back on dialysis.'

Inspiring Phillips in her health battle was being there for her daughter, whose father - her ex-husband Danny Masterson - is only a few years into the 30-year prison sentence he received in 2023 following his rape conviction.

'Now I'm a single mom and things are different,' Phillips said of her life. 'I want to be here for her, and I have to be here for her. The fight is back. That had been gone for a long time. I'm it. I'm all she's got.'

Phillips and Masterson initially crossed paths in 2004 on Valentine’s Day and got engaged five years later before exchanging vows in 2011. Phillips filed for divorce in September of 2023, and has been dating Jamie Mazur since 2024.