Stuart Health Updates and the Stu Cru Gallery

Stuart’s Health Journey

Update July 30, 2025:

It’s been a long road, but Stuart is finally home and recovering after a difficult two-month hospitalization. He wanted to send a personal video message to all of you who’ve sent kind words, prayers, and Stu Cru selfies during his recovery.

In this video, Stuart shares an update on how he’s doing, what this experience has meant, and how much your support has helped him through the hardest time of his life.

Thank you again to every single person who reached out. This community kept his spirits up and gave him strength.

If you haven’t yet, you can still send your photo for the Stu Cru gallery to show@nowplayingpodcast.com

Older Information:

On April 23, Stuart went in for what was expected to be a routine outpatient procedure. However, unexpected complications arose, and by the following day, April 24, he was rushed to the emergency room. That night, he underwent emergency surgery and was admitted to the ICU, where he has remained since.

In the time since, Stuart has faced a number of serious medical challenges. He has undergone additional surgeries, required ventilation and sedation, and experienced several setbacks that have kept him in critical condition. Despite the difficulties, through it all, Stuart has shown incredible strength, and the hope for healing remains steadfast.

During all this, Stuart has been unable to go to his day job, let alone podcast for Now Playing. And he's sure to have incurred tremendous medical bills. As such, his brother Craig designed the Stu Cru T-Shirt to help raise funds for Stuart. This is not affiliated with the podcast, 100% of the money (minus Bonfire's fees) go to Stuart and his family. If you'd like to donate and get a shirt, please click the image below.

Also, to raise Stuart's spirits (as well as funds) we ask that anyone who ordered a shirt send the image of you wearing it show@nowplayingpodcast.com and we'll include it in the gallery below.

Thank you all for your support of Stuart, and your patience as we hold off on reviews of films like Thunderbolts, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and Jurassic Park: Rebirth until he is 100% and able to rejoin us for those reviews!