Christina Applegate made a surprise appearance at the 2024 Emmys on Monday – with the acclaimed actress making light of her battle with multiple sclerosis.
Tearful Applegate, 52, who was diagnosed with the degenerative condition in 2021, arrived onstage to present the Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award – and was met with a standing ovation.
Christina, who leaned on a walking stick as she was escorted onstage by host Anthony Anderson, said: ‘Thank you so much. Oh my god, you’re totally shaming me with disability by standing up. It’s fine.
‘Body not by Ozempic. Okay, let’s go. Some of you may know me as Kelly Bundy from Married, With Children or Samantha from Samantha Who? or Jen Harding from Dead To Me.
‘Very few of you probably know me from that debut – I’m going to cry, more than I’ve been crying. Baby Burt Grizzell on Days of Our Lives. It was my breakout role.
‘And for all these years, it’s look at that. Been an honor to play funny, flawed, complex characters like the women nominated for supporting actress in a comedy series.’
Christina Applegate made a surprise appearance at the 2024 Emmys on Monday – with the acclaimed actress making light of her battle with multiple sclerosis (pictured with host Anthony Anderson)
Tearful Applegate, 52, who was diagnosed with the degenerative condition in 2021 , arrived onstage to present the Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award
She then presented the award to The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri. Applegate is nominated in The Best Actress In A Comedy Series for Dead To Me.
For Applegate’s performance as Jen Harding in the critically-acclaimed, plot-twisting drama – she has garnered nominations for four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, four SAG Awards, and three Critics’ Choice TV Awards.
Last year Applegate said she may never act in front of a camera again amid her battle with multiple sclerosis.
The actress has been thinking about what her future might look like – two years after her diagnosis.
‘I can’t even imagine going to set right now,’ the Emmy winner told Vanity Fair.
‘This is a progressive disease. I don’t know if I’m going to get worse,’ she explained.
Adjusting to her new life as a person with multiple sclerosis has been difficult for the star who has been acting since she was five months old.
‘With the disease of MS, it’s never a good day. You just have little sh**ty days.’
She said: ‘Body not by Ozempic. Okay, let’s go. Some of you may know me as Kelly Bundy from Married, With Children or Samantha from Samantha Who? or Jen Harding from Dead To Me’
The star looked sensational in a red velvet dress as she arrived
Christina is nominated for her role in Dead To Me
She then presented the award to The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri. Applegate is nominated in The Best Actress In A Comedy Series for Dead To Me
The star is seen in Dead To Me as Jen Harding alongside Linda Cardellini
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that causes damage to the nerve sheaths in the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms can include numbness, speech impairment, difficulties with muscular coordination, blurred vision, and severe fatigue.
‘There are just certain things that people take for granted in their lives that I took for granted. Going down the stairs, carrying things—you can’t do that anymore. It f**king sucks.’
‘I can still drive my car short distances. I can bring up food to my kid. Up, never down.’
The Bad Moms actress has turned to a friend to help her care for her daughter, Sadie, 12, whom she shares with husband Martyn LeNoble, 54.
A caretaker comes on the weekend to do what is needed.
‘I actually don’t want to be around a lot of people because I’m immunocompromised,’ she explained.
The actress is pictured with daughter Sadie, 12, at the 2023 SAG Awards in February
The star was lauded online by fans for her bravery
‘I also don’t want a lot of stimulation of the nervous system because it can be a little bit too much for me. I like to keep it as quiet and as mellow as possible.’
The actress has previously shared that she gained 40lbs after her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
‘I gained 40 pounds because of inactivity and medications, and I didn’t look like myself, and I didn’t feel like myself,’ said the Married… With Children actress.
Applegate had to film her Netflix dark comedy Dead To Me even though her body was changing. She was so upset with how she looked, she refused to watch the show, she shared.
The star said: ‘At some point I was able to distance myself from my own ego, and realize what a beautiful piece of television it was.
‘All the scenes I wasn’t in were so much fun to see and experience for the very first time,’ the LA native continued.
The actress received her diagnosis in August 2021, just before production on the third and final season of Dead to Me began.
‘None of us knew I was going to be sick and gain 40 pounds from medication and have immobility. ‘
Christina said she got good advice from her friends Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Selma Blair who were both diagnosed with MS several years before.
The veteran actress said she wish she had received that same advice when she was recovering from breast cancer after her 2008 diagnosis while shooting Samantha Who.
The actress has previously shared that she gained 40lbs after her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Seen left in mid January 2023 and right at the Dead To Me Season one premiere in 2019 in Santa Monica, California
‘I didn’t speak up for my boundaries back then. I should have asked for some more time after one of my surgeries. I went back to work two weeks after my reconstruction. And that was really difficult for me to do.’
Christina said it has been difficult for her to watch the final season of Dead to Me.
‘I’ve only seen bits and pieces of the show because it’s a little difficult for me to watch.’
But that doesn’t mean she will give up acting altogether.
‘I can do voiceover stuff because I have to support my family and keep my brain working.’
Succession siblings Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin led the highly-popular series to a massive night at the 75th Emmy Awards on Monday while The Bear mauled the competition in the comedy categories on television’s biggest night which featured a star-studded red carpet.
The 36-year-old Aussie actress and 41-year-old American actor were crowned in the Lead Actress and Actor in a Drama Series categories, respectively, before the series as a whole earned top honor Best Drama Series in its final season.
Sarah faced heavy-competition including: ‘Sharon Horgan – Bad Sisters, Melanie Lynskey – Yellowjackets, Elisabeth Moss – The Handmaid’s Tale, Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us, and Keri Russell – The Diplomat.
Meanwhile Kieran beat out some of his castmates including Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong in addition to: Jeff Bridges – The Old Man, Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul, and Pedro Pascal – The Last of Us.
Earlier in the night, Matthew Macfadyen earned the first Emmy win for Succession at the event as he earned Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Succession siblings Sarah Snook (left) and Kieran Culkin led Succession to a massive night at the 75th Emmy Awards on Monday
The 36-year-old Aussie actress and 41-year-old American actor were crowned in the Lead Actress and Actor in a Drama Series categories, respectively, before the series as a whole earned top honor Best Drama Series; as creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong is seen accepting the top prize
He beat out a talented feed including: F Murray Abraham – The White Lotus, Nicholas Braun – Succession, Michael Imperioli – The White Lotus, Theo James – The White Lotus, Alan Ruck – Succession, Will Sharpe, The White Lotus, and Alexander Skarsgård, Succession.
Meanwhile, The Bear enjoyed a similar night to Succession as the FX series mauled the competition including the Best Comedy Series prize.
Jeremy Allen White took home Best Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeremy Allen White while castmates Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach earned Supporting Actress and Actor in a Comedy Series, respectively.
The 32-year-old actor cooked the competition which included: Bill Hader – Barry, Jason Segel – Shrinking, Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building, and Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso.
Ali Wong and Steven Yeun led Beef to an epic night in the limted series or movie categories as the 41-year-old actress and 40-year-old actor were presented with the Lead Actress and Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie awards, respectively, as their Netflix series also earned top honor Best Limited Series.
Ali triumphed over the likes of: Lizzy Caplan – Fleishman Is in Trouble, Jessica Chastain – George & Tammy, Dominique Fishback – Swarm, Kathryn Hahn – Tiny Beautiful Things, and Riley Keough, Daisy Jones and the Six.
Just before that it was Steven’s moment as he won over: Taron Egerton – Black Bird, Kumail Nanjiani – Welcome the Chippendales, Evan Peters – Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Daniel Radcliffe – Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and Michael Shannon – George & Tammy.
The 75th Emmy Awards took place at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Monday evening.
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