Christina Applegate stepped out at the 2023 Emmys, — and brought the house down — nearly one year after her last awards show appearance.
“Thank you so much. Oh my god, you’re totally shaming my disability by standing up,” Applegate, 52, joked as she joined host Anthony Anderson on stage during the Monday, January 15, broadcast.
Applegate, who has been battling multiple sclerosis for years, continued to bring the laughs as the crowd gave her a standing ovation. “Body not by Ozempic,” she quipped, before telling the audience, “We don’t have to applaud every time I do something.”
“It’s been an honor to play funny, flawed, complex characters like the women nominated in Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series,” Applegate continued, announcing Ayo Edebiri as the winner for her appearance on The Bear. “Ayo get your ass up here.”
Applegate, who is nominated for lead actress in a comedy for Dead to Me, has kept a low profile since announcing her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in August 2021. (Applegate has been nominated for eight Emmys throughout her career. She won in 2003 for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series while playing Amy on Friends.)
“Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS,” she wrote via X at the time. “It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a–hole blocks it.”
Applegate concluded: “As one of my friends that has MS said, ‘We wake up and take the indicated action’. And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo.”
MS is defined by The National Multiple Sclerosis Society as “an immune-mediated process in which an abnormal response of the body’s immune system is directed against the central nervous system.” It usually affects the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
After news of Applegate’s health battle came to light, production for season 3 of Netflix’s Dead to Me was postponed for five months.
The actress told the New York Times in November 2022 that she needed that time to “process my loss of my life,” after learning that with MS “there is no [getting] better.”
Applegate noted that finishing the show, which has been nominated for six total Emmys during its run, was a big challenge but one worth doing. “I had an obligation to [the series creator] Liz [Feldman] and to [my costar] Linda [Cardellini], to our story. The powers that be were like, ‘Let’s just stop. We don’t need to finish it. Let’s put a few episodes together.’ I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms,’” she recalled.
Once filming wrapped in spring 2022, Applegate stayed out of the limelight as much as possible. She made her first awards show appearance in January 2023 at the Critics Choice Awards.
The following month, the Married … With Children alum attended the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards with her daughter, Sadie, 12, by her side. Applegate told the Los Angeles Times in February 2023 that the SAGs would “probably” be her “last awards show as an actress.”
In May 2023, Applegate once again teased the end of her career, telling Vanity Fair, “I’m probably not going to work on-camera again.”
She gushed over being able to wrap up her TV legacy alongside Cardellini, who played Judy Hale alongside Applegate’s Jen Harding in Dead to Me. “I’m so glad that I went out with someone who is by far the greatest actress I’ve ever worked with in my entire life, if not the greatest human I’ve ever known,” Applegate added.
The actress has since shied away from most public events. Applegate was last photographed at Variety’s TV FYC Fest in June 2023 where she accepted the Legacy Award.
“I hate it so much, but thank you so much for being so supportive. I don’t know if I can continue to act. I miss it so much,” she told the audience. “But I’m so happy I ended with a show like Dead To Me.” Applegate teared up, adding, “In coming out of the words of Judy in the last episode: ‘I’ve had a lot of fun.’ So thank you.”
