Christina Applegate makes first public appearance since MS diagnosis

In the summer of 2021, actress Christina Applegate announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). “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 asshole blocks it,” the Married with Children star wrote via Twitter. She continued: “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.”

On Monday, Applegate made her first public appearance since disclosing her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. The 50-year-old actress appeared in Los Angeles to accept her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a ceremony that was scheduled to have taken place in 2020, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Christina Applegate, who is known for her roles in the TV shows Friends and more recently, Dead to Me, attended the ceremony, accompanied by her family, friends and former co-stars. Looking visibly excited, Applegate took to the stage with the support of Katey Sagal, her co-star in Marriage with Children, who stayed by her side throughout her speech. “I can’t stand for too long, so I’m going to thank the people I really need to thank,” Applegate began.

The Anchorman star thanked “the most important person in the world,” her 11-year-old daughter, Sadie, who she shares with her musician husband, Dutch bassist Martyn LeNoble.

Addressing her daughter, she teared up as she said: “You are so much more than even you know. You are so beautiful and kind and loving and smart and interesting. I’m blessed every day that I get to wake up and take you to school. You are my everything. Thank you for standing by me through all of this.”

Applegate ended her speech on a light tone, joking: “Oh, by the way, I have a disease. Did you not notice? I’m not even wearing shoes. Anyhoo, You’re supposed to laugh at this.”

In a message on Twitter, she explained why she decided to go barefoot. “For some with MS the feeling of the shoes may hurt or make us feel off balance. So today I was me. Barefoot,” she posted on her account, which has 1.5 million followers. For the occasion, she even sported a special manicure that read “fu MS.”

Applegate was recognized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame “for her strength and versatility in theater, film and television,” in which she has “proven herself to be one of Hollywood’s most influential leading ladies,” as the Walk of Fame Producer, Ana Martinez, stated ahead of the event.

“People are going to see me for the first time as a disabled person, and it’s very difficult,” said the actress in a recent interview in Variety, ahead of the unveiling of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the same interview, she talked about the difficulties of shooting the third and final season of the Netflix series Dead to Me, explaining that she needed a wheelchair to get to set. “I got diagnosed while we were working,” Applegate said. “I’m trying to figure it out – and I’m also in mourning for the person that I was.”

In a separate interview with The New York Times, the actress said: “This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am. I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that.”