LOS ANGELES — Emotions ran high from the start of the 75th Emmy Awards ceremony with the night's first presenter, Christina Applegate, getting a standing ovation as she came out using a cane to present the award.
Applegate, who announced in 2021 that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, was brought to tears by the sight as she announced the nominees for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series.
“Thank you so much. You’re totally shaming me with disability by standing up, it's fine,” the "Married...with Children" and "Dead to Me" actress joked after being accompanied to the microphone by Emmys host Anthony Anderson.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society describes multiple sclerosis, also known as MS, as "an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body."
There currently isn't a cure for MS, but the National Multiple Sclerosis Society says that there are U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medications that have been shown to "modify" the course of MS.
Worldwide, more than 2.3 million people have been diagnosed with MS, and it's estimated that about 1 million people in the United States are living with it.
Applegate won her Emmy in 2003 for a guest spot on “Friends” and has a Tony Award nomination for the musical “Sweet Charity.” Her films include “The Sweetest Thing,” “Anchorman,” “Hall Pass” and “Bad Moms.”
According to reports, this isn't the first life-changing health concern Applegate has had. In 2008, she revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a double mastectomy surgery.
