Eric Dane is focused on his health after his ALS diagnosis.
Hours after missing out on his planned appearance at the 2025 Emmy Awards on Sunday, the 52-year-old “Euphoria” actor showed up in a video on Instagram to promote a new campaign to help find a cure for the disease.
Wearing a navy t-shirt that read “I AM ALS,” Dane addressed his diagnosis while showing signs of the neurodegenerative condition that affects muscle movement.
“I’m Eric. An actor, a father and now a person living with ALS,” he said in the clip shared on Monday. “For over a century, ALS has been incurable, and we’re done accepting the status quo. We need the fastest path to a cure and that’s why I partnered with I AM ALS on the Push for Progress. Our goal? A billion dollars over the next three years.”
Dane spoke slowly and occasionally slurred his words while his arms twitched uncontrollably at times. When fans took to the comment section about the actor’s movement changes, I AM ALS responded that the “brutal” disease “affects all muscles in the body, including vocal and throat muscles.”
However, Dane is staying positive about his future.
“Together, we’ll renew the landmark law ACT for ALS, get promising treatments to thousands of patients like me. And finally, finally push towards ending this disease,” he vowed.
“There’s so much to learn. More to do and we have to do it now,” Dane said, while asking his followers to “visit the link below to donate. Get involved and be a part of pushing for progress.”
The “Grey’s Anatomy” star sparked worry when he backed out of a planned reunion with his former co-star Jesse Williams onstage at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, held at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, Calif., on September 14.
They were supposed to present the award for Directing for a Drama Series to mark 20 years of the Shonda Rhimes medical drama. Instead, Williams presented the trophy alone.
Emmys producer Jesse Collins addressed Dane’s absence in a story published Monday on Variety.
“I don’t know the details of that,” he told the outlet about Dane’s canceled appearance.
“I just was told that he wasn’t able to make it,” Collins explained. “And fortunately, Jesse was able to present by himself.”
Williams gushed about his friendship with Dane ahead of the 2025 Emmys ceremony.
“I had a really wonderful time working with [Eric] in particular. But the show has just had and continues to have a really remarkable, emotional, intellectual impact on people all over the globe,” he told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet.
“You know, on and off screen, that’s my brother,” Williams shared.
“He’s solid. The man’s just solid, and we have to be careful, you know, as men to still, you know, take care of ourselves and he’s got a perfect balance going.”
Dane revealed his ALS diagnosis in April.
Months later, he shared that he had “one functioning arm.”
“[My left arm] is going. I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won’t have my left hand either. It’s sobering,” the actor said on “Good Morning America” in June, marking his first interview since his diagnosis.
Amid his health battle, Dane and Rebecca Gayheart called off their divorce; however, they are not romantically back together.
While he’s been spotted with several women since, the HBO star revealed he’s gotten closer to his ex following his diagnosis.
“We have managed to become better friends and better parents,” he said in June. “She is probably my biggest champion and my most stalwart supporter. And I lean on her.”
Dane and Gayheart are parents to two children: daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13.
