Eric Dane breaks silence on missing Emmy Awards amid ALS diagnosis – UK Times

Eric Dane has spoken for the first time about his absence from the 2025 Emmy Awards despite being scheduled to present.

Last month, the Grey’s Anatomy actor was supposed to present the award for Drama Series Directing alongside his former co-star, Jesse Williams, but Dane did not end up attending.

In an interview with the Washington Post published Tuesday, he blamed the “nasty disease” ALS, the disorder he announced in April he had been diagnosed with. Known more formally as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the neurodegenerative disease impacts nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, affecting how they control the muscles.

The Euphoria actor explained that shortly before the Emmys, he lost his balance and fell in the kitchen. “So I was in the hospital during the Emmys getting stitches put in my head,” he said.

“I missed an opportunity I was really looking forward to. It would have been great to see Jesse and get reunited with some of my peers, and to be able to present in front of my colleagues, I thought, would have been a special moment. So I was really upset about it, but you know, there was nothing I could do about it.”

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight ahead of the Emmys ceremony, Williams spoke of his “really wonderful” experience working alongside Dane on Grey’s Anatomy, and added, “We have to be careful as men to still take care of ourselves, and he’s got a perfect balance going. That’s my guy.”

Dane also told the Washington Post that he began experiencing ALS symptoms in early 2024, but had never wanted to publicly announce his diagnosis.

“It wasn’t something I ever really wanted to do. It was something I felt like I had to do,” he said. “It was getting increasingly difficult to hide what was going on. And instead of letting people speculate what was happening, I just said it. … And I’ve never experienced a bigger outpouring of love and support than I have after I announced that.”

The actor first told People about his ALS diagnosis in April. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,” he said at the time.

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He added that he was feeling “fortunate” to be “able to continue working,” and said that he was “looking forward to returning to [the] set of Euphoria” to film the show’s long-awaited third season.

Dane previously revealed that he has “one functioning arm.”

“My left side is functioning, my right side has completely stopped working,” he told Diane Sawyer in June. “I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won’t have my left hand either. It’s sobering.”