Eric Dane was forced to miss an appearance at the ALS Network’s Champions for Cures and Care Gala on Saturday, January 24, due to ongoing challenges related to his ALS diagnosis.
“The ALS Network has been informed that Eric Dane had hoped to join us this evening to accept his Advocate of the Year Award, but due to the physical realities of ALS, he is not well enough to attend,” a spokesperson for the ALS Network told The Hollywood Reporter on Saturday.
The group’s statement continued, “We remain deeply grateful for his courage, advocacy, and continued commitment to the ALS community, and we honor him fully this evening with our profound respect and support. Aaron Lazar, Broadway star and Grammy Award nominee, will accept the award on his behalf.”
The charitable organization announced in September 2025 that Dane, 53, would receive the Advocate of the Year Award at its annual Pasadena, California, ceremony. The ALS Network credited Dane with bringing “international attention to ALS” through his “leadership and compassion” ever since he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease.
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“This award is more than an honor,” Dane said at the time. “[The award is] a reflection of the incredible strength and courage I see in the ALS community every day.”
Dane went public with his ALS diagnosis in April 2025. (ALS — also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or motor neuron disease — is a “nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord” and causes loss of muscle control over time, according to the Mayo Clinic.)
“I have been diagnosed with ALS,” he told People at the time. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”
He continued, “I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to [the] set of Euphoria next week. I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
In addition to shooting Euphoria season 3, Dane guest starred on Brilliant Minds in November 2025 to play a firefighter and 9/11 hero struggling to share his ALS diagnosis with his family. He promoted the TV role by opening up on a Giving Tuesday panel with I AM ALS about the impact of his diagnosis on his working life.
“I’m not about to concede my purpose to some disease. I just am not capable of doing that,” he explained, before later adding: “I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day. I don’t think anybody would blame me if I went upstairs in my bedroom, crawled under the sheets, and spent the next two weeks crying. And I was a little bit pleasantly surprised when I realized that I wasn’t built like that, because I thought for sure that was gonna be me.”
He added, “I think it’s imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I don’t feel like my life is about me anymore.”
During that same panel, Dane stressed that his family’s support had been crucial as he grappled with uncertainties in his future.
“Obviously, I have a family at home and they’re the first priority, but this is such a big deal to me to make sure that people are aware of what ALS is and what it’s about and, more importantly, what we can do to combat it and improve the landscape,” he said.
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Dane and his estranged wife, Rebecca Gayheart, share two daughters: Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13. (Gayheart filed for divorce from Dane in February 2018 but withdrew the legal petition in March 2025. Dane made his red carpet debut with girlfriend Janell Shirtcliff at the Los Angeles premiere of his show Countdown in June, while Gayheart has been linked to billionaire Peter Morton.)
Dane has been candid about the progression of ALS. He confirmed on Good Morning America in June 2025 that he only had “one functioning arm” because his left side “completely stopped working” and was later photographed using a wheelchair that October.
