Euphoria star Eric Dane was set to make his first major appearance in months at the 2025 Emmy Awards amid his ALS battle, however, he was missing from the event.
Dane, 52, was not present on stage at the 77th annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 14, with Grey’s Anatomy costar Jesse Williams. Instead, Williams, 44, took to the stage to present an award by himself.
Earlier in the night, Williams teased his reunion with Dane, which was supposed to take place on stage.
“It’s really wonderful,” he said of the reunion prior to Dane’s absence while speaking with Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet. “I had a really wonderful time working with him, in particular, but the show has had — everywhere I go — the show has had, and continues to have, a really remarkable, emotional, intellectual impact on people all over the globe.”
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“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,” Williams continued of how Dane inspires him.
Dane was confirmed to present at the Emmys less than one week prior. The event would have marked Dane’s first big outing since he attended the red carpet premiere for his show Countdown in June.
The actor made headlines for his health in April when he revealed his ALS diagnosis. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,” he noted in a statement at the time. “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.”
Two months later, Dane gave his first in-depth interview about his condition, sitting down with Diane Sawyer for Good Morning America.
“I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand. And I didn’t really think anything of it at the time, I thought maybe I’d been texting too much and my hand was fatigued,” he recalled of when his symptoms began. “A few weeks later, I noticed it’d gotten a little worse. I went and saw a hand specialist, who sent me to another hand specialist. I went and saw a neurologist, and the neurologist sent me to another neurologist and said, ‘This is way above my pay grade.’”
He received his diagnosis after about nine months. “I will never forget those three letters, [ALS]. It’s on me the second I wake up,” he said. “It’s not a dream.”
Dane revealed on the morning show that he was starting to lose function of his right arm. “My left side is functioning. My right side, [which is my dominant side], has completely stopped working,” he explained. “[My left arm] is going. I feel like maybe a couple, a few more months and I won’t have my left. … I’m worried about my legs.”
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Dane shares daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, with ex Rebecca Gayheart. The couple were married for 14 years before Gayheart, 54, filed for divorce in 2018. Shortly before Dane went public with his ALS diagnosis, Gayheart filed to dismiss their divorce.
Despite his health setbacks, Dane has vowed not to slow down in his career. Apart from Countdown and Euphoria, he’s best known for playing Dr. Mark Sloan (a.k.a. Dr. McSteamy) on Grey’s Anatomy from 2006 to 2012. He has never received an Emmy nomination.
