Applegate was originally set to receive her star on the Walk of Fame in 2020, but the pandemic delayed the ceremony. She announced her MS diagnosis on Twitter in 2021 amid production on the third and final season of Netflix comedy, Dead to Me.
Prior to Applegate’s appearance, she was honored at the Walk of Fame ceremony by her “Married…with Children” co-stars Katey Sagal and David Faustino. Sagal choked up when she told Applegate, “You’re not alone. We’re all here.” Applegate’s “Dead to Me” co-star Linda Cardellini and creator Liz Feldman were also on hand to pay tribute to Applegate.
“The most important person in this world is my daughter,” Applegate said. “You are so much more than even you know. You are so beautiful and kind and smart and interesting. I’m blessed every day that I get to wake up and take you to school…thank you for standing by me through all of this.”
Applegate called of her fans in attendance “gorgeous” and added, “Every single one of you. I love you [all] so much.”
In interview with Variety ahead of the Walk of Fame ceremony, Applegate said filming the final season of “Dead to Me” while battling MS was “hard as you would possibly think it would be.” The actor had to use a wheelchair to get to set.
“I got diagnosed while we were working,” Applegate said. “I had to call everybody and be like, ‘I have multiple sclerosis guys. Like, what the fuck!’ And then it was about kind of learning — all of us learning — what I was going to be capable of doing.”
“Dead to Me” Season 3 debuts Nov. 17 on Netflix, and it will be the first new project of Applegate’s released following her announcement about MS. “People are going to see me for the first time as a disabled person, and it’s very difficult,” Applegate told Variety about the show debuting and her first public appearances, which is also set to include the “Dead to Me” premiere on Nov. 15
Applegate teased her public appearances in a viral Twitter post published last month. The actor put up a picture of different canes she was considering using on the red carpets.
“This will be my first time out since diagnosed with MS,” Applegate wrote on Twitter at the time. “Walking sticks are now part of my new normal. Thank you @neowalksticks for these beauties. Stay tuned to see which ones make the cut for a week of stuff.”
Watch Applegate’s full Walk of Fame ceremony in the video below.
