Eric Dane Cancels Gala Appearance ‘Due to the Physical Realities of ALS’

Dan Clarendon January 25, 2026, 12:55 pm

Eric Dane attends the Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s 14th Annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show — Thomas Cooper/Getty Images

What To Know

Eric Dane was unable to attend the ALS Network’s Champions for Cures and Care Gala to receive the Advocate of the Year award due to the physical challenges of his ALS diagnosis.
Dane’s Countdown costar Aaron Lazar, who also has ALS, accepted the award on his behalf.
Despite recent health setbacks, including missing the Emmys after a fall, Dane remains dedicated to his acting career and grateful for his family’s support as he navigates life with ALS.

As he contends with his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, actor Eric Dane had to miss another public appearance recently.

Dane was slated to attend the ALS Network’s Champions for Cures and Care Gala on Saturday, January 24, to receive the organization’s Advocate of the Year award. But the ALS Network said he had to cancel the appearance due to his condition.

“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,” the statement read, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “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.

The organization arranged for Dane’s Countdown costar Aaron Lazar, another actor diagnosed with ALS, to accept the award on the Grey’s Anatomy alum’s behalf.

Dane previously had to cancel an on-stage reunion with former Grey’s costar Jesse Williams at the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards after falling and hitting his head at home.

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“ALS is a nasty disease. … So I was in the hospital during the Emmys getting stitches put in my head,” he later told The Washington Post. “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 a been special moment. So I was a really upset about it, but you know, there was nothing I could do about it.”

Dane publicly revealed his ALS diagnosis in April 2025, saying he was grateful to have his family at his side as he navigated life with the neurodegenerative condition. (The actor has two children, 15-year-old Billie and 14-year-old Georgia, with actor Rebecca Gayheart, whom he married in 2004.)

The actor returned to TV screens in November, playing a firefighter with ALS in an episode of Brilliant Minds. In a virtual panel in December, Dane expressed his commitment to his acting career, saying he had “no reason to be in a good spirit at any time” but adding that he was “not about to concede my purpose for some disease.”