Christina Applegate Sends Clear Message To Her MS Diagnosis On 2023 SAGs Red Carpet

When "Married... with Children" star Christina Applegate shared her multiple sclerosis diagnosis with her fans in August 2021, she delivered the sad news with a dose of dark humor. "It's been a tough road. But as we all know," she tweeted, "the road keeps going. Unless some a**hole blocks it."

Over a decade earlier, Applegate had undergone a double mastectomy after discovering that she had breast cancer. On "The Oprah Winfrey Show," she revealed that she was filming the sitcom "Samantha Who?" when she received her cancer diagnosis, which she kept secret from her coworkers while she completed the season.

The resilient actor also continued working after being diagnosed with MS, but finishing the last season of her Netflix comedy "Dead to Me" was no easy feat. This time around, the members of the cast and crew were aware of what was going on. "There were times I'd break down on set and be like, 'I can't, we have to take a break, I need a half-hour,' and everyone was so loving that it was OK,'" Applegate recalled in a February 2023 interview with the Los Angeles Times. Pushing herself to get the job done resulted in a SAG Award nomination. And while one of her fellow nominees, "Hacks" star Jean Smart, took home the trophy for Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series, Applegate scored a win of her own by delivering a powerful message to her disease on the red carpet.

Christina Applegate told Los Angeles Times that the 2023 SAG Awards will likely be the last awards show she ever attends — and she made sure that she made her final red carpet trek a memorable one. Applegate carried a black cane emblazoned with the letters "FU MS" in stark white, letting everyone know exactly how she feels about the disease. She also made a statement of the style variety with her outfit choice, a black velvet tuxedo dress with a dramatic train. Applegate's date was her daughter, Sadie Grace LeNoble, who wore a coordinating suit, pageboy cap, and chunky Dr. Martens boots.

Bringing her daughter with her was tempting fate. "Weird. I just woke from a bad dream. I had won an award for @SAGawards and brought my kid onstage with me. And I pooped. Don't know what that means," she tweeted before the show. So maybe it's a good thing she didn't win?

While Applegate has possibly attended her final red carpet event, she's not ready for retirement; she told the Los Angeles Times that she's thinking about doing voice work and producing projects as she continues to show MS who's boss. Having work to do helps. "I've been in SAG since 1976," she told Variety. "During the course of that, I have had some incredibly hard things happen to me in the midst of work, and work always made me push through it."