Christina Applegate makes rare appearance at the 2024 Emmys amid MS, gets standing ovation

Christina Applegate was met with a standing ovation as she presented the award for best supporting actress in a comedy series at the 2024 Emmys.

The 52-year-old actress, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021 while filming the third and final season of "Dead to Me," made a rare appearance at the award show on Monday. She was nominated at the 2023 Emmys for lead actress in a comedy series for the show.

As the crowd stood up and cheered, Applegate joked that they were "totally shaming" her by standing up because she uses a cane for support amid her diagnosis.

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"Some of you may know me as Kelly Bundy from 'Married With Children,' or Samantha from 'Samantha Who' or probably my last job as Jen Harding from 'Dead to Me,'" she said as she got tearful. "But very few of you know me from that debut baby Burt Grizzell on 'Days of Our Lives.' … It's been an honor to play funny, flawed complex characters."

Christina Applegate is 'pretty convinced 'Dead to Me' will be her last acting gig amid MS

Applegate told Variety in November 2022 that her character Jen Harding was her most trying acting role to date — and her last — due to multiple sclerosis.

It was as "hard as you would possibly think it would be," she told Variety. "I got diagnosed while we were working. I had to call everybody and be like, 'I have multiple sclerosis, guys.' ... And then it was about kind of learning – all of us learning – what I was going to be capable of doing."

With MS, the body's immune system begins attacking the central nervous system, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, triggering various neurological symptoms.

Applegate rehashed the difficulty she had filming "Dead to Me" to Variety. When asked if the show would be her last major role, she said, "I'm pretty convinced that this was it."

The actress hasn't made any final decision on her acting career yet, telling Variety, "I'm just a newbie to all of this. I’m trying to figure it out – and I'm also in mourning for the person that I was."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Christina Applegate makes 2024 Emmys appearance amid MS, applauded