Christina Applegate responds to comment that plastic surgery changed her appearance, not MS: ‘I Laughed,’ she said
Applegate announced her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021 and made her first public appearance at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony the following year
Christina Applegate is responding to negative comments about her appearance.
The Dead to Me actress, 51, said she reached out on social media to someone who commented on a recent PEOPLE article about her and her daughter at the Critics Choice Awards and received a stunning message in return.
“I made the regrettable decision to look at some comments on a People Magazine article about me and my kids at the CCA,” Applegate tweeted. “Of course, I told her it wasn’t polite. This was her response.”
Along with the tweet, she uploaded a screenshot of the texts the individual appeared to send, which said, “MS didn’t make you look that way a plastic surgeon did. And you are a scammer and are not [Christina] Applegate.” A second message read, “And a bad plastic surgeon at that.”
“What is wrong with people? By the way, I laughed,” Applegate continued in her response.
The 28th Critics Choice Awards in January was the first awards show the actress attended since confirming her MS diagnosis in 2021. At the ceremony, she was nominated for best actress in a comedy series, which Jean Smart won for her performance in Hacks.
Applegate tweeted before the evening, ” “So this Sunday will be my first awards ceremony since 2019. And it’s the first time since MS. NERVOUS! However, I am appreciative to @CriticsChoice for including me.”
Applegate has been making more public appearances since her first post-diagnosis public appearance at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony when she was honored with a coveted star for her acting career. She also returned to work on Netflix’s Dead to Me for the third and final season.
In a November interview with the New York Times, she opened up about the changes she’s gone through as a result of her MS.
“This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am. I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that,” she told the publication. “If people hate it, if people love it, if all they can concentrate on is, ‘Ooh, look at the cripple,’ that’s not up to me. I’m sure that people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t get past it.’ “
The Bad Moms star has also been candid about dealing with her diagnosis over the past couple of years. In a December interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she shared that she uses humor to make people feel more comfortable when they’re around her.
“My humor shield keeps me okay, but of course, down on the insides, you feel the things,” Applegate said. “I do it to kind of deflect and then also make people not be scared to be around me.”
“You know, when people see me now as a disabled person, I want them to feel comfortable,” she added. “That we can laugh about it.”