Christina Applegate Had The Best Reaction To Her Emmys Standing Ovation

For the landmark 75th Emmy Awards, television icons from all generations were given their due, including Christina Applegate. The actor presented the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the Jan. 15 ceremony, where she was honored with a standing ovation that elicited an emotional reaction from the star.

Applegate walked onstage with a cane and was visibly touched by the standing ovation, wiping away tears. “Thank you so much,” she said, before joking, “You’re totally shaming me [and] my disability by standing up, it’s fine.”

She went on to pay tribute to her TV legacy, from playing Kelly Bundy on Married... With Children to Jen Harding on Dead to Me. Each of her mentions got more cheers, which Applegate also joked about. “We don’t need to applaud every time I do something,” she quipped.

Emmys producer Jesse Collins previously teased Applegate’s appearance in an interview with Variety, stating that her illustrious career helped achieve the show’s goal of nodding to its history. Applegate got her start when she was a baby along with her mother, Nancy Priddy, on Days of our Lives, eventually getting her breakthrough as a teenager on Married... With Children.

“Christina Applegate, she’s been in show business since she was 1,” he said. “To have [her] is something that we think speaks to our theme.”

Is Applegate Retiring From Acting?

Applegate, whose acting career includes more than 75 roles, is already an Emmy winner. She won the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy in 2003 for her appearance as Rachel’s sister Amy in Friends. This year, she is nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the final season of Dead to Me, marking her third nod for her performance as Jen Harding.

However, it may also be her final Emmy nomination. In a February interview with the Los Angeles Times, Applegate hinted that she was retiring from acting, following her spring 2021 multiple sclerosis diagnosis. “Right now, I couldn’t imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set,” she said. “I don’t have that in me at this moment.”

She also said the 2023 SAG Awards would mark “my last awards show as an actor probably," adding that “it’s kind of a big deal.” However, Applegate clarified that she may not leave the entertainment world behind completely, if only for the sake of her 12-year-old daughter, Sadie. She said she sees herself possibly producing and developing projects, as well as “doing a sh*t ton of voice-overs to make some cash to make sure that my daughter’s fed and we’re homed.”