Christina Applegate Discusses MS Misdiagnosis as Megyn Kelly Remarks Draw Criticism From Janice Dean

Actress Christina Applegate said on her "MeSsy" podcast last Tuesday that she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis five years ago and now feels back at square one in finding the cause of her ongoing health problems. A week later she returned to the podcast and told listeners she will keep advocating for people affected by MS even though she does not have it, saying the MS community is still her people. She also said her condition appears to be getting worse, with new daily challenges that severely limit her mobility, including taking about 10 minutes to get out of bed. On the day of the first episode, commentator Megyn Kelly said on her SiriusXM show that Applegate was speaking out to gain sympathy. Janice Dean, a meteorologist who left Fox News this year because of her progressing MS, criticized Kelly in a post on X and told Page Six on Sunday that she is tired of Kelly using her platform to put people down. Dean said Kelly was once a close friend and stopped speaking to her after Kelly endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor.

Left-leaning HuffPost leads with the dispute, not the diagnosis. Its headline says Kelly was called "disgusting" for suggesting Applegate wants attention, it labels Kelly a right-wing commentator, and it centers on Dean's comments to X and Page Six and Kelly's SiriusXM remarks. It gives Applegate's tearful podcast account as background. Alternative outlets Variety and TMZ, in the portions available, center on Applegate herself. Variety stresses her promise to keep speaking for the MS community, and TMZ stresses her worsening symptoms and mobility limits. Neither mentions Kelly or Dean in the excerpts. All three agree on the misdiagnosis and the podcast as the starting point. They differ in focus: HuffPost on the feud, the others on Applegate's health and message. Right-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and alternative outlets had.