Megyn Kelly Faces Backlash Over Remarks About Christina Applegate’s MS Misdiagnosis

Megyn Kelly has faced a wave of criticism from celebrities after making disparaging comments about Christina Applegate’s multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis.

Applegate, 54, stunned fans this week when she said her doctor told her she does not have MS, despite experiencing debilitating symptoms for more than five years.

The actress announced her diagnosis in the summer of 2021. On a new episode of her Messy podcast, she revealed: “You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better.

“If anything, I’ve gotten worse. So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me.”

SiriusXM host Kelly addressed the revelation on The Megyn Kelly Show, accusing Applegate of taking her followers on “a wild goose chase.”

“I cannot keep up, you guys,” Kelly said. “She has no idea what she actually has, and I just think this is like the problem with celebrities wanting to lean into their health problems, and ‘now I will be the face of MS.’”

She continued: “She’s crying now because I guess she no longer gets to be the face of this disease and, as she says, she’s back to square one. She’s made like a cottage industry of talking about her MS.”

Kelly’s comments prompted outrage online. Janice Dean, 56, a former Fox News colleague who has MS, branded the commentator a “mean girl” in a strongly worded post on X.

Dean began the post: “I’ve kept my mouth shut for a long time about #meangirl@megynkelly,” before claiming Kelly “ghosted me after she endorsed@andrewcuomo for mayor and I told her she broke my heart.”

She added: “Her comments about @1capplegate are disgusting. Having #MS for over 20 years, she knows how long it took for doctors to diagnose me.”

“I think Christina is brave for telling the truth, and I’m grateful she became a voice for so many of us. I will have much more to say about this when I’m well enough. I’ve been sick for several weeks, in and out of the hospital, but when I’m well enough I will comment more.”

Conservative political commentator Eric Bolling defended Kelly, writing: “Janice, I worked with both of you at Fox. I saw firsthand how Megyn backed you and helped elevate your career.

“Watching you publicly trash her now and slap ‘#meangirl’ on it is f*****g disgraceful.”

He continued: “You can disagree with her without turning a friendship into ammunition for a public pile-on. You should be ashamed of this. @megynkellyproud to call you my friend. I have your back.”

Representatives for Kelly and Applegate declined to comment when contacted by The Daily Mail. A representative for Janice Dean has also been contacted.

Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert also criticized Kelly on social media.

Earlier this year, Kelly criticized Gilbert for promoting her lifestyle brand on social media after the actress faced child sex abuse charges, which were dismissed in October 2026.

In an Instagram post, Gilbert wrote: “At the risk of you using your platform to lash out at ME now… AGAIN… I just want to ask that you think about one thing—what if you found yourself suffering from some horrible disease?

‘And that disease was diagnosed. And that diagnosis was devastating, but you chose to live your life, fight, bring attention to that disease and advocate for others with that disease. Only to find out, YEARS later, that the diagnosis was wrong. Now you are back at square one. 

‘Still battling the same debilitating, horrible symptoms while now having to put your body through a myriad of new, painful tests to figure out why you are so horribly sick. I just want you to imagine that for one moment. Imagine what that might feel like for you. 

‘Or how you might feel if it happened to one of your children or your spouse or someone you cared deeply about. I just sometimes wish that maybe you’d take a moment to dig deep in your soul and find a modicum of empathy, before you speak. Please feel free to go after me now. 

‘Actually, I’d prefer that, than you attack someone who, along with those who love her, are truly suffering. @christinaapplegate @megynkelly @megynkelly @amevipix #empathy #compassion #takeabreath.’

The View hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Sara Haines also lambasted Kelly, with the Ghost star saying: ‘So, let me ask you, ma’am, you think Christina wanted to have MS so she could have a good time? Are you crazy?’

Haines added: ‘Who wants to be the face of MS? Talk about kicking someone when they’re down. She got a diagnosis and wanted to help other people.’ 

The social media furor comes days after Applegate’s tearful misdiagnosis reveal. 

Speaking of the moment her doctor told her of her misdiagnosis, a tearful Applegate, who was recently hospitalized, said: ‘She came into my room and said, “Congratulations, you don’t have MS”.

‘I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy.

MS is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body and causes nerve damage to the brain and spinal cord.

It is an incurable, lifelong condition. Symptoms can be mild in some, and in others more extreme causing severe disability.

Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty walking, vision problems, bladder problems, numbness or tingling, muscle stiffness and spasms, problems with balance and co-ordination, and problems with thinking, learning and planning.

Applegate, who has relied on a wheelchair and cane for years, and been forced to step away from her stellar acting career, said: ‘I’ve gone through a great depression because of it. 

‘But I lost everything. I lost my job. I lost – I’m sorry. What do you say to someone who’s been living with this for six years – God, I’m so sorry – because it stopped my life. 

‘I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctor’s office. I can’t walk from the car to the room. I’m still in this. Nothing magical happened when she said, “You don’t have MS.” Nothing magical happened.

‘It’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down, It’s this weird feeling because I became this – you and I, the poster children for MS. 

‘And everything I was doing. I had a reason. I had a f***ing reason as to why my day sucked every day. 

‘And now I don’t have a reason and it’s very unnerving and it’s very confusing for me.’

Applegate added the misdiagnosis is a ‘mindf**k’ and that she is still in ‘a state of shock’ as she seeks answers over the true nature of her illness. 

Earlier in February, Applegate shared that she is mainly confined to her bed due to her MS battle.

During an interview with People at the time, the star explained how the pain has largely kept her in bed.

However, she will make the effort to leave her bedroom for her teenage daughter Sadie, such as taking her to school.

‘I want to take her; it’s my favorite thing to do. It’s the only time we have together by ourselves,’ the actress told the outlet.

‘I tell myself, “Just get her there safely and get home so you can get back into bed.” And that’s what I do.’

Applegate further expressed: ‘My life isn’t wrapped up with a bow. People’s lives, sorry for lack of a better term, f***ing suck sometimes. So I’m being as honest and raw as I possibly can.’

‘I don’t have patience for bulls*** any more, for things that are meaningless or merely “extra.”‘

Applegate shared the news of her MS diagnosis on social media in August 2021.

And in 2022 she posted a photo of her canes, and said needing help with walking is her ‘new normal.’

During an episode of her MeSsy podcast last year, the actress revealed that she had been hospitalized multiple times amid her MS battle. 

‘For three years since I was diagnosed, I’ve been in the hospital upwards of 30 times,’ she told her co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who is also battling the same disease.

‘That is unimaginable, okay? They’ve done every test known to man on me, put so much radiation into my body from CT scans to everything else.’

When it came to penning her memoir, which was released on March 3, Applegate previously shared that she made the decision to pen the book when she was ‘forced to slow down.’