Rebecca Gayheart Breaks Silence On Eric Dane’s Death After Battle With ALS
Rebecca Gayheart break her silence on her husband Eric DaneHis death follows his battle with ALS.
Gayheart, 54, shared several throwback family photos with Dane and their two daughters on his Instagram stories on Saturday, February 21, in addition to a link endorsing a GoFundMe campaign aimed at financially supporting their children after the late actor’s death.
“Thank you to everyone,” he wrote next to a screenshot of the fundraiser.
Us Weekly confirmed Dane’s death at the age of 53 on Thursday, February 19.
“With heavy hearts, we share that Dane passed away Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS,” his family’s statement read. “He spent his last days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world.” Throughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same battle.”
The message continued, “He will always be greatly missed and remembered with love. Eric loved his fans and is forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support he has received. The family has requested privacy as they navigate this difficult time.”
HBO also shared a statement mourning the actor, who played Cal Jacobs Euphoria. “We are deeply saddened by the news of Eric Dane’s passing,” said a spokesperson. “He was incredibly talented and HBO was fortunate to work with him for three seasons Euphoria. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this difficult time.”
A few weeks before his death, Dane was expected to attend the ALS Network’s Champions for Cures and Care Gala on January 24 to accept his Advocate of the Year award, but the organization revealed that “due to the realities of ALS. [was] I will never be able to go.”
Gayheart shares two daughters with Dane, whom he married in 2004. The two separated in 2018, but Gayheart eventually withdrew her divorce petition in 2025. Later that year, she opened up about Dane’s diagnosis in an article New York Magazine‘s The Cut.
“His symptoms started about a year ago, when we would eat with the kids, he would say things like, ‘There’s something wrong with my hand.’ He was struggling to use his chopsticks, dropping his food. That’s when he first saw a doctor,” Gayheart recalled in December 2025.
She continued, “When she told me that day, she just started crying with me. A week later, she and Dane told their daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14, about her diagnosis.
Dane finally went public with his health battle in April 2025. Gayheart, meanwhile, called ALS “a terrible disease.”
“No matter how much you prepare, or how much I prepare the girls, or how much Eric prepares, you’re going to wake up one morning and there’s another obstacle, or you lose the ability to do something else — it just happens,” she wrote. “It’s a terrible, terrible disease.”
Gayheart also reflected on his relationship with Dane, writing, “We broke up, but we never divorced; we almost didn’t live together anymore. We haven’t lived in the same house for eight years, he’s dating other people, I’ve dated someone. It’s a very strange relationship, confusing people. Our love may not be family love, but.”
Dane, meanwhile, reflected on his marriage to Gayheart in his final interview, which aired on Netflix posthumously.
“When someone sees this, I will never fall in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca. She is the mother of my children,” Dane said in his letter. Popular Last Names interview, and admits why they broke up in 2018. “I think Rebecca was more willing to come out and do her part than I was. I don’t have that gene [that] it makes you want to keep going no matter what. I’m like, ‘If there’s a hole in the boat, don’t try to plug the hole. Get rid of hunger and find a new one.’ … Rebecca is a fighter and she perseveres.”
