Rebecca Gayheart broke her silence on husband Eric Dane’s death following his battle with ALS.
Gayheart, 54, shared multiple throwback family photos with Dane and their two daughters via her Instagram Stories on Saturday, February 21, in addition to a link endorsing a GoFundMe campaign meant to financially support their kids in the wake of the late actor’s untimely death.
“Thank you to everyone,” she wrote next to a screenshot of the fundraiser.
Us Weekly confirmed Dane’s death at age 53 on Thursday, February 19.
“With heavy hearts, we share that Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS,” a statement from his family read. “He spent his final 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 fight.”
The message continued, “He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered always. Eric adored his fans and is forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support he’s received. The family has asked for privacy as they navigate this impossible time.”
HBO also shared a statement mourning the actor, who starred as Cal Jacobs on Euphoria. “We are deeply saddened by the news of Eric Dane’s passing,” a spokesperson said. “He was incredibly talented and HBO was fortunate to have worked with him on three seasons of Euphoria. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this difficult time.”
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 physical realities of ALS, he [was] not well enough to attend.”
Gayheart shared two daughters with Dane, whom she married in 2004. The pair 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 for New York Magazine‘s The Cut.
“His symptoms started maybe a year prior. When we would have a meal with the kids, he’d say things like, ‘Something’s wrong with my hand.’ He was struggling to use his chopsticks, dropping his food. That was when he started seeing doctors,” Gayheart recalled in December 2025.
She continued, “When he told me that day, he just started weeping, as did I. It didn’t feel real because he was still OK.” A week later, she and Dane told their daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14, about his diagnosis.
Dane eventually went public with his health battle in April 2025. Gayheart, meanwhile, called ALS a “terrible disease.”
“No matter how prepared you are, or how much I prepare the girls, or how much Eric prepares himself, he’ll wake up one morning and there’s something else that is an obstacle, or he’s lost the ability to do one more thing — it just comes out of nowhere,” she wrote. “It’s a terrible, terrible disease.”
Gayheart also reflected on her relationship with Dane, writing, “We separated, but we never got a divorce; we were about to and then we didn’t. We haven’t lived in the same home for eight years; he’s dated other people, I’ve dated someone. It’s a very complicated relationship, one that’s confusing for people. Our love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love.”
Dane, meanwhile, reflected on his marriage to Gayheart in his final interview, which aired on Netflix after his death.
“I will never, by the time anybody sees this, have fallen in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca. She’s the mother of my children,” Dane said in his Famous Last Words interview, also acknowledging why they separated in 2018. “I think Rebecca was more willing to show up and do her part than I was. I don’t have that gene [that] just makes you want to keep going regardless of what’s happening. I’m like, ‘If there’s a hole in the boat, don’t try to patch the hole. Scuttle the damn thing and go find a new one.’ … Rebecca’s a fighter and she perseveres.”
