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During the Tuesday, November 4 of her MeSsy podcast, a conversation about addiction with actor Robert Iler sparked Applegate to open up about the death of her late former boyfriend, saying she "tried everything."
Christina Applegate offered a rare personal comment about a painful period of her life this week, opening up about the death of her former boyfriend, Lee Grivas, who passed away from an overdose in 2008.
During the Tuesday, November 4 of her MeSsy podcast with co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Sopranos star Robert Iler was on as a guest and opened up about his battle with addiction, which compelled the Dead to Me star, 53, to reflect on Grivas’ death.
“I kind of don’t understand sometimes like with Lee, which people know about. You could Google it, whatever,” Applegate said. “My boyfriend who passed away, it was like I tried everything, right? And he still wanted to escape. When he passed away, it was just like, ‘’F--k man.’”
Grivas -- a fisherman and aspiring photographer -- was found dead in his Hollywood apartment from an apparent drug overdose in July 2008. He was only 26 at the time.
“I am profoundly saddened. Lee was an incredible human being who was an extremely important and beautiful part of my life,” Applegate said in a statement at the time, according to People. “He is missed beyond words. He touched so many and I feel much sadness for his mother, brother and all of his family and friends.”
The Bad Moms star met Grivas while starring in the Broadway musical Sweet Charity, around 2006.
While Applegate hasn’t really opened up much about Grivas’ death beyond Tuesday's episode, talking to her podcast audience about her personal struggles is nothing new for the actress.
During an August 2025 episode of MeSsy, she talked openly about how her battle with multiple sclerosis is impacting her daughter, Sadie.
Christina Applegate Hospitalized for Double Kidney Infection: 'So Much Pain'
View StoryThe Married... with Children alum -- who was diagnosed with MS in 2021 -- shared that her difficult journey with the disease has "broken" her 14-year-old daughter.
"In my situation, Sadie only knew me as healthy and a runner and a Pelotoner and a dancer -- and she only knew that," said Applegate, who shares Sadie with husband Martyn LeNoble. "So, then when this came about [in] 2021, she was like stoic about it."
"Now, I see her look at me when I'm in bed and can't quite move, or [when] I wanna go say goodnight to her in her room, but I can't quite get down the hallway [and] for whatever reason that my legs aren't working that day," she continued, adding that she can "barely get to the bathroom" right now. "It's broken her."
Applegate went on to share that for Sadie, "It was like losing the mom she had to this f--king thing. And the more she's gotten older now, I think the more it's hurting her."
This podcast episode came just a few weeks after Applegate revealed on a previous episode that she was hospitalized with a kidney infection that had spread to both kidneys, leaving her in excruciating pain.
"So much pain. I'm screaming," the 53-year-old actress shared from her hospital bed in L.A., where she recorded the episode while still receiving treatment. "Of course, my brain's like, 'Oh, my appendix is bursting.'"
In an interview on SiriusXM’s Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa in July, Applegate shared that Sadie has served as her motivation throughout her health challenges. "I get up because of her," she said. "She's the reason I'm still here and trying."
