Dax Shepard Slammed for ‘Cruel’ Story About Why He ‘Hated’ Late Eric Dane: ‘He Can’t Defend Himself’
When someone passes away, there’s a lot of reminiscing about that person. It’s a normal part of grieving. And when it comes to celebrities, that usually takes place in the public eye. It makes sense, fans are invested too. But Dax Shepard’s comments about Eric Dane, who recently passed away following an ALS diagnosis, are not sitting well with some.
While speaking with Anderson Cooper during a live taping of the All There Is with Anderson Cooper podcast at the New Orleans Book Festival last month, Shepard discussed his relationship with Dane, saying, “Eric Dane, I can now say I met in recovery, and we hated each other. I hated him,” adding, “I thought he was a bit of a bully.”
According to Rob Shuter, the backlash in some circles to the “cruel and unnecessary” story is strong, particularly because “he can’t defend himself,” according to sources. “Eric isn’t here to respond,” one insider told the gossip columnist. “That’s what makes this feel wrong.”
“You don’t speak like that about someone who’s gone,” the source added. “His family is going to hear this.”
Shepard even told a story about how he and Dane almost came to blows during an AA meeting, recalling that Dane “threatened a younger member of the group, and this had been simmering for a long time, and I said, ‘Let’s go. Outside. Right now.’ It was on. And we walked outside to a fist fight in the driveway of an AA meeting.”
The actor did go on to explain the two became friends afterwards. “Over the course of the next two years, I found myself starting to kind of relate to him. I heard his story,” he said, adding, “I came to fall in love with a very scared man trying and hoping he had become a man, and I related,” he said. “I ended up loving him so much.”
And about his ALS diagnosis, Shepard said, “For a person who was so hellbent on being hyper-masculine and incredibly fit, to have agreed to become the face of this disease, completely diminished, I found to be the bravest thing he’d done in all these pursuits of manliness.”
Still, some believe there is a time and place for stories like this one, and this wasn’t it. “Lead with the love — not the hate,” an insider told Shuter. “Why put that out there now?”
The comments reportedly got person, with some even bringing up Shepard’s own reputation. “Dax calling someone else a bully?” one source said. “A lot of people think that’s ironic.”
Shepard has faced some criticism for what people have called “oversharing” on his Armchair Expert podcast. He has also been called arrogant by some people. And right now, the Eric Dane story isn’t much helping. “It feels unnecessary,” the insider said. “Let the man rest.”
Dane passed away less than two months ago, on February 19, 2026. He was 53 years old.
“This wasn’t a tribute,” the source added. “It felt like a hit.” And one that came at a time of heightened emotions.
