Overview
- Shepard, speaking with Anderson Cooper at the New Orleans Book Festival this week, said he and Dane first met in Alcoholics Anonymous, clashed in a meeting, and walked outside toward a fistfight before others broke it up.
- He said they kept returning to the same AA meeting for two years, related over their stories, and became close after Dane later told the room he had "come to fall in love" with Shepard.
- Shepard described Dane’s childhood trauma — his father’s suicide and a directive not to cry — and said it fed a lifelong push for masculine approval that he recognized in himself.
- He praised Dane for choosing to be a public face of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, noting Dane’s rapid physical decline and calling that decision the bravest act of his life.
- Dane, known for Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria, was diagnosed with ALS in April 2025 after earlier symptoms and died on February 19 at age 53, after years in which both men discussed their struggles with addiction.