Joe Manganiello is opening up about how his battle with a life-threatening autoimmune disease affected his marriage to Sofía Vergara, including expanding on a painful moment when he claims his now ex-wife refused to give him a hug.
During an appearance on CBS Mornings with Gayle King on Monday (Oct. 12), the actor discussed his upcoming memoir, Bloodlines, which details his health struggles and the impact they had on his personal life.
King brought up an excerpt from the book in which Manganiello recalled asking Vergara for a hug while experiencing severe pain, only to allegedly be turned down.
"The trauma and the pain affected everyone in my life, including me, in ways that you can't predict," Manganiello said. "And it was tough."
The True Blood actor explained that his decision to share such personal experiences wasn't meant to criticize Vergara, but rather to give readers an understanding of what he endured while fighting the illness.
"This book is about the journey that I went through," he said.
Manganiello also revealed that his condition had affected other members of his family, some of whom weren't as fortunate as he was.
"I wasn't randomly selected," he explained. "As it turns out, I had family members that were fighting the same exact symptoms, and didn't live through it."
In his book, Manganiello also claimed that Vergara ridiculed him over his dog, Bubbles, whom he adopted in 2019 during a particularly difficult period when he was experiencing suicidal thoughts.
The revelations have seemingly created tension between the former couple, who separated in July 2023 after seven years of marriage.
Following reports about the memoir, Vergara reposted an Instagram Story from her son, Manolo, discussing the difficulties of dealing with a narcissistic person.
"Remember kids … it doesn't matter how much you do for a [narcissist]," Manolo wrote. "They will resent you for it and nothing will ever be enough and they'll always somehow try to paint you as the bad guy."
When King asked Manganiello about the post and the suggestion that he was being labeled a narcissist, the actor pushed back against that interpretation of his book.
"Well, I think anybody who said that should read the book first and understand what the book is actually about, because it's not about that," he said. "It's about the suffering I went through."
Manganiello also made it clear that he has no interest in engaging in a public feud with his ex-wife.
"I try to paint everyone with an amount of grace, no matter who they are," he said. "Because it is a nuanced discussion, and it's not something I care to carry out on social media."
