Late on Friday afternoon, Nellie Andreeva of the Hollywood Reporter reported that production of one of NBC’s fall series, Parenthood, has been delayed by up to eight weeks while star Maura Tierney deals with an unnamed medical issue. Andreeva’s initial report included a statement that Tierney “has been public about her long struggle to quit smoking,” but this sentence disappeared from the post sometime over the weekend. Either way, concern for Tierney’s health (and the medical condition that she is suffering from) grew exponentially over the weekend, which led Tierney to break her silence this afternoon by way of a statement she gave to Us magazine. “In an effort to guard my privacy, it seems that the wording of NBC’s press release has unfortunately caused some confusion and undue alarm about my health,” Tierney said. “I have discovered a tumor in my breast which requires surgery…. I’m very optimistic as to the outcome and want to thank everyone who has sent positive thoughts and support. I look forward to going back to work soon.”
