Selma Blair has reached another career milestone and made a truly unforgettable entrance while doing it.
Over the weekend, the actress, 53, was honored with the CineHealth Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating her enduring contributions to film, television, fashion and disability advocacy, all while navigating her public battle with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The honor, presented at this year’s CineHealth Festival, recognizes individuals who create media that educates, empowers and inspires those facing health challenges.
The Cruel Intentions star, 53, arrived to the event by helicopter with her loyal service dog, Scout, at her side, before heading straight to the stage.
For the occasion, she wore a sleek black gown and heels.
‘Still, I’m pinching myself,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘From a helicopter ride straight to the stage (!!) to stepping out in my @alexandrebirman heels, it was a night to remember. Endless gratitude to my glam and styling dream team! You made me feel like a star.’
Selma Blair has reached another career milestone and made a truly unforgettable entrance while doing it
Best known for her roles in Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing and Hellboy, Blair has also become a trailblazer for disability representation since publicly sharing her MS diagnosis in 2018.
In addition to documenting her journey in the award-winning film Introducing, Selma Blair, the performer penned her memoir, Mean Baby, which earned critical acclaim for its raw honesty and resilience.
Blair has also raised awareness for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that causes chronic pain, broadening her advocacy for those living with invisible illnesses.
Her openness and courage have helped normalize conversations around health and inspired people worldwide to embrace their strength in the face of adversity.
Earlier this year, she told People that she was ‘doing amazingly well’ and had ‘been feeling great for about a year.’
‘I am finally well enough to really, genuinely … I always try and feel my best, but now that I actually have stamina and energy and getting out and going out isn’t so scary,’ she said in April.
When asked what she is most looking forward to now that she has her health back, Blair admitted she hadn’t had any dreams since her diagnosis.
‘You’re just tired all the time. I spent so much of my life so tired from being unwell that I think I just was trying to get through the day,’ she explained. ‘And now it’s like, wait, I realize I don’t know what my goals are.’
The Cruel Intentions star, 53, arrived to the event by helicopter with her loyal service dog, Scout, at her side, before heading straight to the stage
Selma welcomed her Labrador retriever at the tail end of 2021 and told Entertainment Tonight : ‘The thing is, I pass out a lot
She went on to say that her thoughts are ‘much more career-oriented’ these days and that she would love to get back into acting.
In January, Variety reported that Blair has three upcoming movies going into production: Stay Forte, a drama about the Israel-Hamas war; a supernatural thriller called Silent; and a twin drama There There.
‘I started feeling really better this last year and I’m back at work and doing things, so I will have things to announce,” she said at the time.
Selma also wants to help other people navigate their chronic illnesses and reminding them to dream and set goals for the future, even when they are unsure if they will have a future or not.
‘I still am advocating for people with chronic illness and getting better, and what that looks like when you haven’t made your wishes. How do we give ourselves a new life force?’ she asked People.
Earlier this year, she told People that she was ‘doing amazingly well’ and had ‘been feeling great for about a year’ (seen in June 2024)
Selma welcomed her Labrador retriever at the tail end of 2021 and told Entertainment Tonight: ‘The thing is, I pass out a lot.
‘It’s part of the reason I have Scout and it doesn’t mean I lose consciousness [or] it’s a whole ambulance experience, it’s something that I lose my vision, gravity pulls me down and I’m very disoriented and gone for a spell.’
The recent good news came just two months after Selma discussed her heartbreaking MS relapse during a candid chat on the Drew Barrymore Show.
The star said during a past relapse she ‘didn’t want to face’ her health condition and even stopped seeing doctors.
She said: ‘I did have a relapse and I didn’t, even really want to face that.
Blair went through a risky two-month hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in 2019 in order to try and jumpstart her immune system; pictured last year
‘So the first thing I had to do was to find a doctor again because I had stopped seeing doctors because I thought I was fine but then I didn’t feel fine it turned out I did have a relapse and so I, I found a doctor that could, really listen to me and it was a female doctor and that really helped me just so many different things I wasn’t aware of.
‘So this is just to encourage people to start talking about it.’
Blair went through a risky two-month hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in 2019 in order to try and jumpstart her immune system.
The treatment was to get her symptoms under control.
Speaking in a video update to UsWeekly, she said: ‘Hi. So a lot of people have been asking me how I am doing so great and my movement is so much different, and I really am excited.
‘I want to let people know that – I’m still in remission, I’m feeling great – after the bone marrow transplant, I actually fell into a major relapse.
The star also explained that an MRI ‘lit up flare’ and showed ‘new lesions’ so she had to find a new doctor.
But she felt lucky to have found a ‘great one’ who put her on an ‘amazing’ journey with medication.
In January, Variety reported that Blair has three upcoming movies going into production: Stay Forte, a drama about the Israel-Hamas war; a supernatural thriller called Silent; and a twin drama There There; seen earlier this month
She added: ‘Thank God I found a great one here in West Hollywood, Dr. Berkovich. ‘It was just tablets. So I took that, a couple short series of tablets, and in two years your therapy is done.
‘It’s called Mavenclad. It’s been amazing and it helped my movement and speech so much, and it’s allowed me to have a great summer, great years. I need you all to know. Bye.’
She recently noted that she is glad to have gone public with her neurological condition – which affects the brain and causes symptoms, such as problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance – especially now that her fellow actresses Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler have also done so as they document their on struggles with the disease on the MeSsy podcast.
She said: ‘They’re being really open about their experiences. I love that they’re doing that. They’re both good friends of mine. I love listening to them hang out and discover.’
