Selma Blair, star of ‘Legally Blonde,’ recently appeared on two covers that praised her as a disabled woman, and her cane was prominently featured on both of them. Selma Blair, who was diagnosed with MS in 2018, made a dashing figure as she posed with the accessory, which she describes as “an extension” of herself and adds “visibility” to her.
Selma Blair, 50, graced the covers of both British Vogue and German Vogue in May when she discussed her life as a disabled woman with a cane. The ‘Mean Baby’ author, a staunch advocate for disability rights, gushed about her cane, saying, “I have an emotional and physical attachment to the cane,” before adding, “I settle in my voice and body as soon as I hold [it].” It is an extension of myself. And I’m sure it helps with visibility. So many younger people have begun to embrace their sticks publicly. I believe that representation is important. If I can help someone else reduce stigma or over-curiosity in a crowd, that’s fantastic.”
‘This is an important day for our community’
She also uploaded two photographs of the cover on her social media pages. Selma Blair posed for British Vogue in a long nude figure-hugging cut-out garment. “I thought my time ever to grace a Vogue cover again was over,” she captioned the photo, “but while I was in the business of listening, changing, and becoming, the people I admire most dreamed a bit of magic for the cover of @britishvogue.” “This is an important day for our community,” she said after thanking the crew for making the filming run smoothly. “All of us who have dared to show up and openly and lavishly celebrate each other.”
Selma Blair According to German Vogue, Blair was photographed wearing a floor-length ivory gown and holding her beloved cane. “People who inspire lift us up – like Selma Blair,” they wrote in the caption. “The actress is the cover star of our May issue and one of the faces for people with multiple sclerosis, which is why she is pictured with a cane.”
In the cover story of British Vogue, the ‘Cruel Intentions’ star revealed how her MS symptoms were ignored when she was a child. She lost use of a leg, an eye, and her bladder when she was seven, but she wasn’t checked. “If you’re a boy with those symptoms, you get an MRI,” Selma Blair lamented in the interview. If you’re a girl, you’re referred to as ‘crazy.'”
Talking about her behavioral traits where she would laugh “hysterically” or cry “uncontrollably,” she realized later after her diagnosis that they were the effects of her MS only, as it has affected her frontal lobe. “I just thought I was a hugely emotional person,” before adding “I looked like a ‘normal’ girl to them but I was Disabled this whole time.”
In the interview, she also revealed the harrowing experiences she had to go through as a disabled person. “As an adult, the lassitude and anxiety became terrifying, actually,” she shared before talking about her vulnerability, “I made mistakes. Wished me dead. Attempted suicide. A few times. Out of desperation.”
Selma Blair
‘I couldn’t tell anybody’
Selma Blair also discussed her fears about her acting profession. “I’ve been concerned since the beginning of time that a glaring flaw would result in my dismissal from the workforce.” And it was typically my lack of coordination or being trapped, being too weak or unwell, in my caravan – or at any moment, actually. “The vomiting or body issues, as well as the baldness or rashes, were terrifying,” the actress stated. “I remember being very, very poorly on Hellboy and being diagnosed with cat scratch fever and possible leukemia in Prague,” says the actress, who quit acting after ‘Kath & Kim’ in 2009. I couldn’t tell a soul. For fear of being branded an insurance risk, I couldn’t admit to my drinking or [get] treatment through my insurance. When I returned to Los Angeles, I broke apart.” She further added she lived her life in “terror.”
‘They blow my mind’
However, she also spoke about the importance of “mobility aids” and the support groups of the disability community, “I didn’t imagine I could ever make a difference by showing up as myself and being open about my experiences. But when others with mobility aids rallied around my presence on the red carpet with a cane and in the midst of an MS flare, I noticed. I felt empowered to share… Now it’s a conscious choice too.”
She also gave a shout-out to her disabled community, “I couldn’t have made a move – sometimes literally – without my allies in the Disabled community,” before adding, “They blow my mind.”
