Selma Blair, cane in hand, walks first red carpet at Oscars since revealing she has MS
Selma Blair appeared at the Vanity Fair party after the Oscars on Sunday with two things rarely seen on a red carpet - tears and a cane.
The “Cruel Intentions” actress walked and posed with the assistance of a black cane as she made her first public appearance since sharing with fans in October that she has multiple sclerosis, known as MS, according to People.
She cried.
At one point an assistant brushed the tears from her eyes as the cameras flashed.
“It took a lot to come out here,” she said, according to Elle magazine, which reported that the photographers cheered her on.
“The moment we will all be talking about tomorrow is the courageous #SelmaBlair, making her first appearance since announcing her MS diagnosis, at the VF Oscar party,” tweeted Jessica Radloff, West Coast editor for Glamour magazine. “She needs a cane to help walk, but she came to prove that no matter how tough this disease, she is a fighter.”
Blair announced on Instagram that she will appear Wednesday on “Good Morning America” in an interview with Robin Roberts.
Cosmopolitan said that the 46-year-old actress “looked incredible in her multi-coloured Ralph & Russo gown with matching cape. One symptom of MS is loss of balance, which is why Selma walked with a cane on the red carpet, in order to help steady her.
“The cane she carries has become something she now regularly features on her Instagram account, as it’s such a constant part of her life now.”
According to an Instagram post over the weekend, the cane Blair used was custom-made just for the Oscars.
“This is love,” she wrote along with a photo of the cane being monogrammed. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I wanted a special cane for #vanityfair dinner. So… @lyon_heartedwent out and found patent leather and @bic_owen and he stitched it on. Hours of love put in. And then #tombachick made it especially magical. I burst into tears. These gifts to get me through. #subtle #chic #love. I can’t thank these three enough. There are angels.”
Described by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS is an “unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.”
There is no known cause; symptoms vary greatly from person to person, according to the group. “Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease,” the society says.
Most people with the disease don’t become “severely disabled,” according to the society. “Two-thirds of people who have MS remain able to walk, though many will need an aid, such as a cane or crutches, and some will use a scooter or wheelchair because of fatigue, weakness, balance problems, or to assist with conserving energy.”
Blair revealed in an Instagram post in October that she had been diagnosed on Aug. 16, 2018.
She described how the disease has manifested: “I am disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken gps. But we are doing it. And I laugh and I don’t know exactly what I will do precisely but I will do my best.”
She wrote of the “understanding producers” of her upcoming Netflix sci-fi series, “Another Life,” and of “the brilliant costumer” who not only designs her clothing, but “carefully gets my legs in my pants, pulls my tops over my head, buttons my coats and offers her shoulder to steady myself.”
“I am in the thick of it,” she wrote, “but I hope to give some hope to others. And even to myself. You can’t get help unless you ask.”
Blair told her Instagram followers that “she has probably been suffering from the incurable disease for at least 15 years, but struggled to get her symptoms taken seriously,” Cosmopolitan reported. “It was only when she fell down in front of a doctor she was seeing for a supposed pinched nerve that proper investigations into her health began.”
She’s kept fans informed about her progress since then but had not made an official appearance - other than in paparazzi photos - until Sunday.
Blair is the mother to a 7-year-old son, Arthur Saint Bleick, according to People, who makes frequent appearances on her Instagram.