Selma Blair Gives Health Update Amid Multiple Sclerosis Journey

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Selma Blair is grateful to be feeling good.

Actress Selma Blair, who publicly shared her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in 2018, recently gave an encouraging update on her health. She’s been doing well for about two years now, with no new symptoms, after receiving chemotherapy and stem cell treatment.

She told Stellar magazine in an interview published on November 22nd that she was relieved to be avoiding further brain injury. She also shared that she’s made significant progress in her brain’s ability to heal and adapt.

As someone who follows health and wellness closely, I was so moved by the actress’s recent comments. She’s been in remission from MS since 2021, and she shared how incredibly grateful she is. It’s wonderful to see her using her platform to support others who are navigating autoimmune diseases – truly inspiring!

She explained that multiple sclerosis affects everyone differently. She believes she has a role to play in speaking out about the condition, and she wants to use her voice to challenge the stigma surrounding it.

Now that she’s feeling healthy again, 53-year-old Selma is returning to acting and has three new roles lined up.

She hinted at some unexpected new acting opportunities, saying, “I’m really looking forward to returning to movies.”

Selma, who shares 14-year-old son Arthur Saint Bleick with her ex-husband Jason Bleick, is doing well in her personal life. In 2024, she revealed she’s happily dating someone from the Midwest, but she’s not in a hurry to get married. She’s focusing on being a mom and taking care of her own health instead.

She explained to Us Weekly that balancing motherhood, career goals, and ongoing medical treatments makes relationships difficult. Because of this, she doesn’t believe in marriage, seeing it as a system designed for failure.

Selma Blair openly shared her experiences living with multiple sclerosis in her 2021 documentary, Introducing, Selma Blair. Here’s a look at what she revealed about her health journey in the film…

I’ve been following Selma Blair for a while now, and it’s heartbreaking to look back at some old videos she took of herself. She kept video diaries, and one from June 2018 – just two months before she got her diagnosis – really shows how much she was struggling with simple things like writing and texting. She’d been having muscle spasms, and even noticed one in her leg affecting her walk back in March at the Christian Siriano fashion show. At the time, she actually thought it might be related to her horseback riding, which she absolutely loves.

In fact, she reveals, she’d felt off since the birth of her son, Arthur, in 2011. 

She remembers doctors attributing her health concerns to typical postpartum sadness and being overwhelmed as a new mother, dismissing what she was experiencing as simply depression after childbirth.

After Arthur was born, Blair was feeling very vulnerable. She remembers her mother, Molly (who she looks a lot like), telling her she didn’t think Blair was suited for marriage or motherhood.

The actress had a complicated relationship with her mother, who was often harshly critical. Her mother passed away last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Blair wasn’t able to travel home to be with her family. This challenging relationship has deeply affected Blair’s life. Despite this, and even when her mother reacted to her success in Cruel Intentions by focusing on a minor detail of a kiss with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Blair still loves her. She now thinks her mother’s tough love may have been a way of preparing her for a difficult world – a belief that life wouldn’t be easy, so she needed to learn to rely on herself.

She tries to understand her mother’s perspective, admitting she sometimes struggles with her own thoughts and reactions as well.

Receiving a diagnosis, while difficult, was better than living in the dark, she remembers, as it allowed her to start dealing with the situation. However, she quickly realized her health was declining and her medications weren’t effective. According to her assistant, Bonny Burke, who is featured in the film, Jennifer Grey suggested stem cell transplants. Grey told her that a friend’s brother had been successfully treated for an autoimmune disease with the procedure at Northwestern University.

Blair made a decision and went ahead with her plan, even though a friend warned her it would be too difficult and she wouldn’t succeed.

Sometimes Blair feels great and can navigate her property in Studio City, California, with minimal assistance from her cane. Other times, her movement is noticeably more difficult. She cherishes simple, everyday activities, like cutting strawberries herself in June 2019, something she hadn’t been able to do for a couple of months prior.

Watching Blair lovingly interact with her son, Arthur, brings back memories for her. She recalls a difficult experience on a flight in 2016 – she momentarily lost consciousness while traveling with Arthur and her ex-husband, Jason Bleick. Thankfully, Arthur was asleep with headphones on. The incident, which she publicly apologized for, led her to make the decision to stop drinking completely.

Looking back, I realize it was the biggest mistake I ever made as a mom, and I’m so grateful no one got hurt. I’m thankful I made such a bad decision when his father was present to help.

She recalls feeling pain during that trip, which caused her to combine medication with alcohol. This is one of several memories that make her question if her multiple sclerosis symptoms actually began much earlier than she realized.

Knowing she’ll likely lose her hair during the stem cell transplant process—which starts with chemotherapy—she asks Arthur to shave her head beforehand, so he won’t be as surprised when she returns from Chicago.

I’ve been following Blair’s journey so closely, and it’s just…intense. After the first round of chemo, things get really challenging. They don’t just treat her body, they push her mentally, almost deliberately trying to break her to see how strong she is. Then she has to give herself injections – can you imagine? – to prepare for harvesting her cells. And then comes five whole days of brutal chemo, completely isolated in the hospital. It’s agonizing to watch, but she’s incredible. On the very last day, she barely has the strength, but she weakly celebrates, saying tomorrow will be “my new body’s birthday.” It’s like she’s marking the start of something completely different, and honestly, it breaks my heart and fills me with hope all at once.

After the transplant, there’s a waiting period to see if the new cells successfully integrate. She describes a metallic taste in her mouth and, with good humor, even uses a lint roller on her shaved head. Just nine days post-transplant, she’s playfully moving her hands and attempting dance moves, using a cane for support. Finally, after 19 days in isolation, she’s able to go home.

It’s incredibly frustrating to realize that what she endured didn’t fully fix things – not just for us, but especially for her. Even months later, Blair feels disheartened, admitting she’s questioning the recovery process and still battling the same issues with balance, vision, and other problems she originally faced.

Meeting cancer survivor Robin Roberts at the TIME 100 Health Summit was encouraging for the Good Morning America anchor. She shared that it took almost two years to fully recover after receiving a bone marrow transplant for a rare blood condition.

She faced numerous challenges, including a shocking diagnosis from a Los Angeles doctor: damage to the gray matter in her brain, which impacts things like muscle control, memory, speech, and emotions. She says this was something no other doctor had ever mentioned, despite all the tests and scans she’d undergone.

By the spring and summer of 2020, the film shows Blair in a much better place. We see her happily spending time with friends at a small birthday party and swimming with her son, Arthur.

She still has difficult days where she feels limited by what she can’t do yet, and being around other people is still much more draining than relaxing at home. When she finally gets back to riding, she’s disappointed that she can only manage ten seconds of trotting before needing to rest.

Her instructor encouraged her, saying, “Just consider that you were able to do it for ten seconds! It’s amazing how long it’s been since you could do something like that.”

As a lifestyle expert, I always tell people that even the smallest improvements matter. Think of it like learning to slice a strawberry beautifully – each practice cut, each little bit of progress, gets you closer to mastering the skill. It’s the same with everything in life! Every step forward, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction.

She was surprised to find purpose in life by helping others with disabilities, even in small ways like boosting their confidence about using assistive devices like canes. She admits it’s remarkable to her that she, as a disabled person herself, is in a position to support others.

In the film’s closing scene, she surprisingly states she feels at peace before diving into her newly renovated swimming pool. She’s wearing a dress that belonged to her mother – one her mother never allowed her to wear during her lifetime – giving the moment a particularly poignant meaning. As Blair swims, she lets the dress sink to the bottom of the pool, symbolically shedding her past and embracing the future.

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2025-11-23 00:48