‘It’s an extension of me’: Selma Blair cuts a majestic figure as she holds cane in Vogue covers amid MS battle
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Legally Blonde’ actress Selma Blair recently appeared on two covers that celebrated her as a disabled woman and her cane made an unmissable appearance on both of them. Blair, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2018, cut a dashing figure as she posed with the accessory that is “an extension” of her and adds “visibility” to her.
Blair, 50, appeared on the May covers for both British Vogue and German Vogue where she shared her experience as a cane-wielding disabled woman. A fierce advocate of disability rights, the ‘Mean Baby’ author gushed about her cane, “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’s an extension of me. And I know it adds to visibility. So many younger people have started publicly embracing their sticks more. I do think representation matters. If I can help remove stigma or over-curiosity in a crowd for someone else, then that’s great.”
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'This is an important day for our community'
She shared the two images of the cover through her social media accounts too. Wearing a long nude figure-hugging cut-out dress, Blair posed for British Vogue. She shared the image with the caption, “I thought my time to ever grace a Vogue cover again was over 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.” After thanking the team responsible for carrying out the shoot seamlessly, she further added, “This is an important day for our community. All of us who have dared to show up and celebrate each other unabashedly and handsomely.👏🏻💛.”
German Vogue too posted a photo of Blair wearing a floor-length ivory gown and holding her beloved cane in hand. They explained in the caption, "People who inspire lift us up - like Selma Blair. The actress is the cover star of our May issue and one of the faces for people with multiple sclerosis - which is why she wears a cane in the photos."
In the cover story for British Vogue, the 'Cruel Intentions' star shared how the symptoms of her MS got neglected when she was a child. When she was seven, she lost the use of a leg, an eye, and bladder, but she wasn’t checked. Blair mourned in the interview, “If you’re a boy with those symptoms, you get an MRI. If you’re a girl, you’re called ‘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.”
‘I couldn’t tell anybody’
Blair also revealed her insecurities regarding her acting career. “I was worried since the beginning of time that a glaring fault would remove me from the workforce. And usually, it was my incoordination or getting stuck, too weak or sick, in my trailer – or any time, really. The vomiting or body issues were terrifying, [and the] baldness or rashes,” said the star. The actress who retired from acting after ‘Kath & Kim’ in 2009, said, “I remember being very, very poorly on Hellboy and was diagnosed with cat scratch fever and possible leukemia in Prague. I couldn’t tell anybody. I couldn’t admit alcoholism or [access] treatment in my insurance for fear I’d be deemed an insurance risk. I fell apart once I got back to LA.” 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.”