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Selma Blair was beaming as she showed off her adorable son and reunited with celeb friends and received a special honor at the annual Race to Erase MS Gala on Friday.
This marked the second celebrity event the 46-year-old actress has attended since she revealed her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, an incurable and often disabling disease of the central nervous system, in October. She made her first official celebrity appearance since revealing the news at Vanity Fair‘s 2019 Oscars after-party in February.
At the gala, which took place at the Beverly Hilton, Blair wore a chic black Christian Siriano tuxedo pantsuit and clutched a cane as she walked the orange carpet with her 7-year-old son Arthur Saint Bleick.
“This child. #arthursaintbleick. He sees me at every stage,” Blair wrote on Instagram. “And tonight was for him in my heart. To thank him and everyone who has rooted for me and for all of us with #MS and autoimmune disease.”
On the carpet, the actress reunited with longtime friend and Cruel Intentions co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar and Robin Roberts, who interviewed her on Good Morning America about her MS battle in February. The two later presented her with an award, and Blair’s son joined them onstage.
“I won’t read a teleprompter because I have double vision, so you’re stuck with unfiltered Selma,” Blair told the audience, as they applauded. “And I have to say I’m afraid I’ll fall, but I have the best fall bearers in the world with Robin Roberts and Sarah Michelle Gellar and my son Arthur. I’m really happy. I’m really happy that you are all here. That I get this chance to speak for so many people who don’t get a chance to speak at all.”
“I have to say I came to this town 120 years ago and I had lots of auditions until I got a job.” she said. “And I got a great job, a really great job and it was because of this woman [Gellar] right here. She fought for me and [Cruel Intentions director] Roger Kumble fought for me again…she fought for me then and she’s fighting for me now and that’s why this fight is so much easier.”
Blair also thanked Roberts, “who paved the way herself with so much grit and talent and determination” and “gave me a platform to speak to other people.” She also thanked Jaime King, “who sends me flowers every week.”
Blair later wrote on Instagram, “Thank you @sarahmgellar for presenting me with the medal of hope along with my mentor of sorts @robinrobertsgma. #racetoerasemsgala 2019. What a night. Thank you @nancypeaceandlove for always bringing the hope and determination. And @csiriano for this custom tuxedo. #everything.”
“We love her beauty and her talent, but all of those things pale in comparison to her one super power. She is without question, the best kisser,” Gellar told the crowd, drawing laughs and applause.
“I’ve been friends with Selma for more than 20 years so I thought I knew everything there was to know about her—mostly because she has no filter,” she said. “But in the last year, I have seen a new side to her. Sure, she is an incredible mother and friend, but now I know how brave she is. It would have not only been easy but understandable for someone to hide once they were diagnosed with MS, but instead she has done amazing things. She is facing this head on and sharing this journey with the world. In this day and age when nobody shares a picture unless it’s been edited and facetuned and filtered, Selma is choosing to share the raw truth.”
Despite largely staying out of the spotlight, Blair has been documenting her MS battle on Instagram for her fans. Earlier this month, she shared a photo of herself undergoing intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment and also posted a video of her in bed, writing, “Here’s a truth. I feel sick as all hell. I am vomiting and all the things which are not polite to speak of. My son ran away. From me. I have to get him to school. The medical treatments take their toll. I am going to get through this. We do. This will pass.”
“I know first hand that as friends and family, we only want to help, but we can never truly understand what that person is going through. And by showing these truths, Selma is letting other people know that they are not alone and that is a true friend,” Gellar said at the gala, getting emotional. “I don’t think there is a stronger person that I know and I’m so proud to be her friend.”
At the gala, Blair also reunited with Kris Jenner, who she played in the 2016 FX miniseries American Crime Story: The People V OJ Simpson. The two had first met in 2015 while the actress was preparing for the role. Jenner attended the event with partner Corey Gamble.
Other celebrity guests included Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Jack Osbourne, who also have MS, as well as Camille Grammer, Rumer Willis, Lea Thompson, Johnny Galecki and pregnant girlfriend Alaina Meyer, LaToya Jackson, Avril Lavigne and boyfriend Phillip Sarofim, E!’s LadyGang star Keltie Knight, Kathy Hilton and Rick Hilton, Dancing With the Stars pros and married couple Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd, Tia Carrere, Garcelle Beauvais and Constance Zimmer.
See more photos from the Race to Erase MS gala:
—Reporting by Mike Vulpo
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