Selma Blair Receives Standing Ovation at Emmys Amid Inspiring Multiple Sclerosis Journey

Mar. 15, 2025

It was clearly an emotional moment forSelma Blair.

During Monday’s 74th PrimetimeEmmy Awards, Blair, 50, presented the last award of the evening and received a standing ovation as she walked onstage.

Wearing a black dress with yellow floral embellishments and a matching cane and smokey eye, theCruel Intentionsstar thanked the room for their kindness. “Thank you,” she said, “I am so honored.”

Blair went on to present theoutstanding drama series category toSuccession.

Chris Haston/NBC via Getty

The Emmys are not the only appearance the actress made recently. On Thursday, she was announced as a contestant in thenewest seasonofDancing with the Stars.

Blair was diagnosed withmultiple sclerosisin 2018 and has since shared a candid look at what it’s like to manage MS while having a career and family. She explained in a press conference after the announcement that she’s doingDWTSnot only for herself, but also for those who have supported her health journey.

“It is for the viewer because that is what has given me support. In dark times in my life, there are people that have come forward — strangers on the street or on Instagram, my original fans … I’m doing it for them,” theHellboystar said.

“Kindness and visibility are so important — to explore, be curious and expose people to differences of speech or movement,” she added. “It’s for everyone at home that it resonates with.”

Blair has been open throughout the last four years about her life with MS, and she shared an even deeper look into her world last fallwith the documentaryIntroducing, Selma Blair. The film showed the difficult experience of undergoing a life-altering stem cell treatment to restart her immune system and slow a painful flare-up of the disease.

“It was a really hard time in my life,” the actresstold PEOPLElast year. “People don’t say how excruciating, emotionally, it can be to kind of prove you’re not well. But I want to tell the truth about MS. It is important to me that people see what living with a chronic illness is like.”

The treatment, which requires an aggressive course of chemotherapy, had a long recovery, but Blair has seen “huge improvements” in her MS since and can move more easily, to the point where she’s now able to enjoy things like horseback riding again.

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Blair’s MS is in remission, but the disease is not curable, and “the severe fatigue is still such a gargantuan boulder in my way,” she said.

source: people.com