‘I was erased in Hollywood’: Selma Blair on personal toll post-Oct. 7

Actress Selma Blair told an audience at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly in Washington, DC, this week that she wants to “make aliyah” to Israel and rebury her mother’s ashes there.

The 54-year-old actress, known for her roles in “Legally Blonde,” “The Sweetest Thing,” and the “Hellboy” franchise, joined Julie Platt, former chair of the Board of Trustees for Jewish Federations, for a conversation.

Platt carefully referred to recent challenges that Blair experienced, alluding to the actress recently being detained in New York in October after a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles on which she reportedly exhibited violent behavior toward crew members.

Blair pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree assault and was released on bail. Blair’s representatives said she had experienced a medical episode during the flight. On October 30, Blair released a video apology saying she never intended to hurt or frighten anyone.

Blair thanked the GA audience for showing up, adding, “You can add some chaos and headlines to my resume; it’s awkward, it’s terrible,” she said. “Because, like any good yenta, I want to tell you everything from my perspective, but it is not my time to do that.”

“I wish my mom were alive to make me feel better or worse,” added Blair. “Actually, [her] Jewish self would make me feel a lot worse; she’d be like, ‘Oh, Selma.’ I know.”

Blair’s mother was born to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, like Blair herself, who converted to Judaism in the second grade and took the Hebrew name Batsheva.

The actress added that she hopes to have an opportunity to explain the situation behind the headlines.

“It’s not exactly what things seem like sometimes,” she said. “I’m so honored that you would still have me.”

The actress discussed the antisemitic and anti-Israel reactions she experienced on social media after the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack.

Blair said she did not keep quiet after October 7, reaching out to Jewish college students dealing with “so much hate and accusations.”

At the time, Blair’s social media comments included an assertion that “Islam has destroyed Muslim countries and then they come here and destroy minds.” She also called for the deportation of people who support terrorism.

She said those comments were “misconstrued.”

Blair was accused of Islamophobia, and the actress eventually apologized for conflating Muslims with extremist Islamists and fundamentalists.

“Now I’m fucked because religion is politics,” said Blair, adding that her mother always told her not to talk politics but to always stand up to antisemitism and communism. “I’m a mouthy girl from Detroit.”

Blair told the GA audience that as a result of her comments, she lost her agent, manager, publicist, social media team, and most of her friends in the entertainment industry.

“I was canceled, very heavily,” she said. “Every friend I had in the business, really, everyone. I was erased in Hollywood, totally, completely.”

The actress said the consequences have affected her and her son.

“I’ve been traumatized since October 7 — not nearly as much as the people who actually lived it, of course,” she said. “It is a very strange thing as a person who loves Israel and the Jewish people to live these last three years.”

Speaking in a voice thick with tears, Blair said it’s been “a very difficult climate” for her in Hollywood, and that her son often hears “Allahu akbar” said to him. “I think it’s sad,” she said. “And I wish we had the support of, just, people in his everyday life.”

The actress said it’s strange to be “somewhat of a celebrity” at this time, and wishes she could make her stand against antisemitism her focus, “but it doesn’t pay the bills,” she said.

“I’m just a Jew living in the Diaspora that sees things for what I see them for and is concerned and sad and somewhat broken myself,” said Blair.

She briefly discussed a documentary she is developing called “Hineni” (“Here I Am”), exploring antisemitism and attitudes toward Israel.

Blair and Platt discussed the impact of Jewish education on the actress’s life; Blair attended Hillel, a Detroit day school, for eight years.

“I am a Detroit girl,” said Blair, to applause from the audience.

She discussed the warmth and support of the day school community and education.

Blair spoke at length about the wonders of Jewish day school, where she learned to read and write Hebrew before learning to read and write English, and how she wishes her own son were enrolled in one.

She called it “one-stop shopping of families and studies.”

“It seems like I’ve always known about the history, like the Holocaust,” said Blair, adding that she learned about resilience from the school’s teachers, some of whom were Holocaust survivors.

Blair’s father’s family was killed in the Holocaust, she said.

“That always informed me and created a certain resilience,” she said. “When bedtime stories are Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night,’ it puts a certain grounding in you.”

“In the worst moments of my life, I am saying the Shema over and over,” said Blair, referring to the fixed daily prayer in Judaism. “I am always speaking to Adonai and the people of Israel; it is my greatest comfort.”

Blair also spoke about her dream of moving to Israel, adding that her mother had wanted to retire to Israel.

“It was the only place I was ever happy as a child,” she said.

Blair said she hopes to bring her mother’s ashes to Israel.

“Israel has always been the joy at the back of my mind,” she said. “I never viewed Zionism as that dirty Z word. I am a Zionist.”

She added that her father’s family were some of the country’s first founders before emigrating to the United States.

“I think Jews know the gravity of life and the joy and the wonder,” she said. “October 7 was a real attack on me as a Jew, as a person.”

“As a people, we are not perfect, but I know as a people we do our best, and I am more proud than ever to be a humble Jewish woman and pray we are all here for each other,” said Blair.