Back in June of this year, Selma Blair was involved in a really disturbing incident on a plane traveling from Mexico to LA. She had been on vacation with her former partner and their son, and she apparently took a pill and mixed it with some alcohol and she had some kind of breakdown and blackout. She was taken off the plane and treated, and a day later she issued a public apology and an explanation. She sounded truly horrified by what she had done and said. Selma appeared on The Talk this week and she was asked about the situation from June. Her explanation sounds solid, although… I don’t know. I’ll let you judge for yourselves.
Selma Blair is opening up about her plane incident that made front-page headlines earlier this summer. During an appearance on The Talk Wednesday afternoon, the actress shed some light on what really happened as she flew from Mexico to Los Angeles.
“I am someone who should never drink and I rarely do and I don’t drink anymore, but I did. I was going through something. I had a glass of wine, someone gave me a pill that I thought was something that I had taken before, which I don’t take on a regular basis. It was something completely different. It was a very bad choice and I had a total psychotic blackout. It was horrible and frightening and I had empathy for myself actually afterwards because actually it was so out of character for me, especially now that I am a mother.”
Contrary to reports, Selma told viewers Wednesday afternoon that she was taken to a clinic instead of the hospital where she was given an IV and an assessment. She was able to go home two hours later.
“My son was with his father and he had slept through it. I knew he was going to sleep. He had headphones on and that’s why I took this pill…bad choice all around,” Selma admitted. “Totally own it, it will not happen again.”
If the actress is offered a glass of alcohol today, she will politely decline. And if you keep asking, she has one joke ready to go: “Google me.”
“I keep it alive in me with me every day,” she shared with Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler and the rest of the co-hosts. “I forgive myself, but I keep it alive like things can go really wrong and humiliating.”
The thing about the incident was that she was the biggest threat to herself and no one else – unlucky so many entitled jackasses, she wasn’t threatening anyone or trying to hurt anyone. I believe she really did have a blackout and she had no idea what she was saying or doing. That being said, it’s still shady that she just took someone else’s pill and threw back some liquor. She’s apologized and she’s talked about the shame she feels, but she’s so quick to say that she’s “forgiven” herself. Like, is that the most important thing? Are we all supposed to say, “Oh, it’s fine then, she’s forgiven herself!”
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Lol Idk something about saying “I forgive myself for what I did” has always struck me as Laughable self helpy language eating itself, pretty much no matter who says it
Yes. So eye-rolly. Keep it to yourself!
Agreed. It’s like someone saying about themselves “I’m the nicest person” or “I’m beautiful”. There’s an element of self-aggrandizing. You don’t get to say those things about yourself. It has to come from someone else or it’s not objective or believable.
Yeah….I’m going to say it was more than “one” drink, and more than “one” pill to get her to the point of total psychotic blackout. Just my opinion…
Not an opinion…a FACT. One drink and one pill will not cause a “total psychotic blackout”
Don’t be ridiculous, of course it can. Screaming “FACT” doesn’t make something true. We know nothing about this woman’s medical history, allergies, mental health history, etc. or what the pill is.
I was hospitalised from taking a single over the counter painkiller once.
One of my closest friends was Sectioned with a psychotic episode from taking Prozac (prescribed by accident; it’s known to spark manic episodes in people with bipolar).
Sure it can. You have to be really careful when mixing psychotropics with pretty much ANY other medication. You can yell FACT all you want, but this psychiatrist is telling you that it’s not a FACT.
Word.
If she is managing a severe mental illness with medication, then perhaps the “one pill, one drink” story is true. There are some pretty powerful medicines that could/probably preceded this incident. And I am side-eyeing the former partner re the pill.
They had just been on vacation together she said she had “been through” something (stressful trip with the ex and a toddler?) and he’s like, “Here, babe, take this and take a nap” without understanding how meds mix.
Speculation but it’s what I think. Besides, she was so apeshit in love with him but she deteriorated pretty quickly in that relationship.
One pill of Ambien and one drink can cause exactly what happened to her.
True. The danger of Ambien has been covered up well.
Absolutely. One Ambien and NO drink can also cause some pretty serious issues. I NEVER prescribe Ambien. Ever.
I was prescribed Ambien while going through a prolonged period of really bad insomnia due to stress and work travel. I took half a pill the first time, woke up 10 hours later and felt completely high the rest of the day. And the day after that people kept referencing conversations I had no memory of. NEVER again, Ambien. I now just take Tylenol PM if needed.
I also have pretty vivid nightmares and/or night terrors when taking Malarone (antimalarial), but taking it is sort of unavoidable given the places I work. Xanax in anything but really small doses can also give me memory loss.
People metabolize medications and react differently–don’t be so quick to judge.
Yah. I’m trying not to side-eye, but I can’t help it. I don’t believe it was just one pill or just one drink and I don’t say that because just one drink and one pill mixed can’t have that affect – I know it can with some people depending on the ‘pill’. I just don’t believe it in regards to her incident. There were photos of her on that vacation before any of that jet incident and she looked zoned out. She’s been uber skinny for the last decade and she didn’t used to be that way. It wasn’t until after she had her son that she became skeletal. I suspect she had help via ‘pills’.
PS – what’s’ up with all the plane and jet melt-downs in the last year?
I agree. I don’t buy the whole “I rarely drank” statement considering how she looked in the photos from the vacation preceding the incident. It’s common to understate the amount of alcohol or drugs involved but don’t say you own it then if not being entirely truthful
I don’t usually drink and I don’t usually even take asprliri
That’s nice. I’d forgotten all about her “episode” (and probably so had everyone else) until SHE brought it up again. Thirst.
Taking medication with alcohol is never a good idea. Neither is taking a pill from someone else and assuming you know what it is. I once donated plasma and met some friends for a drink afterward. I had one glass of wine and was found slumped against a wall by the bathroom. I had to be carried out of the restaurant. Thankfully this was before people were recording every event on their phones. Very bad judgement on my part. At least she didn’t abuse or attack anyone on the flight and her son was with his Dad. I have my doubts about the one drink, one pill claim. That would probably cause you to fall asleep. rather then have a total breakdown.
I don’t think it was one drink but one pill I can believe, if you don’t take it regularly or don’t go right to sleep, I buy completely. Just ambien messed me up. I used to cook meals for hours at night while my family slept after taking it and not going right to bed. I used knives and fire and I even cleaned up! I know people who it works for who have no issues. For me, it was a baaaaaad thing. I have more than once seen three drinks at the Club, hop on the plane, pop a pill and freak out an hour later.
An instance of one bad decision. We all make mistakes, and thank God her child was sleeping. We are all human. Who hasn’t done something stupid in their lives? Everyone should recognize that and just move on. Blair sounds like a responsible person who had an instance of poor judgement, was taken to task for it, has owned it, and wants to move on with her life. Let’s let her do it!
We had moved on. Is publicly announcing you “forgive yourself” the new thing now? Because God help us all if it becomes a trend.
She was partying/relapsed. And had a bad reaction. I get it. But enough of the forgive myself. Who cares?????
Well I know for a fact one drink and one pill can have a blackout effect – it happened to me once when I took a very small dose of prescribed Xanax for an overseas flight, and also had ONE glass of wine. I don’t remember anything….when I finally came out of the haze it was shocking and frightening. .First and last time I ever did that!!!! Some people are truly more sensitive than others
The weirdest and most disturbing issue to me though, were the things Selma was saying during her blackout…. “He burns my private parts” (?) “he won’t let me eat or drink” (?) that’s terrifying and IMO signals some past/current abuse?
Did she address that on the show or no? Not like she should be expected to or that anyone deserves an explanation….I’m just curious
It COULD be an indication of previous trauma, sure. Or she could have read a book or seen a movie, or prepped for a role. Seeing as it’s a one-off, we’ll probably never know. Hopefully it’s not from anything real. I think she handled the incident aftermath as well as possible: addressed it, took it seriously, apologized, made sure her son was ok.
That’s very true! Didn’t think of the possibility of her studying for a role, etc.
Totally agree with you – think she handled it as gracefully as possible!
I get night terrors when I take Malarone, and I’ve yelled out some pretty terrible things in my sleep. I don’t remember them, but I’m told I’ve screamed about someone strangling me or trying to drag me away. It’s usually about someone trying to kill me or hurt me. No abuse or terrible experiences in my past. Sometimes these meds can tap into a part of the brain where your worst fears are.
I read “I’ve forgiven myself” as “I messed up and I’m over it. Don’t care what you think. It was work I had to do internally and don’t need your permission to move on”. And I’m ok with her doing that.