Selma Blair’s most loyal companion is not fully versed in red-carpet etiquette. At the Vanity Fair Oscar Party last year, Scout the yellow Labrador showed perhaps too keen an interest in the actress Laverne Cox as she and Selma caught up. “He almost pawed her Mugler,” Selma tells HELLO!. “She was regal about it, but… paws off the finery, Scout!”
Selma, 53, shot to fame after appearing in the 1999 film Cruel Intentions, going on to star in Legally Blonde and the Hellboy franchise. Two decades later, her appearance at the Academy Awards in 2019, when the visibly emotional actress took to the red carpet with the help of a diamond-encrusted walking stick, made headlines around the world.
It came just four months after she announced on Instagram that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an incurable autoimmune condition that causes the body to attack the nerves in the brain and spinal cord.
“I am disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken GPS,” she wrote, adding that it was likely that she had been living with the disease for at least 15 years before her diagnosis.
Now, however, she has Scout, her five-year-old English red fox Labrador, by her side. Her beloved dog’s presence has made events such as the Tribeca Film Festival and the Emmy Nominees Night in 2024 a “highlight of her life”.
“I am in a friendly profession, and when I take him to events, he is very loved,” she says. At last year’s Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Scout was the star of the show as he posed with the likes of Justin Theroux, Chrissy Teigen and Michael Keaton.
“I watch the joy of these admired stars enjoying dog love at these stressful but chic events. He is my love language, and most people are disappointed when I turn up without him.”
© WireImage for Vanity FairSelma and Arthur, her 14-year-old son with her former partner, the fashion designer Jason Bleick, welcomed Scout into their family in 2021. “I met Scout when he was just a bobble-headed puppy, but didn’t take him home until he was a year and a half old and had just passed his exams and graduated,” she tells us.
“I was having speech and gait challenges, and when I went out by myself, it could be daunting. My neurologist and I decided that it could be a good solution to make me feel safer and supported. My son liked the idea for me, too.”
Puppy love
Although Selma has undergone extensive treatment and is now in remission, Scout is on hand to provide support when she needs it. “He has come to understand my movements and speech. If he senses any fatigue, he will alert me and help me to sit down, to make sure I’m safe,” she says.
“He is a counterbalance when I’m walking, and when vested, he’s telling people that I may need a wider berth. And Scout is so steady and calm; no noise or helicopters or lights fluster him.
“He is there for me, alert and patient at those times, because he knows I may be overwhelmed. We’ve grown into a rhythm that always impresses people, because he seems just like a big loving dog, but he can be quite serious.”
© WireImage for Vanity FairScout has changed her life, she says, and the two are rarely separated. “My heart hurts when we’re apart,” Selma says. “He depends on me to do his job, and sometimes I wholly depend on him to help me. Sometimes, getting out of bed takes strength after resting. We’ve been so fortunate to have him love me and calm my nervous system now that I travel so much.”
Selma identifies herself as “Scout’s person”, but he also has a strong bond with her son. “He loves Arthur,” she says, describing a game called “Where’s Arthur?” that the family play.
“He is my love language, and most people are disappointed when I turn up without him”
“Scout goes nuts and will find him and just eat him up – almost literally. We must guard our faces, as his enthusiasm is off the charts.”
Away from the red carpet, Scout can be found “running his drills” and savouring long walks. “Unlike other labs, he’s afraid of the water, but he loves running on the beach and playing,” Selma says, describing him as “a dignified clown”.
“He is loving to all beings, but is terribly strong. If I don’t have him in ‘side mode’ – unvested and casual – he can still be a big puppy.”
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