Selma Blair is not a Muslim but a Jewish. She actively participates in Jewish traditions and rituals, following the faith she identifies with.
Selma Blair, the American actress, has earned widespread acclaim for her roles in “Legally Blonde,” “Cruel Intentions,” “The Sweetest Thing,” and the “Hellboy” franchise.
Her professional acting journey commenced with a role in a 1995 episode of the children’s sitcom “The Adventures of Pete & Pete.”
Afterward, she went on to star in several films and TV series, including “The Deal,” “Feast of Love,” “The Family Tree,” “After We Collided,” “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” and additional projects.
In 2021, she appeared in “Introducing, Selma Blair,” a documentary chronicling her life following her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis.
Her autobiography, “Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up,” was released by Knopf in 2022.
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Is Selma Blair Muslim?
Selma Blair is Jewish and does not practice Islam. She embraces Judaism and, despite her deep Jewish roots, mentioned in an interview, “I never felt Jewish enough.”
She was born on June 23, 1972, to Elliot I. Beitner and Molly Ann. Growing up, she shared her upbringing with three older sisters: Katherine, Marie, and Elizabeth.
Originally from Southfield, Michigan, she was born to a Christian mother and a Jewish father.
Her maternal grandfather, James H. Cook, was Jewish by faith while her Scottish maternal grandmother, Lillian Frances Minor, was a follower of Anglicanism.
Selma and her sisters were raised in a Jewish environment, and Selma completed a formal conversion to Judaism in the second grade, adopting the Hebrew name ‘Bat-Sheva’.
She enrolled in Hillel Day School, a Jewish educational institution in Michigan, which served as a convenient choice and a tribute to Blair’s father’s Jewish lineage.
In the insightful memoir “Mean Baby,” actress, activist, and Jewish mom Selma Blair explores the intricate role of Judaism in her family.
Despite its challenges, she confidently declares, “I am and always will be Jewish,” giving the book an unexpectedly strong Jewish flavor.
Her autobiography “Mean Baby” provides a brutally honest and sometimes puzzling portrayal of her challenging life, deeply influenced by her strong Jewish upbringing.
Selma was 23 when her parents divorced, prompting her to abandon her father’s surname.
Blair reminisces about her mother's contradictory statements, encouraging her to adopt Judaism while also suggesting that she could never truly belong to the Jewish faith.
Selma and her sister Elizabeth legally changed their last name to ‘Blair.’ In her memoir, she revealed that due to her father’s girlfriend’s attempts to sabotage her career, she didn’t speak to her father for 12 years.
Within the book, Blair recalls that she went without a name for the initial years of her life.
Ultimately, Blair’s mother chose to name her Selma after a friend who had passed away shortly after her birth — “in the Jewish tradition, babies are never named after a living person,” she explains in the book.
Anne Frank was a significant person she encountered at a Jewish day school. Blair reflects in her book, “Anne was my glorified shadow, trapped, and optimistic.”
While her religious identity is firmly rooted in Judaism, she has not identified as Muslim.
Selma Blair Faces Backlash For Islamophobic Comment
Selma Blair, who follows Judaism, is facing criticism following the circulation of a deleted Instagram comment containing Islamophobic rhetoric that went viral.
She removed a comment from the user profile of Abraham Hamra, who, in defense of the Jewish community, called out the U.S. Representatives over the increased anti-Semitism following Hamas’ terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023.
Blair wrote in her now-deleted comment: “Deport all these terrorist-supporting goons. Islam has destroyed Muslim countries and then they come here and destroy minds. They know they are liars. Twisted justifications. May they meet their fate.”
Although the comment was removed afterward, netizens captured a screenshot and initiated its circulation online, exposing Blair’s evident Islamophobia.
She issued an apology on February 13, 2024, acknowledging what she described as an error in judgment, following widespread condemnation of comments deemed Islamophobic that circulated earlier this month.
Blair wrote on Instagram:
I mistakenly and inadvertently conflated Muslims with Radical Islamists and fundamentalists, a terrible err in my words, and resulted in hurting countless people I never meant to, and I deeply regret this.
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