Selma Blair, who battled alcoholism for years, says she was just a child when she got drunk for the first time.
Blair –author of the new memoir Mean Baby—discussed her past struggles with Today's Savannah Guthrie on May 11.
The Cruel Intentions actress recalled getting drunk for the first time at age 7. I had my first drinks much younger," Blair added. "Even as a little kid, you're like, that's a comfort."
In the book, Blair also wrote that she had been raped multiple times, and that the assaults contributed to her addiction. "These were the things I drank to forget. I didn't drink for attention: I drank to disappear," she wrote in her book. The actress said she drank heavily throughout elementary school, middle school, high school and college and that the desire to drink often stayed with her for more than 20 years, Today reported.
"It was hard, "she told Guthrie. "I don't know. But maybe it was easier. Maybe I never would have survived without a drink."
Blair—who shares son Arthur, 10, with ex Jason Bleick—has spoken before about her battle with alcoholism before but had never gone into detail. In 2018, she wrote on Instagram that she was "two years sober."
According to Today, Blair said she hasn't had a drink since 2016, when she was removed from a flight from Mexico upon its arrival in Los Angeles and taken to a hospital. Following the incident, she said in a statement to Vanity Fair she "made a big mistake," adding, "After a lovely trip with my son and his Dad, I mixed alcohol with medication, and that caused me to black out and led me to say and do things that I deeply regret."
When asked what made her conquer her alcohol addiction, Blair told Guthrie, "I could have died on that plane. Now that I was a mother, it just changed everything. It changed everything."
Blair's book Mean Baby, which also documents her battle with multiple sclerosis, is set for release on May 17.