custody. goodnight. this is "nightline." tonight, nfl bombshell. the raiders head coach stepping down after his offensive emails surface. plus, selma blair, opening up about her struggles with m.s. and her experimental treatment. >> if i were to die, i was so tired. >> unfiltered and honest in a new documentary. >> i'm so sorry, i can't talk right now. we're shooting the final days of my life. >> what she wants the world to know. and the hugely popular squid game. the record breaking, spine tingling south korean horror show based on children's games. why the survival drama is so addictive.

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♪ ♪ thanks for joining us. one of the nfl's most well-known head coaches jon gruden, announcing his resignation just hours ago, following the

controversy over reports of his emails containing racist, sexist and homophobic slurs. gruden, in the middle of a ten-year, $100 million contract, stepping down, saying i'm sorry, i never meant to hurt anyone. we turn now to a story that's truly inspiring. selma blair's break threw to stardom came in the smash hit "cruel intentions." but her life took an unexpected turn back in 2018 when she got the devastating diagnosis of ms. tonight, her brave and candid conversation with abc's robin roberts on how she's learning to live her life differently. >> i've gained way more than losses, and i do things that can sometimes be embarrassing, but this is part of it that i do want to show, because that's the part that's healing and perfect and acceptance. the glitches, maybe some of the speech. >> reporter: three years after revealing her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, this is selma blair

like you've never seen her before. now embracing her second act, confronting her disease, with gratitude and grace. >> that was really hard. >> at this very moment, how are you? >> at this very moment, i'm great. and it is important to say at this very moment, and i don't want to be complaining, although i say i have no complaints. but do you have a minute? my brain is knew logically freel but i do have volume loss and prefontal damage that i take medicine for throughout the day. oh, hi, vivian kinsington. >> reporter: the actress known for "legally blonde" and "cruel intentions." >> i can't talk right now, because we're shooting the final days of my life. >> reporter: is on screen once again and introducing selma

blair on discovery plus, a raw documentary pulling back the curtain on her journey with ms. >> the options ran out. a stem cell transplant is something that's going to help me, if anything will. >> what made you decide to tell your story in this format with the documentary? >> i think i've seen how much vulnerability and honesty and a way through helped other people, truly. >> reporter: the cameras focusing on her 2019 stem cell transplant. a still experimental ms therapy that she hopes may help reboot her immune system. but it is not a cure. >> everything is so blurry. >> reporter: as part of the treatment plan, selma first began with grueling rounds of chemo. >> i was mortally afraid of chemo my whole life. i've always gone wholistic, when

i can. the next day i was on the plane, talking clearly, that quick. and then the inflammation started to go down. so it was a yes. i'm going today to northwestern, and i'm going to go through stem cell transplant. i think i'm scared to talk about it, because i don't know what to expect and i'm -- i have told people in my life that i'm doing this, but i'm -- i don't know if it's -- if it's going to be so much easier than i expect or if it's going to be a darkness that i'm not prepared for or god forbid, which i don't really believe, but if i die, and then i'm not -- i won't come back to this house or my son or my dog. it wasn't an obsession that i would die, but it realigns me.

it had me to be more purposeful. if i did die, i was ready. i was so tired. i'm so glad i didn't die. it will come. it will come for all of us. but it will. it's a part of our life. when i talk to a woman who didn't have really wonderful results, she said a woman she did it with died. she got like a fungal infection. and she, you know, had kids and my age may be a little younger, and within two days, she died. i think she said that the woman had given up, because it was too painful, like she didn't want to make it through any more. and i really pray that that's not a mindset that i adopt. >> how is your life different post stem cell transplant compared to pre?

>> i am a different person. i chose this as a marker in my life to want to live, to want to be a person that can show other people with chronic illness, that resilience is possible. >> are there still stressors? >> like i still -- like i'm learning all the time. i don't want people to think everything is downhill because you have a limp or can't feel something. it's not a monolith. it's all part of the recovery. it's still morphing. >> reporter: selma first shared her diagnosis on instagram in 2018, writing -- >> reporter: months later, we spoke about her daily life with the disease, that left her speech and movement dramatically altered. >> when i first got ms, i had no idea what it was or how it would

affect me. it is interesting to put it out there, to be here to say this is what my particular case looks like right now. and it could be very different in a year, for the better. >> reporter: in the documentary, viewers get an up close and personal look at her life, a journey that at times is joyful when she plays dodge ball with her son, arthur. and heart wrenching. >> i said to arthur before i came to chicago, does anything make you feel nervous? about me doing this? and he said, i don't want you to lose your hair. and i said, well, then, i'll just have you cut it so it's not so surprising to you. so he said, cool. >> arthur, so intimate before chemo when he shaved your head,

all your hair. >> yeah. >> how is he handling everything? >> great. totally great. he keeps me not young, that ship has sailed. but he keeps me trying harder than i might. but he's -- he's wonderful and he's happy. he's a happy person. >> reporter: the film takes an intimate look at selma's relationship with her beloved mother, who passed in 2020 during filming. >> did you like me when i was a baby? you loved me, right? >> i was wondering why i was afraid of you. >> what would your mother think about the film? >> one, she would say -- she would be furious that i didn't put on the dog, you know, that i'm not made up, but i think she would be proud. and i do wish that she would see

that now i would love her in a different way. i didn't feel well my whole life. i wish she could see that i'm okay. >> what are the doctors saying to you now? what are they -- >> i have had some mris and, yeah, everything is going down, getting smaller. i do low-dose chemo still, and i might forever to keep inflammation down. because i still have ms, but i don't have it progressing right now. >> return to acting? >> you know, i would love -- i have a whole different person to bring to it. i used to want to play a a a a a but we're working on stamina,

i'm not looking but god knows i would never say i wouldn't dream of being a part of an amazing set one day. >> reporter: though acting as take an back seat to treatment for now, selma's ties to hollywood remain strong. her triumphant return to the red carpet with a cane came ten months after her diagnosis at the 2019 oscar's "vanity fair" after party. >> to see them put down their cameras and stop getting what they want and help the person on the other side. it didn't last long. but it was really moving, genuine moment. to see what it did for her was incredible. it's a real vulnerability to kind of have the strength to do

that, to go to that party. >> and i felt for the first time respect as a human being. i was an actress in hollywood. not that i felt disrespect. i have no gripes about hollywood. but it was really an intense moment to see people take the time for someone that was really just trying to rebalance themselves and taking a moment and that was a huge gift to me and other people. ♪ ♪ >> what do you want them to come away thinking and feeling? >> i think just feeling. i really didn't like feeling for so long, until a lot of my physical feeling got altered. and emotional. and when covid happened, i felt like this film spoke to everybody. i no longer at all considered my

ms. i considered where we are in the world and how i will keep up. we're not special. we have to take care of ourselves, and be patient. and better times come. maybe not for good. maybe it's not a cure, but more than not. better times will come. we're meant to have joy on this earth and take care of each other. i never felt that before. >> our thanks to robin. introducing selma blair is in theaters on friday and streams on discovery plus october 21st. up next, we go inside south korea's latest hot export, squid game. alright, here we go, miller in motion. wha — wait, wait, is that a... baby on the field?? it looks like it, craig. and the defensive linemen are playing peek-a-boo. i've never seen anything like that before. harris now appears to be burping the baby. that's a great moment right there. the ref going to the rule book here. what, wait a minute! harris is off to the races!

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♪ ♪ squid game is not like anything else on television. think "hunger games" meets parasite. a gory thriller, on track to be the most watched streaming sensation ever. the series pits contestants against each other in a life and death struggle for survival, and riches. it's the macabre thriller taking the world by storm. squid game, the latest south korean cultural export. since premiering last month on netflix, the dazzling visuals and moments of stunning brutality making it the number one streaming show in over 90 countries. and climbing. "squid game" is about a group of down on their luck contestants who are in so much debt they

risk their lives to compete in life and death versions of classic children's games, like red light, green light. at stake, survival and 38 million. hol we halloween masks already popping up on sites. sales for white band slip-ones spiking 7800%. language learning app up 40% in the u.s., with new users wanting to learn korean. and squid game challenges going viral on tiktok. >> i'll be right back. let me get another cookie. >> as people attempt their own versions of the typically korean games. even jimmy fallon doing his own cookie challenge before interviewing the cast on his show.

>> i think the mania for "squid game" is unprecedented and yet at the same time, it's something that we have been building up towards as a culture. people have been entering things they might not have before. >> reporter: while the show is on track to surpass "bridgerton," netflix's most watched series of all time, there is backlash in south korea, as it highlights the desperate inequality, lack of affordable housing, and the pressure for perfection, all hitting a bit too close for comfort. >> the social issues with "squid game" are very specific and globally specific. there's a character who represents undocumented immigrants. there's a character who represents elderly poverty. and a character that went to the best university in korea and turned to financial crime.

those are all stock characters that people can really see represented in their own societies. if some korean viewers find this hitting too close to home, i think it makes sense. >> reporter: none the less "squid game" is the latest in south korea's growing global cultural influence. movies like "parasite," and popp phenomenon bts. all contributing to a worldwide appreciation for korean tastes. in the three weeks following the show's premiere, contestant 67 in the series has grown from having 400,000 followers on instagram to an astounding 19 million. even becoming a brand ambassador for louis vataillon. and spurring debates over the best viewer experience for non-korean speakers. whether the show's translation is more accurate in locally dubbed versions like spanish or

german -- or more nuanced in subtitles. the oscar winner and writer and director even tweeting, you don't have to watch "squid game" in english. the themes and violence subject matter resonating with viewers, who may be looking for an escape from the world that sometimes feels out of control. >> i think it's great to have as much access to cultures and tv shows and art products that are not our own. and i am really looking forward to what kind of influence "squid game" might have on a better shows going forward. up next, the florida homecoming queen making history. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva.

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♪ ♪ to bring you this story in honor of national coming out day. evan bialosuknia came out as

trans just a few mons ago and wasn't sure what would happen when she competd for homecoming. then she made history. the high school posting this video of her fellow student's delight. at florida's first transgender homecoming queen. happy coming out day. that's "nightline." you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. see you back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.