Selma Blair faces state and federal assault allegations after a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to New York ended with her arrest at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Police detained the 54-year-old actress at about 11 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, once Delta Flight 938 reached its gate. The Port Authority said two flight attendants reported injuries, and one went to a hospital. A law enforcement source said Blair bit one crew member and left another with lacerations, and that she needed plastic restraints. Reports that she tried to open a cabin door in flight and punched an attendant came from entertainment media. Delta could not corroborate that detail.
Trouble continued on the ground. Prosecutors say Blair kicked a Port Authority officer as he strapped her to a stretcher, then kicked a nurse in the chest hours later while receiving treatment at Jamaica Hospital. On Monday, a Queens Criminal Court judge heard two counts of second-degree assault. Blair pleaded not guilty and walked out on $20,000 bail.
A separate federal track is open. The FBI issued her a violation notice for assault within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, a case destined for the petty violations court in Brooklyn. No appearance date had been set when the notice surfaced. The FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
Blair’s camp rejects any picture of deliberate violence. A representative said she suffered “a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct.” Her attorney told the court the episode grew from exhaustion and a medical crisis, without detailing it. Blair has spoken publicly for years about living with multiple sclerosis. Delta stressed that crew and passenger safety comes first and that it tolerates no unruly behavior.
Scrutiny of Blair on aircraft is not new. In 2016, she was carried off a Cancun-to-Los Angeles flight on a stretcher, then apologized and said she had mixed alcohol with medication and blacked out.
