New York – Actress Selma Blair was arrested for injuring two flight attendants during a trip from Los Angeles to New York. He was also accused of assaulting a police officer who took him to the hospital on Monday and a nurse after arriving there.
Blair, 54, was taken into custody by police around 11 p.m. Sunday while the Delta Air Lines jet was parked at a gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement. His representatives said he suffered a serious medical emergency while traveling on the plane.
Blair and a flight attendant were taken to the hospital for evaluation, the Port Authority said.
A police officer who took her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center said in charging documents that while she was securing Blair on a stretcher, Blair pulled one leg from the straps and kicked her repeatedly in the face, neck and chest, causing severe pain and considerable swelling. Later, a nurse caring for Blair said that the actor kicked her in the chest, causing severe pain.
He was arraigned late Monday in a Queens court on two counts of second-degree assault. She appeared to cry as she stood in court in handcuffs, wearing jeans and a white hooded sweatshirt.
One of his attorneys, Shawn Barnes, told the judge that his actions were not intentional. According to the New York Daily News and the New York Post, they said the actor, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, missed several doses of “a powerful drug that controls severe neurological symptoms.”
She said that after a heavy workload, she boarded a flight to Los Angeles and suffered a head injury during the flight. He said that these factors, along with the altitude, created “a state of severe confusion and disorientation”.
The judge set him bail at $20,000 cash or $60,000 bond and set his next hearing for January. She walked out of the court with her lawyers.
Details of what happened on the plane were not immediately released by the airline, police or the FBI, which is investigating, but Delta said in a statement that it “has zero tolerance for unruly or illegal behavior, as the safety of our customers and crew always comes first.”
In air traffic communications, the Delta pilot asked the tower to wait for medical personnel at the gate to treat bite marks and a bleeding nose, but said ambulances were not necessary.
“It looks like the disruptive passenger also hit his head on the bulkhead or something like that,” the pilot told the tower, according to audio posted on the ATC app. “So we obviously have to potentially investigate that and involve law enforcement as well.”
The FBI also issued a notice to charge Blair with assault related to his actions on the plane, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
Those charges will be handled through minor infractions court in federal court in Brooklyn. No date has been set for Blair’s appearance.
This is not the first time Blair has had trouble on a plane. In 2016, Blair apologized for statements he made during a flight from Cancún to Los Angeles, which he later regretted. She said she mixed alcohol with the medicine, which caused her blackout.
Blair had major roles in films including 1999’s “Cruel Intentions”, 2001’s “Legally Blonde” and 2004’s “Hellboy”.
In recent years, he has advocated for disability rights. In 2018, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In 2023, she joined President Joe Biden at the White House to commemorate the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Yamat reported from Las Vegas and Dalton from Los Angeles. Transportation writer Josh Funk also contributed to this report.
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