Actress Selma Blair “did not intend to harm anyone” after being accused of assaulting multiple people during a flight to New York, her publicist said, adding there is “much more to this story.”
Charges and injuries reported
Blair, 54, was arrested after the Sunday evening incident on a Delta Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York and taken to a hospital. The FBI issued her a federal summons for a charge of assault within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States related to the on‑board altercation, according to the BBC report. Two additional assault charges were filed in state court after she was removed from the plane; she pleaded not guilty to those charges and was released on bail.
New York Port Authority officials said they responded to a call about “a physically abusive passenger” and that two flight attendants were hurt, with one taken to a hospital. A pilot requested medical help, describing “a bloody nose” and “some bite marks,” according to air‑traffic audio obtained by CBS News.
Blair’s account and health context
Blair’s publicist said the actress “experienced a medical emergency on the flight” and continues to fight multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic illness Blair disclosed in 2018. Although Blair announced in 2021 that she was in remission, the statement noted she “still has bad days.” The publicist also said Blair has pseudobulbar affect (PBA), a neurological condition that can cause sudden, involuntary episodes of laughing, crying, or anger that do not match how a person feels, as described by the US National Institutes of Health.
Her team said the public account of the incident was built “almost entirely on a police statement and a decade‑old headline,” and denied media reports that Blair tried to open an aircraft door. “Selma had never been arrested before Sunday night,” the publicist said, urging people to consider all facts before drawing conclusions.
