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Actor Selma Blair was arrested late Sunday after she was accused of injuring two flight attendants on a trip from Los Angeles to New York. She also faces charges that she assaulted a police officer and a nurse after she was taken to hospital.
Blair, 54, was taken into custody at about 11 p.m. ET on Sunday when the Delta Air Lines plane was parked at the gate at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.
Blair and one of the flight attendants were taken to hospital for evaluation, the port authority said.
A police officer taking her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center said in charging documents that while she was securing Blair to a stretcher, Blair pulled a leg from the straps and kicked her repeatedly around the face, neck and chest, causing serious pain and substantial swelling. Later, a nurse moving Blair said the actor kicked her in the chest, causing substantial pain.
She was arraigned on two counts of second-degree assault late Monday at a court in Queens, where a judge set her bail at $20,000 US cash or $60,000 US bond and set the next hearing for January.
Blair was taken into custody late Sunday night after her plane landed at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, shown on June 24. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
A representative for Blair told The Associated Press that the actor had a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct.
Details of what happened aboard the aircraft weren’t immediately disclosed by the airline, police or the FBI, which was investigating, but Delta said in a statement it “has zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior, as the safety of our customers and crew always comes first.”
It’s not the first time Blair — who had major roles in such films as 1999’s Cruel Intentions, 2001’s Legally Blonde and 2004’s Hellboy — has had issues aboard a plane.
In 2016, Blair apologized for making statements she regretted on a flight from Cancun to Los Angeles, saying that she mixed alcohol with medication, which made her black out.
In recent years, Blair, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018, has been an advocate for disability rights. In 2023, she joined then-president Joe Biden at the White House to celebrate the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.