The actor Selma Blair was arrested on Sunday at John F Kennedy airport in New York after she allegedly attacked two flight attendants on a Delta Air Lines flight, and separately charged with two counts of assault for allegedly kicking a police officer and a nurse after landing.
Blair’s arrest happened at about 11pm, after Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials said they responded to a call “about a physically abusive passenger aboard Delta Air Lines flight 938 which was parked at the gate” at JFK after arriving from Los Angeles.
The 54-year-old “was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for evaluation”, the port authority said on Monday. “Two flight attendants also reported injuries, and one was transported to the hospital for further evaluation.”
Several news outlets on Monday reported that Blair allegedly punched a flight attendant, bit another and tried to open the airplane door.
The Guardian has reached out to Blair’s representatives for additional comment. Her publicist told the Hollywood Reporter: “Selma experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct. Upon landing, she received immediate medical attention and is [now] in stable condition.”
The FBI, which handles reports of crimes on airplanes, has issued Blair a notice charging her with assault related to her actions aboard the aircraft, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Those charges will be handled through the petty violations court in federal court in Brooklyn. No date has been set for Blair’s appearance.
Separately, Blair was charged on Monday night at a court in Queens with two counts of second-degree assault, for allegedly assaulting a police officer who was taking her to hospital after the flight, as well as a nurse after she arrived there.
In charging documents, a police officer taking her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center alleged 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. A nurse who was moving Blair in hospital alleged the actor then kicked her in the chest, causing substantial pain.
On Monday night, a judge set Blair’s bail at $20,000 cash or $60,000 bond and set the next hearing for January. Blair then left court with her lawyers.
Details of what happened aboard the aircraft weren’t immediately disclosed by the airline, police or the FBI, which was investigating, but a Delta spokesperson said the airline “has zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior, as the safety of our customers and crew always comes first”.
An air traffic control audio recording from the flight Blair was on captured the pilot saying “one flight attendant and one passenger … sustained some minor injuries – a bloody nose as well as some bite marks”.
“I don’t think we need an ambulance or anything like that – but we just want to get some medical personnel at the gate to look at their injuries,” the pilot said, according to the recording, a copy of which was published by NBC Los Angeles.
The flight controller replied that paramedics were approaching the gate – and that law enforcement was already there.
Sunday marked at least the second time Blair was reported to be involved in an incident on a plane. In 2016, she reportedly began screaming uncontrollably before being removed on a stretcher while on a Los Angeles-bound flight from Cancún, Mexico.
Blair apologized after the earlier episode, saying that she “mixed alcohol with medication”.
“That caused me to black out and led me to say and do things that I deeply regret,” Blair said at the time.
The actor has also made news headlines for a 2018 multiple sclerosis diagnosis. And in February 2024, she apologized for an Islamophobic comment on social media.
Blair’s starring film credits include Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde and Hellboy. She earned a best spoken world album for children nomination at the 2011 Grammy awards for her work on Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl – The Definitive Edition.
