A spokesperson for Selma Blair has spoken out after she was arrested for allegedly injuring two flight attendants while experiencing a mid-flight “medical emergency.”
“Since Sunday night, the public account of what happened to Selma aboard a flight to New York has been built almost entirely on a police statement and a decade-old headline,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Us on Friday, October 16. “A handful of journalists have taken the time to report on Selma as a human being rather than a headline, and we are grateful to them. But fair reporting has been the exception, and in the space left by our silence, speculation has hardened into something being treated as fact.”
Blair, 54, was arrested at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and was subsequently taken to a hospital after an alleged altercation with crew members on a Delta Airlines flight on Sunday, October 11.
The statement continued, “We can, however, correct the record on a few points already in public circulation. Selma Blair experienced a medical emergency on the flight. There was no attempt to open the door of the aircraft. Selma did not intend to harm anyone.”
Her rep added that “the suggestion by anyone that Selma does not have multiple sclerosis is outrageous.”
“Her diagnosis has been public since 2018. What Selma has been able to do physically in the years since is nothing short of a miracle,” the statement noted. “She still has bad days, and she lives with pain daily. Selma also has pseudobulbar affect, a neurological condition secondary to her MS, which bears directly on how a medical episode presents to people who do not know her. For the same reason, she travels with a service dog who doesn’t leave her side, and the authorities took her dog from her.”
The statement noted that Blair “has worked on seven film and television projects in 2026 alone, only a couple of which have been announced. She has launched a skin care line, a clothing line, and a line of eye-glass readers, each built around the idea of beauty and utility for people whose bodies do not always cooperate. She remains a visible and relentless advocate for disability rights, for the MS community, and this year for the Jewish community in the face of rising antisemitism, including from the stage of the ADL’s State of the Arts event at The Jewish Museum two weeks ago. Selma had never been arrested before Sunday night.”
Her rep concluded, “There is much more to this story than has been reported, and we ask to consider the entirety of the facts before rushing to judgment, whether in the courtroom or in the court of public opinion.”
Us confirmed on October 12 that Blair pleaded not guilty after being charged with two counts of assault, one on a police officer and another on a nurse. (Her next court hearing will take place on January 19, 2027.)
The FBI also issued a summons charging the actress with assault related to her alleged actions on the flight from LAX to JFK.
“This was not an intentional assault,” Blair’s attorney Shawn Barnes told a judge during Blair’s arraignment at Queens Criminal Court in New York City on October 12, explaining that the Cruel Intentions star has multiple sclerosis (MS) and had “missed several doses of … a powerful medication that controls severe neurological symptoms” prior to her flight, according to Page Six.
The lawyer explained, “Ms. Blair boarded this flight [from Los Angeles] after being on set and working extensive hours and exhaustive hours in the days leading up to this flight. Additionally, at one point, during the flight, there was an incident where Miss Blair actually fell and hit her head. These factors, coupled with the altitude, resulted in a state of severe confusion and disorientation.”
Blair’s bail was set at $20,000 cash, $60,000 bond or a $60,000 partially secured bond on October 12, and she was subsequently released that same day.
The FBI began investigating the incident on October 11 after the JFK Port Authority Police Department said authorities responded to a call that day about a “physically abusive passenger,” who was identified as Blair.
“She was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for evaluation,” authorities told Us in a statement. “Two flight attendants also reported injuries, and one was transported to the hospital for further evaluation.”
As news about the alleged attack broke, TMZ reported that Blair had attempted to open the aircraft door while the plane was in the air, which is what sparked the alleged confrontation with the crew.
The Legally Blonde actress was put in restraints on the plane and arrested upon landing, per the outlet. Blair was then taken to the hospital for evaluation.
In a criminal complaint obtained by Us, a Port Authority police officer reported that when she was trying to secure Blair onto a stretcher at JFK Airport, the actress “removed her leg from the stretcher straps and kicked [the officer] repeatedly about the face, neck and chest.”
“The above-mentioned actions of the defendant caused [the officer] swelling to her jaw and substantial pain to her face, neck and chest,” the complaint read.
A nurse at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens alleged in the same document that Blair kicked her in the chest while she was being transported for treatment. “[Blair’s actions allegedly] caused substantial pain to [the nurse’s] chest,” authorities wrote.
Blair’s rep argued that her health was to blame for the outburst, telling Us in a statement that she “experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct.”
“Upon landing, she received immediate medical attention and is currently in stable condition,” the statement concluded.
