Selma Blair pleads not guilty to assault charges, says flight incident was a medical emergency

The arrest at JFK

Selma Blair was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles landed on Sunday evening. The New York Port Authority said two flight attendants were hurt and one of them was taken to hospital, after officials answered a call about a physically abusive passenger. Blair is accused of attacking two flight attendants and biting one of them. TMZ, as cited by Telegraaf, reported that she also tried to open an aircraft door during the flight, a claim her team rejects. Focus dates the arrest to Sunday, 11 October, while Vulture gives 12 October.

Charges and bail

On Monday, 12 October, Blair pleaded not guilty in a Queens criminal court to two counts of second-degree assault, and she was released on $20,000 bail. The state charges concern a police officer and a nurse, whom she is accused of kicking after she was detained at the airport. The Independent, citing the Associated Press, reports that she also faces separate federal charges for assaults within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Vulture reports that the nurse has been granted a temporary restraining order against Blair. Her team says she had never been arrested before that Sunday night. None of the articles gives a trial date.

The team's account

Blair's publicist told People that she experienced a medical emergency on the flight, that no one tried to open the aircraft door, and that she never intended to harm anyone. In court, her attorney said she was overworked and struck her head on a bulkhead during the flight, and that these factors together with the altitude caused severe confusion and disorientation. Her representatives point to her multiple sclerosis, which she made public in 2018, and to pseudobulbar affect, a neurological condition they describe as secondary to her MS. They say the condition affects how a medical episode appears to people who do not know her, and that authorities took the service dog she travels with. According to the BBC, the team says she announced remission in 2021 but still has bad days.

Criticism of the coverage

The team argues that the public account of the incident rests almost entirely on a police statement and a decade-old headline. It says a handful of journalists reported fairly, but that speculation was later presented as fact. Focus reports that the statement calls online doubts about her MS outrageous. It also lists her work in 2026, including seven film and television projects, only a few of which are publicly known, plus a skincare line, a fashion line and a reading glasses collection. The team describes Blair as an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and for the MS community.