Selma Blair apologizes after arrest over alleged Delta flight assault
Actress Selma Blair apologized in an Instagram video after her arrest on assault charges tied to an alleged altercation with flight attendants and airport police on a Delta flight landing at JFK. Blair has pleaded not guilty.
Actress Selma Blair publicly apologized on Friday for an alleged altercation with flight attendants on a Delta flight earlier this month, weeks after her arrest on assault charges. The 54-year-old said her lawyers had advised her not to discuss the ongoing legal matter, but she offered a personal apology in an emotional Instagram video recorded in what appeared to be her home.
"Not one day ever have I intended to hurt or frighten anyone a day in my life," Blair said. "And so to the people I disappointed, that I hurt, I frightened, alarmed I am so sorry." She added that she would be taking care of her health and her son "and thinking of you all with gratitude and love."
Blair was arraigned on Monday, Oct. 12, on two counts of second-degree assault stemming from alleged attacks on a Port Authority police officer and a nurse after her arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport from Los Angeles. She pleaded not guilty. The judge set bail at $20,000 cash, $60,000 bond, or $60,000 partially secured bond, and she is expected in court in January 2027.
According to the Port Authority, police responded at approximately 11 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11, to a call about a physically abusive passenger aboard Delta Flight 938, which was parked at the gate after arriving from LAX. Officials identified the suspect as Blair and said she was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for evaluation.
Court documents allege that Blair was restrained on a stretcher at the airport but freed her leg and kicked an officer in the face, neck and chest, causing substantial swelling. A nurse at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where Blair was taken, alleged that the actress kicked her in the chest while she was being moved. Sources told TMZ that Blair allegedly punched one flight attendant and bit another during the flight. Law enforcement officials also confirmed that Blair was separately served with a summons by the FBI and currently faces one charge of assault.
Delta confirmed that law enforcement responded to an incident upon the flight's arrival at JFK. "Delta has zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior, as the safety of our customers and crew always comes first," the airline said in a statement.
Earlier, the New York Post reported that Blair's lawyer told the court she had missed several doses of a powerful medication that controls severe neurological symptoms. Representatives for Blair later issued a lengthy statement to People saying the actress "did not intend to harm anyone" and that she had experienced a medical emergency on the flight. The statement said there was no attempt to open the aircraft door, a claim that appeared in an additional report describing the incident as an attempt to open a door midflight. The statement also said that criticism of the public account had been built largely on a police statement and an older headline, and it dismissed rumors that the actress does not have multiple sclerosis, a diagnosis she disclosed in 2018. Representatives called those rumors "outrageous," adding that "What Selma has been able to do physically in the years since is nothing short of a miracle."
The statement concluded that "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."
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