Selma Blair’s representatives say she did not intend to harm anyone during a Delta flight from Los Angeles to New York where she was arrested after allegations involving airline staff and medical personnel.
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Selma Blair’s representatives say the actor did not intend to harm anyone during a Delta flight from Los Angeles to New York, which led to her first arrest following accusations that she assaulted two flight attendants, a police officer and a nurse.
In a statement issued Friday, the representatives said Blair experienced a medical emergency on the flight, adding that there was “no attempt to open the door of the aircraft” and that “Selma did not intend to harm anyone.”
The statement pushed back on what it described as inaccurate portrayals of the 54-year-old, saying she has multiple sclerosis and that her diagnosis has been public since 2018. It also said it is “outrageous” to suggest otherwise.
The representatives said Blair’s “pseudobulbar affect,” described as a neurological condition secondary to her MS, “bears directly on how a medical episode presents” to people who do not know her. The statement also said she travels with a service dog that “doesn’t leave her side,” and that authorities took her dog from her.
Authorities alleged that Blair injured two flight attendants on the plane bound for John F. Kennedy Airport, then kicked a police officer while she was being taken to the hospital and kicked a nurse after she arrived there, according to a statement from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Blair pleaded not guilty Monday to two counts of assault on state charges involving the officer and the nurse, and a judge issued a protective order for them. She was released on bail, and her next court date is scheduled for January.
The statement said authorities have released few details of what happened aboard the plane. It referenced air traffic communications in which the Delta pilot asked for medical personnel to be waiting at the gate for bite marks and a bloody nose, while indicating ambulances were not necessary.
A federal law enforcement notice also charged Blair with assault related to her actions aboard the aircraft, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
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