Actor Selma Blair was arrested after police said she bit a flight attendant on board a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday night. Following her arrest, police said she kicked a police officer and a nurse and is facing two assault charges.
Two flight attendants reported injuries during the flight, and one was taken to the hospital after the incident, according to the Port Authority Police Department. One of the flight attendants was bitten and the other sustained a laceration, according to a law enforcement source.
Her attorney said Blair experienced a "medical emergency" on the plane, but did not get into specifics. Blair has been outspoken about her struggle with multiple sclerosis.
The incident happened at 11 p.m. on Delta Air Lines Flight 938. The flight crew needed to restrain Blair, a law enforcement source said.
On air traffic control audio, the pilot could be heard calling for medical personnel to come to the plane.
"Ah, a bloody nose as well as some bite marks as well, so I don't think we need an ambulance or anything like that but if we could get some medical personnel at the gate, to look at their injuries," the pilot said in audio captured on ATC.com. "It sounds like the disruptive passenger also bashed her head on the bulkhead or something like that, so we'll obviously have to get her potentially checked out as well as well as law enforcement."
Sources told CBS News the incident started off as an argument between passengers, which then escalated into a melee. Flight attendants intervened.
Port Authority Police were called to the plane, along with the FBI. Blair was transported to Jamaica Hospital for evaluation after the incident. While in the ambulance, she allegedly kicked a PAPD officer, and once at the hospital, she allegedly assaulted a nurse, prosecutors said.
Blair was later released from the hospital and taken to Queens Central Booking. She was then arraigned on two counts of second-degree assault at a court in Queens, where she pleaded not guilty. A judge set her bail at $20,000 cash or $60,000 bond and set the next hearing for Jan. 19.
The assault charges are state charges related to the alleged incidents in the ambulance and hospital.
A publicist for Blair released the following statement on Oct. 16:
"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. 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. 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. 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. 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. It should be noted Selma 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. 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."
This isn't the first time Blair has been removed from a flight. Back in 2016, she was removed by stretcher after an episode on another Delta flight. As for what allegedly happened on Sunday night, the FBI gave her a summons for assaults within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, a federal law enforcement source said.
No date has been set for the federal case against her.
"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.
Blair was traveling with her service dog, which is now in the custody of her attorney.
Blair has been outspoken about her struggle with multiple sclerosis. In 2025, she gave an interview to People magazine and Travel & Leisure talking about the difficulties she had traveling. In her 2022 memoir, she also has a chapter called "Bite Me," where she wrote about past instances where she bit other celebrities while drinking.
Blair has appeared in such films as "Cruel Intentions," "Legally Blonde," and "Hellboy," among others. In 2022, she was a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars."
Editor's note: The story has been updated to reflect new information about what happened leading up to and during the altercation on board the flight and include a statement from Blair's publicist.
