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Selma Blair’s Lawyer Gives Explanation After She Was Arrested For Mid-Flight Meltdown
After her violent outburst aboard a Delta flight,Selma Blair’s celebrity status did not spare her from landing in serious legal trouble.
The 54-year-old actress was in tears, wearing handcuffs as she faced the court on Monday. October 12.
She pleaded not guilty after allegedly injuring two flight attendants and kicking both a police officer and a nurse on Sunday night.
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Highlights
- Selma Blair was handcuffed as she appeared in court on Monday, October 12.
- She pleaded not guilty after an alleged mid-flight outburst involving two flight attendants.
- The judge said the Hollywood star shouldn’t get “special treatment” just because she’s a celebrity.
- Blair was previously involved in a 2016 mid-flight outburst while traveling with her then 4-year-old son.
After her violent outburst aboard a Delta flight, Selma Blair’s celebrity status did not spare her from landing in serious legal trouble
Selma Blair’s attorneys are blaming a medical emergency for her alleged mid-flight outburst aboard a Delta Airlines flight.
While traveling from Los Angeles to New York, Blair allegedly punched one flight attendant, bit another, and attempted to open the aircraft’s door mid-air.
The Delta pilot was heard telling the air traffic controllers that an ambulance wasn’t necessary but to have medical personnel ready at the gate to treat a bloody nose and bite marks.
“It sounds like the disruptive passenger also bashed her head on the bulkhead or something like that,” the pilot said in his communication with the tower.
“So we’ll obviously have to get her potentially checked out as well as involved with law enforcement.”
She also allegedly kicked a police officer taking her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and a nurse in the chest.
“Please stop! No, no! Please don’t! Let me go!” Blair was heard saying while being dragged off the aircraft.
This was not an “intentional” attack, Blair’s attorneys said during her Monday appearance in court
Blair was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree as**ult.
During her Monday court appearance, her attorneys Shawn Barnes and Joshua Reitzas entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.
Barnes said in court that the Legally Blonde star’s actions were not intentional and had boarded the flight after a heavy workload and “exhaustive hours” of being on set.
The actress, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, also missed several doses of “a powerful medication that controls severe neurological symptoms,” Barnes said.
Furthermore, she also fell and hit her head during the flight.
“These factors, coupled with the altitude, resulted in a state of severe confusion and disorientation,” the attorney told the judge.
The judge said the Hollywood star shouldn’t get “special treatment” for being a celebrity
Reitzas asked the judge to take Blair’s acting achievements into consideration, claiming it’s “the gold standard” and that Blair was someone “we should look up to.”
But Judge Indira D. Khan responded, saying: “Ms. Blair should not get special treatment because she is a celebrity.”
Reitzas was seen wiping tears from Blair’s face during her arraignment.
She was ordered to keep her handcuffs on in the courtroom even though the lawyers requested having them removed.
🚨 Selma Blair arrested, attacks flight crew in mid-air.
TMZ also obtained audio from an eyewitness of when Blair was exiting the plane at JFK Airport. pic.twitter.com/lPQd7PU7P4
— TMZ (@TMZ) October 12, 2026
Judge Kahn set Blair’s bail at $20,000 cash and $60,000 bond during the Monday hearing.
The actress posted the cash bail using a credit card and silently walked out of court with her lawyers.
While the crime is not a felony, Blair faces the possibility of jail time for two to seven years if convicted.
Her case was adjourned to January 19, 2027.
Blair was at the center of another violent incident in 2016, where she had a “total psychotic blackout”
Back in 2016, Blair reportedly experienced a similar emotional outburst on a plane and had to be removed from a flight on a stretcher.
The Hellboy actress was traveling with her son Arthur Saint, who was four at the time, and his father, fashion designer Jason Bleick, from Cancun, Mexico, to Los Angeles.
During the flight, Blair allegedly cried out about man ab*sing her, saying: “He burns my private parts. He won’t let me eat or drink. He beats me. He’s going to k*ll me.”
Blair has spoken about the incident on different occasions, admitting she shouldn’t have mixed “alc**ol with medication” after her “lovely trip” with her son and his dad.
“I had a total psychotic blackout,” the actress told People in 2016, saying she was hooked up to an IV in a clinic after being removed from the aircraft on a stretcher.
“It was horrible and frightening, and I had empathy for myself actually afterwards because it was actually so out of character for me, especially because I’m a mother,” she added.
Since the incident, Blair said she uses the incident as a reminder to abstain from drinking.
“It sounds very out of character for her,” one commented on her latest outburst, while another said, “Wait for the bodycam to be released”
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