Key Takeaways
- Selma Blair’s representative said she "experienced a medical emergency" aboard a Delta flight and "did not intend to harm anyone," while denying that she tried to open the cabin door.
- The rep said Blair’s multiple sclerosis and pseudobulbar affect shaped the episode, while her attorneys said she had missed medication doses, worked a long day, and hit her head on the plane.
- Authorities accused Blair of assaulting crew members, a police officer, and a nurse; she pleaded not guilty to two second-degree assault counts and was released on bail.
A representative for Selma Blair has pointed to an alleged in-flight "medical emergency" as being the cause of her altercation with several people on a Delta Airlines flight this week.
In a statement to People, the rep denied that Blair, 54, attempted to open the cabin door during the October 11 flight from Los Angeles to John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York. Blair was alleged to have bit a flight attendant and punched another crew member before being restrained for the remainder of the flight.
According to TMZ, after the plane landed, Blair was being transported to an area hospital when she allegedly hit a police officer in the head and later allegedly assaulted a nurse. The following day, Blair appeared in court, where she pleaded not guilty to two counts of second degree assault and was released on bail.
After thanking some journalists for reporting on Blair as "a human being rather than a headline," the rep said the actor "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 rep maintained.
The statement also upheld that Blair has suffered from multiple sclerosis since 2018 and "lives with the 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," the rep continued. "For the same reason, she travels with a service dog who doesn’t leave her side, and the authorities took her dog from her."
Elsewhere, the rep claimed that Blair hadn’t been arrested before the October 11 incident, although the Cruel Intentions star was removed from a June 2016 flight from Los Angeles to Cancun during a "total psychotic blackout." Blair would later blame the episode on drinking and taking a pill on the flight.
During Blair’s October 12 court appearance, her attorneys claimed that she missed several medication doses and spent a lengthy time on a production set before boarding. It was also alleged that Blair hit her head on the plane.
