Selma Blair’s representative says the actress “did not intend to harm anyone” during the incident that led to her arrest at New York’s JFK Airport, and that she was experiencing a medical emergency tied to her multiple sclerosis. In a detailed statement released October 16, 2026, rep Jill Fritzo also denied that Blair tried to open the aircraft door and said “there is much more to this story than has been reported.” Blair, 54, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree assault.
What happened on the flight
Blair was arrested on Sunday, October 11, 2026, after an alleged violent incident aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to JFK, Variety reported. According to Variety, Blair allegedly punched one flight attendant and bit another. Two flight attendants reported injuries, and one was taken to a hospital.
TMZ reported that Blair was placed in restraints on the plane and arrested when the flight landed. She was then transported to a hospital for evaluation.
The legal fallout came on two tracks. TMZ reported that the FBI issued Blair a federal summons charging her with “assault within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.” Separately, Blair was arraigned at Queens Criminal Court on October 12 on two counts of second-degree assault, according to TMZ. She pleaded not guilty. Bail was set at $20,000 cash or $60,000 bond, and her next court date is January 19, 2027.
Those two state charges are not about the flight attendants. TMZ reported they relate to allegations that Blair kicked a Port Authority police officer repeatedly in the face, neck and chest while restrained on a stretcher at JFK, and that she kicked a nurse at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed Blair’s identity and the incident to Variety. A Delta spokesperson told Variety: “Delta has zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior, as the safety of our customers and crew always comes first.”
What Blair’s camp is saying
Blair’s team first spoke on October 12, the day of her arraignment. A representative told Variety: “Selma experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct. Upon landing, she received immediate medical attention and is currently in stable condition.”
In court that same day, her attorney Shawn Barnes laid out the defense’s account, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Barnes said Blair had missed several doses of powerful medication for her MS, had been working “extensive hours and exhaustive hours,” and had hit her head on a bulkhead. “These factors, coupled with the altitude, resulted in a state of severe confusion and disorientation,” Barnes said, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The fuller statement arrived on October 16 from Fritzo. “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,” Fritzo said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The statement went further than the initial response. Fritzo told Variety: “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.”
That headline appears to refer to a separate incident in June 2016, when Blair was removed from a Delta flight from Cancun to Los Angeles after mixing alcohol with medication. She publicly apologized at the time through Vanity Fair.
Fritzo also addressed Blair’s health directly. Blair disclosed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis publicly in 2018, and Fritzo called any doubt about that “outrageous,” per Variety. “The suggestion by anyone that Selma does not have multiple sclerosis is outrageous,” the statement read.
TMZ reported that the statement also disclosed a second condition: pseudobulbar affect, a neurological condition secondary to Blair’s MS. According to TMZ, Fritzo said the condition “bears directly on how a medical episode presents to people who do not know her.” The statement also said authorities took Blair’s service dog from her, TMZ reported.
Just Jared reported that the statement noted “Selma had never been arrested before Sunday night.”
What comes next
Fritzo closed with a request for patience. “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,” the statement read, per Just Jared.
The October 16 statement was the first detailed public response from Blair’s camp since her arraignment, and it was released ahead of her planned appearance at ’90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut.
Blair’s next scheduled court appearance in Queens is January 19, 2027. The federal summons from the FBI proceeds separately. For now, the actress has entered a plea of not guilty to the state charges, and her team has made clear it intends to argue that what happened on Flight 938 was a medical crisis rather than a deliberate act.
