NEW YORK — Actor Selma Blair was arrested after she was accused of injuring two flight attendants on a trip from Los Angeles to New York. She was also charged Monday with assaulting a police officer taking her to the hospital and a nurse after she arrived there.
Blair, 54, was detained by police at around 11 p.m. Because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter, the FBI also issued Blair a notice charging her with assault related to her actions aboard the aircraft, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Sunday after the Delta Air Lines jet parked at the gate at John F.
Kennedy International Airport, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement. Her representatives said she had a severe medical emergency while on the plane. Blair and one of the flight attendants were taken to a hospital for evaluation, the Port Authority said. A police officer taking her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center said in charging documents that while she was securing Blair to a stretcher, Blair pulled a leg from the straps and kicked her repeatedly around the face, neck and chest, causing serious pain and substantial swelling. Later, a nurse moving Blair said the actor kicked her in the chest, causing substantial pain. One of her attorneys, Shawn Barnes, told a judge her actions were not intentional. He said the actor, who has multiple sclerosis, missed several doses of “a powerful medication that controls severe neurological symptoms,” according to the New York Daily News and New York Post. He said she had gotten on the flight in Los Angeles after a heavy workload, and hit her head during the flight. He said these factors along with the altitude led to “a state of severe confusion and disorientation. Details of what happened aboard the aircraft weren’t immediately disclosed by the airline, police or the FBI, which was investigating, but Delta said in a statement it “has zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior, as the safety of our customers and crew always comes first.
