Actor Selma Blair was taken into custody after an alleged physical confrontation aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to New York left flight attendants injured, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Port Authority police officers met the plane after it arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport late Sunday, the agency said in a statement. Blair, 54, was taken into custody while the plane was parked at the gate.
“We’d like to have some medical personnel at the gate for a couple of the FAs involved in the passenger incident,” the pilot said. “They just need to get a couple things looked at.”
After a dispatcher asked whether the two flight attendants’ medical needs resulted from the passenger’s alleged conduct, the pilot provided a preliminary account indicating that a flight attendant and another passenger had suffered minor injuries.
“Sounds like there were two, yeah, one flight attendant and one passenger that sustained some minor injuries, a bloody nose as well as some bite marks as well,” the pilot said. “So I don’t think we need an ambulance or anything like that, but if we could just get some medical personnel at the gate to look at their injuries.”
The pilot later reported that the disruptive passenger might also need to be checked out because she had apparently struck her head against part of the plane’s interior.
“And then one additional add-on: it sounds like the disruptive passenger also bashed her head on the bulkhead or something like that,” the pilot said. “So we’ll obviously have to get her potentially checked out as well as involved with law enforcement.”
Blair and one flight attendant were transported to a hospital for evaluation after the plane arrived, according to the Port Authority.
Sydney Kleinmann, a spokesperson for the FBI’s New York office, said the bureau had received information about a possible assault from Port Authority police. The FBI investigates assaults committed aboard aircraft
“Yesterday, we were informed by our partners at Port Authority Police Department of a potential assault aboard a flight that arrived into JFK,” Kleinmann said. “As per long-standing DOJ policy, we do not comment on ongoing investigations.”
NTD News contacted Delta Air Lines on Monday afternoon seeking comment. Messages were also sent to state and federal prosecutors’ offices in New York.
A representative for Blair told several media organizations that a medical emergency contributed to her alleged behavior.
Blair has appeared in movies including “Cruel Intentions,” “Legally Blonde” and “Hellboy.” She disclosed in 2018 that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and later became an advocate for people with disabilities. Blair appeared with then-President Joe Biden at the White House in 2023 during an event marking the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Blair previously apologized following an incident aboard a 2016 flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Los Angeles. She said at the time that combining medication with alcohol caused her to black out and make remarks she regretted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
