Selma Blair is apologizing following an allegedly violent medical episode that occurred on a Delta Airlines flight earlier this month.
The “Cruel Intentions” star posted a video to Instagram on Friday acknowledging that she had “been quiet for a few weeks since October 11.”
“You deserve to hear from me directly, and I’m sorry it’s taken so long,” Blair said. “There is a legal matter pending and my lawyers have asked me not to say anything about this day. I am listening to them and I am taking this very seriously.”
Blair was arrested and taken to a hospital for evaluation late on Oct. 11 after allegedly being violent with a Delta flight attendant, according to the New York Port Authority. The Port Authority Police Department responded to a call from Blair’s flight, traveling from Los Angeles International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Two flight attendants required medical assistance after an alleged mid-flight altercation and one was taken to hospital for further evaluation.
According to dispatch audio, obtained by TMZ, a flight attendant suffered a bloody nose and Blair allegedly “hit her head” on an overhead compartment. Blair’s representatives told the Times that “Selma experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct.”
The star has spoken candidly about her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic neurological disorder and autoimmune disease, since 2018.
In Blair’s social media mea culpa, she said her intention was not to harm anyone. “What I can tell you, however, is very simple and the truest thing I know about myself, and that I never intended to hurt or frighten anyone in my life, and so to the people that I have disappointed, that I have hurt, that I have frightened, alarmed, I am truly sorry,” she continued.
“And for the people who wrote, called or sent wishes of love or care, it meant everything to me and my son, who is my world… So now I will take care of my health and my son, and think of you all with gratitude and love.”
The FBI is investigating the incident, and the agency has issued a notice of assault charges against the “Legally Blonde” star, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Additionally, the Queens district attorney quickly filed charges against Blair, which included two counts of second-degree assault. According to an affidavit obtained by The Times, Blair released a leg and repeatedly kicked a police officer who was trying to strap him to a gurney.
Hours later, Blair allegedly kicked a nurse at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in the chest, according to the affidavit.
Blair’s representatives emailed a statement to the Times, writing that “the public narrative of what happened in Selma aboard a flight to New York was built almost entirely on a police statement and a decade-old headline.”
Blair’s spokesperson hit out at reports that have circulated regarding details of the episode in mid-air, writing to “set the record straight”.
“There was no attempt to open the aircraft door,” the statement continued. “The suggestion that Selma does not have multiple sclerosis is outrageous. Her diagnosis has been public since 2018. What Selma has been able to do physically in the years since is nothing short of a miracle. She still has bad days and lives with pain daily. Selma also suffers from pseudobulbar affect, a neurological condition secondary to her MS, which directly impacts how a medical episode presents to people who don’t know her. For the same reason, she travels with a service dog who does not leave her side and the authorities took her dog away.
Times Staff Writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.
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