Selma Blair’s lawyers pleaded for leniency at her arraignment, but the Queens judge was unmoved.
Joshua Reitzas, one of two attorneys representing the “Cruel Intentions” actress, 54, urged the court to weigh her broader contributions during the Monday night proceeding. “Consider her body of work and what she’s done for people,” he said. Reitzas pressed further: “This is someone we should look up to. She is the gold standard.”
Judge Indira Kahn rejected the appeal outright. “Ms. Blair should not get special treatment because she is a celebrity,” she responded.
Kahn had already denied a request to remove Blair’s handcuffs for the hearing. The judge set bail at $20,000 cash or a $60,000 bond, which the actress posted before being released.
The arraignment stemmed from Blair’s behavior Sunday night aboard Delta Flight 938 from Los Angeles to Kennedy Airport. Crew members alleged she bit one flight attendant and attacked another, requiring physical restraint. That incident triggered a federal assault charge.
After landing, Blair was transported to Jamaica Hospital in Queens for evaluation. During that transport, she allegedly kicked a police officer repeatedly in the head. At the hospital, she allegedly assaulted a nurse as well. Those two incidents produced the assault charges addressed at Monday’s arraignment.
Blair’s defense team attributed the outburst to a combination of factors. The actress, who also appeared in “Hellboy” and “Legally Blonde,” has multiple sclerosis. Her lawyers said she had gone without her medication and was exhausted from work. She has also previously dealt with alcoholism.
The Sunday incident marked at least the second time Blair has had a public breakdown on a Delta flight. In 2016, she had what she later described as a “horror meltdown” in front of her then-4-year-old son on another Delta plane. At that time, she said she had mixed alcohol with medication and blacked out.
Blair has been open about her unusual behavior in social settings. In her 2022 memoir, she addressed her tendency toward erratic conduct directly. “My system gets overwhelmed and instantaneously short-circuits,” she wrote. “In my life, social interactions have been cumbersome.”
The actress has also acknowledged a history of biting other celebrities. She has named Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane, and Kate Moss among those she has bitten over the years.
Blair’s legal team made no public statement following the arraignment about their next steps in the case.