Selma Blair, 54, has spoken out about a decade-old airborne breakdown that mirrors her latest arrest.
The “Cruel Intentions” star was taken into custody Sunday at John F. Kennedy International Airport after allegedly biting a flight attendant, punching another crew member and attempting to open a plane door during a Delta flight from Los Angeles. The incident has drawn fresh attention to a strikingly similar episode she weathered in 2016 and later described as a “total psychotic blackout.”
Blair addressed that earlier ordeal during a 2016 appearance on “The Talk,” months after medical personnel removed her on a stretcher from a Cancun-to-Los Angeles flight. She had been traveling in first class with her then-4-year-old son, Arthur, and his father, fashion designer Jason Bleick, when witnesses said she began crying and making alarming statements after drinking wine.
“I am someone who should never drink, and I rarely do, and I don’t drink anymore, but I was going through something,” she explained on the CBS program. “I had a glass of wine and someone gave me a pill that I thought was something that I’d taken before … it was something completely different.”
“It was horrible and frightening,” she added, noting her particular embarrassment at photographers capturing her stretcher removal at Los Angeles International Airport.
Witnesses aboard the 2016 flight reported Blair saying, “He burns my private parts. He won’t let me eat or drink,” They said she continued, “He beats me. He’s going to kill me.” Two nurses aboard the aircraft attempted to assist while the pilot alerted authorities that a passenger may have mixed alcohol and medication.
Blair subsequently issued a statement to Vanity Fair taking responsibility. “I made a big mistake yesterday,” she said at the time. “I take this very seriously, and I apologize to all of the passengers and crew that I disturbed.”
She added that her son had been asleep with his father during the episode, describing herself as “filled with shame over this incident.”
The actress revisited the experience in a 2024 interview, offering additional context about her physical and mental state. “I was so messed up and dehydrated and hungover and didn’t know I had neurological issues,” she told the outlet. “I didn’t understand anything. I had to grow up.” She described the overall experience as “horrifying and humiliating.”
Blair received a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2018 and revealed in 2021 that she was in remission for the debilitating disease.
Sunday’s incident aboard the Los Angeles-to-New York flight allegedly escalated beyond the cabin. After the aircraft landed ahead of schedule at JFK, where law enforcement officers were waiting, Blair allegedly kicked a Port Authority police officer in the head during transport to a hospital and assaulted a nurse after arriving.
A representative for the actress said that Blair experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct and was in stable condition after receiving medical attention. The representative’s statement drew a parallel to the medical framing of the 2016 episode, when the pilot had similarly suggested a possible alcohol-medication interaction.
Delta condemned the alleged behavior in its own statement, saying the airline has “zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior” and that the safety of its customers and crew comes first.
Blair faces federal assault charges related to the alleged in-flight conduct, plus state charges from the alleged assaults on the officer and nurse. The FBI is investigating.
The actress had posted on social media shortly before Sunday’s flight, though the content of that post was not detailed in available coverage. Her legal proceedings are expected to unfold in New York as investigators complete their work.