Off Meds: After Selma Blair’s Arrest on Assault Charges, Her Lawyer Told the Court She’d Missed Medication Doses and Hit Her Head Aboard the Plane
· Thought Catalog
Updated 3 minutes ago, October 13, 2026
Selma Blair pleaded not guilty Monday to two counts of second-degree assault in Queens Criminal Court, days after Port Authority police responded to a Delta flight from Los Angeles that had just landed at New York’s JFK.
Police were called around 11 p.m. Oct. 11 to Flight 938, parked at a gate after arriving from LAX. Two flight attendants reported injuries and one was hospitalized. Blair, 54, was taken into custody and later released on bond, and was herself hospitalized for evaluation.
Her publicist, Jill Fritzo, said Blair had a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct and that she received immediate medical attention. Blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018 and has spoken openly about living with the disease since.
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Her attorney, Shawn Barnes, argued the actions were not intentional, telling the court she had worked long hours and missed medication doses before the incident.
Judge Indira Khan set bail at $20,000 cash or a $60,000 surety bond, which Blair posted. Her next court date is Jan. 19, 2027.
It isn’t the first time she’s been removed from a flight. In June 2016, after a trip from Cancun, Blair said she mixed alcohol with medication and blacked out.
“I am a flawed human being who makes mistakes and am filled with shame over this incident,” she said then. “I am truly very sorry.”
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