US actress Selma Blair accused of assault after incident with flight attendants

BBC - US actress Selma Blair has been issued with a summons accusing her of assault after she allegedly attacked attendants on a plane, officials say.

The Legally Blonde star was investigated by the FBI following an alleged altercation on a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to New York.

Airport officials said they had responded to a call on Sunday about "a physically abusive passenger" on the flight. Two flight attendants were hurt and one was taken to hospital, the New York Port Authority said.

Blair, 54, who also starred in Hellboy and Cruel Intentions, was arrested and taken to hospital. Her publicist told the BBC she had "experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct".

"Upon landing, she received immediate medical attention and is currently in stable condition," her publicist said.

On Monday, a federal law enforcement source told the BBC that Blair had been issued a summons for a charge of assault within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the US.

The source said she will be required to appear at the petty violation court in Brooklyn, New York City, but no date has been set.

The incident occurred around 23:00 local time aboard Delta Airlines Flight 938.

According to the BBC's US media partner, CBS News, the flight crew allegedly restrained Blair on the plane. Air traffic control audio obtained by CBS included the pilot calling for medical personnel to come to the plane, citing a "bloody nose as well as some bite marks".

A spokesperson for Delta said law enforcement responded as the flight arrived at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, and that there was no operational impact to the flight because of the incident.

"Delta has zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior, as the safety of our customers and crew always comes first," Delta Air Lines said in a statement to the BBC.

Blair largely retreated from film work after her 2018 multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis, telling the BBC years later that she blamed the disease for taking "my career down" because "I had to stop working".

Before the incident on Sunday, Blair posted on Instragram about her extensive travels with her service dog Scout, an English Red Fox Labrador she got in 2021 to help with her neurological condition.

"From LA to New Mexico to La to nyc to LA Scout and I have been busy. I miss you," she wrote alongside a video that included footage of a city taken from a plane window.

In 2021, she announced she was in remission for the disease.

In 2016, she had another incident on a flight after a drunken outburst caused two nurses to have to subdue her on board.

Blair issued a public apology after the incident. She said she accidentally mixed her medication with alcohol and "made a big mistake" that caused her to "black out" and "say and do things that I deeply regret".

"I am a flawed human being who makes mistakes and am filled with shame over this incident. I am truly very sorry," she said at the time.

US media reported in that instance that the actress was screaming uncontrollably and nurses had to prop her up with a pillow and give her oxygen to calm down.

She was taken off the plane on a stretcher when the flight landed in Los Angeles from Mexico, and was taken to hospital.

In her 2022 memoir Mean Baby, Blair wrote about biting celebrities Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane and Kate Moss.

She wrote that she bit people when "my system gets overwhelmed and instantaneously short-circuits".