US actress Selma Blair was 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.
According to the BBC’s US media partner, CBS News, Blair was transported to hospital in an ambulance, where she allegedly kicked a police officer. Once at hospital, prosecutors have alleged that she also assaulted a nurse.
The actress was released from hospital and taken to Queens Central Booking, where she has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree assault, in relation to the alleged incidents in the ambulance and hospital.
CBS reported that a judge has set her bail at $20,000 cash or $60,000 bond, with the next hearing scheduled for 19 January.
No date has been set for the federal case against her, which would relate to the allegations of assault specifically aboard the aircraft.
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 incident occurred around 23:00 local time aboard Delta Airlines Flight 938.
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”.
According to the outlet, Blair was allegedly restrained on the plane by the flight crew.
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 Instagram 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”.
By BBC News
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