Selma Blair apologises after mid-air incident and assault charges

Selma Blair has broken her silence after being charged with second-degree assault over an alleged mid-air incident, saying she is "so sorry" to anyone she "hurt", "frightened" or "alarmed".

The 54-year-old actor pleaded not guilty to the state charges, which stem from allegations that she kicked a nurse and a police officer after an incident involving crew members on a Delta flight from Los Angeles to New York on October 11. She was arraigned on two counts of second-degree assault at a court in Queens, where a judge set bail at $20,000 (£15,141) cash or $60,000 bond, and scheduled the next hearing for January.

Blair addressed the case directly in a video posted to Instagram — her first public statement since the charges.

"I know I've been quiet for a couple weeks since October 11," she said. "And you deserve to hear from me directly, and I'm sorry that it's taken this long."

She added: "There is a legal matter going on, and my lawyers have asked me to not say anything about that day, and I'm listening to them."

Her lawyer, Shawn Barnes, has already offered the defence's framing in court. He told the judge that Blair's actions were not intentional, according to the New York Daily News and the New York Post.

What does the defence say happened?

Barnes told the court that Blair missed several doses of "a powerful medication that controls severe neurological symptoms". She boarded the flight in Los Angeles amid a heavy workload, he said, and hit her head during the journey.

Those factors, combined with the altitude, pushed her into "a state of severe confusion and disorientation", according to her lawyer. Blair's representatives made a similar point at the time of the incident, saying her alleged behaviour had been brought on by a severe medical emergency.

Blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018. Five years ago she got Scout, the Labrador service dog who accompanied her on the flight. In her Instagram video she assured fans that Scout is doing well.

What do the charging documents allege?

The court papers paint a stark picture of the events on the ground. Police detained Blair when the flight landed in New York and took her to Jamaica hospital medical centre for evaluation.

A police officer alleged in charging documents that, while securing Blair to a stretcher, the actor pulled one of her legs free from the straps and kicked the officer repeatedly around the face, neck and chest — causing, the documents state, serious pain and substantial swelling. A nurse who later moved Blair said the actor kicked her in the chest.

In her video, Blair said she takes the matter "very seriously". She offered one line of defence rooted in self-description rather than the specifics of the day.

"The very simple and the truest thing I know about myself is that not one day ever have I intended to hurt or frighten anyone," she said.

"And so to the people that I disappointed, that I hurt, I frightened, that I alarmed, I am so sorry," Blair continued, adding that she appreciated everyone who had reached out in support.

She closed the video by naming her immediate priorities. "Right now I'm going to be taking care of my health. And my son. And thinking of you all with my gratitude and love," she said.

The case now moves toward the January hearing in Queens, where the intentionality argument her lawyer has already sketched — missed medication, a head injury, altitude — is likely to form the core of her defence.