Selma Blair Apologizes in Instagram Video Weeks After Delta Flight Arrest on Assault Charges

Actress Selma Blair, 54, apologized on Friday in an Instagram video of nearly two minutes for an Oct. 11 incident on a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to New York that led to her arrest on assault charges. Saying she was sorry to those she hurt, frightened and alarmed, Blair said she had never intended to harm anyone and that her lawyers had advised her not to discuss the case. Port Authority police said they responded at about 11 p.m. at John F. Kennedy International Airport to a report of a physically abusive passenger on Delta Flight 938, and two flight attendants reported injuries, one of whom went to a hospital. Blair was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, accused of kicking a Port Authority officer and a hospital nurse. She was arraigned on Oct. 12 and pleaded not guilty. The judge set bail at $20,000 cash, $60,000 bond or $60,000 partially secured bond. She is expected back in court in January 2027.

Right-leaning outlets give the most detail on the alleged conduct and the court process. The Daily Mail calls the episode a meltdown and describes her apology as groveling, adding accusations of punching and biting crew and trying to open a door mid-flight, plus her lawyer Shawn Barnes's claim that exhaustion and missed multiple sclerosis medication played a part. Fox News uses a more restrained headline and adds the bail terms, the January court date, her service dog at a '90s convention in Connecticut and her pledge to focus on her health and her son. NBC News, on the left, leads with the apology and her legal caution, stressing her defense of her character, and omits the lawyer's medical explanation and the bail figures in its excerpt. Both sides quote her key apology line and agree on the charges and plea; they differ mainly in tone and in how much alleged in-flight behavior and medical context they include. Variety and TMZ largely track the apology and charges.