Selma Blair’s Spokesperson Says Her Neurological Condition Gives Context to her Plane Arrest

16 Oct 2026, 19:28 · Thought Catalog

Rich Fury / Getty Images

Updated 3 hours ago, October 16, 2026

Selma Blair has pseudobulbar affect, a neurological condition linked to her multiple sclerosis that her spokesperson says matters to understanding the medical emergency they say she experienced aboard a Delta flight on Oct. 11.

Selma Blair poses alongside her service dog Scout at Variety’s Power of Women event at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sept. 23, 2026 — the same dog her spokesperson says was separated from her during the flight incident. Photo by Stewart Cook / AFP via Getty Images.

In an Oct. 16 statement addressing the actress’ arrest, the spokesperson said the condition “bears directly on how a medical episode presents to people who do not know her.” Blair, 54, publicly disclosed her MS diagnosis in 2018. Her representative said she still experiences pain daily and has bad days despite improvements in her physical abilities.

The spokesperson also said Blair travels with a service dog because of her condition and that authorities separated her from the dog during the incident.

Scout, Selma Blair’s service dog, lounges on the carpet at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on March 2, 2025. Photo by Neilson Barnard / Getty Images.

“Selma Blair experienced a medical emergency on the flight. There was no attempt to open the door of the aircraft. Selma did not intend to harm anyone,” the representative said.

Blair was arrested at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport following an alleged altercation with crew members and was then taken to a hospital. She appeared in court on Oct. 12, pleaded not guilty to 2 counts of second-degree assault and was released on bail.

Selma Blair poses on the red carpet with her service dog Scout at the Tribeca Film Festival opening night premiere in New York on June 5, 2024. Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images.

The allegations also include repeatedly kicking a police officer and kicking a nurse in the chest, according to a criminal court affidavit. Emergency dispatch audio identified someone involved as having “some bite marks” and other minor injuries. The FBI confirmed on Oct. 12 that it was investigating the incident.

Her spokesperson challenged an account they said had formed largely around a police statement and coverage of a 2016 flight disturbance. After a trip to Cancun, Blair was removed from a flight in Los Angeles during that earlier incident. She later apologized.

The representative said Blair had never been arrested before Oct. 11 and urged people to consider the full circumstances: “There is much more to this story than has been reported.”

Thanks for reading Thought Catalog. Join us on Facebook, or keep reading on our website.