In June 2016, Selma Blair was carried off a Delta flight from Cancun to Los Angeles on a stretcher after what she later said was a blackout caused by mixing alcohol and medication. She apologized the next day. No outlet I could read reports police charges from that flight.
The 2016 incident is back in the headlines because Blair was arrested on October 11, 2026, after a Delta flight to New York. The two events are ten years apart, and the explanations offered for them are different. Here’s what’s on the record about 2016, and how it compares.
Quick Facts: The 2016 Flight
- Date: Monday, June 20, 2016, per CBS Los Angeles
- Airline and route: Delta, Cancun, Mexico, to Los Angeles (LAX)
- Traveling with: her ex-boyfriend Jason Bleick (per CBS) and their four-year-old son, Arthur
- Outcome: removed by paramedics on a stretcher after landing
- Her explanation: mixing alcohol with medication caused a blackout
- Apology: June 21, 2016, in a statement to Vanity Fair
- Legal action reported: none in the articles I read
What Happened on the Flight
Details are thin and mostly secondhand. CBS Los Angeles says Blair was removed at the end of the flight and taken off on a stretcher by paramedics. AP, in a June 22, 2016, report, cites TMZ saying nurses attended to her on the plane and she left the plane on a stretcher at LAX.
Entertainment Tonight, quoted by CBS, reported that a witness said Blair began crying and talking about an unknown man. I’m not repeating the words attributed to her. Blair said she had blacked out, and a witness’s recollection of someone in that state isn’t something I’d quote as fact.
Neither the CBS nor the AP report names any other passenger or includes police involvement. Hollywoodlife’s piece names no witnesses either.
Her Apology
On Tuesday, June 21, 2016, Blair gave a statement to Vanity Fair. According to CBS and Hollywoodlife, she said she mixed alcohol with medication, which caused her to black out and say and do things she deeply regretted. She added: “I am truly very sorry.”
She also said her son was asleep and wearing headphones, with his father, and didn’t see what happened. Hollywoodlife says she later called that a “saving grace.”
Was She Charged in 2016?
I found no mention of it. The CBS Los Angeles and AP articles don’t mention police or FBI action, and Hollywoodlife says nothing about a legal outcome. That’s not proof nothing happened. It’s just that the sources I could open are silent on it, so I won’t say either way.
What Changed Between 2016 and Now
- 2018: Blair revealed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, per Hollywoodlife and ABC7. ABC7 says she announced remission in 2021.
- Sobriety: Hollywoodlife says she told Savannah Guthrie on “Today” that the 2016 flight was the last time she drank, and added, “I’m not cocky about it.” I couldn’t find the interview itself, so treat this as secondhand.
The 2026 Incident in Brief
Blair was arrested around 11 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at JFK Airport after Delta Flight 938 from Los Angeles, per the Port Authority and ABC7. The AP reports she was arraigned in Queens on two counts of second-degree assault, one involving a police officer and one a nurse at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. A separate FBI notice charges assault aboard the plane.
Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea, bail was set at $20,000 cash or a $60,000 bond, and ABC7 says she was released on bond. Hollywoodlife gives the next court date as January 19, 2027. Other outlets say only “January.”
Hollywoodlife says she allegedly punched one flight attendant and bit another during the flight. I haven’t seen that in the AP or ABC7 reports, which say only that two flight attendants were reportedly injured and pilots reported bite marks and a bloody nose, without saying who bit whom. Newsweek attributes the punching and biting claim to TMZ. I’d treat it as unconfirmed.
2016 vs. 2026: Side by Side
| 2016 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Airline | Delta | Delta (Flight 938) |
| Route | Cancun to Los Angeles | Los Angeles to New York (JFK) |
| Outcome | Removed on a stretcher; apology next day | Arrested at JFK; arraigned in Queens |
| Explanation | Alcohol mixed with medication, per Blair | A medical emergency, per her representative and lawyer |
| Legal action | None found in sources | Two state assault counts; FBI notice |
| Son on board | Yes, asleep | Not reported |
Is the 2016 Incident Relevant?
Only partly. Both involved Delta flights and both ended with Blair being removed or taken for evaluation. But the explanations differ.
In 2016, Blair herself blamed alcohol and medication. In 2026, her lawyer, Shawn Barnes, told the court she missed several doses of her MS medication and hit her head, which he said led to “a state of severe confusion and disorientation,” per the AP. Nothing I read says alcohol was involved in 2026, and no one has reported a test result.
That makes a straight line between the two unsupported. A reader can notice the similarity without treating one as an explanation for the other.
What Didn’t Sit Right in the Coverage
Several articles use the 2016 flight as a hook and imply a pattern. I don’t think that’s fair without evidence. One was a self-reported blackout from a mix of alcohol and medication, and the other is an alleged medical emergency that hasn’t been tested in court.
Some outlets also drop the detail that Blair’s son was with her in 2016, or lean on the witness account of what she said. And Hollywoodlife’s own 2026 summary adds the punching claim without attributing it to TMZ.
What We Don’t Know
- Whether anyone filed a complaint over the 2016 flight
- What medication she was taking in 2016, which she hasn’t named in anything I read
- Any medical findings about the 2026 flight
- What happens in the federal case. No appearance date has been set, per ABC7
Timeline
- June 20, 2016: The Cancun to Los Angeles flight
- June 21, 2016: Her apology to Vanity Fair
- 2018: She reveals her MS diagnosis
- 2021: She announces remission, per ABC7
- October 11, 2026: The Delta Flight 938 arrest at JFK
- October 12, 2026: Arraignment, not guilty plea
- January 2027: Next court date
conclusion
The 2016 incident is well documented in the sense that Blair explained it herself, quickly, and in public. The 2026 case is still open, and the charges are allegations. I’d keep the two stories separate until a court or doctor connects them.
Do you think past incidents should shape how we read a new one, or should each case be judged on its own? Tell me in the comments.