Selma Blair has been charged with 2 counts of assault after allegedly biting a flight attendant on a Delta flight, and she’s been released on bail

Selma Blair has walked out of a Queens courtroom on bail, a day after she was taken into custody when her Delta flight landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Cruel Intentions actress has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault, according to People. A judge set her bail at $20,000 cash or $60,000 bond, and she left court with her lawyers.

The state charges do not cover what allegedly happened in the air. Instead, prosecutors accuse Blair of kicking a police officer who was taking her to the hospital, and then kicking a nurse once she arrived. Her attorney entered a not guilty plea on her behalf during the arraignment on Monday night, and she is due back in court in January.

Blair still faces a separate case over the flight itself. The FBI issued the 54-year-old a notice charging her with assault tied to her alleged actions on board, according to a federal law enforcement official. That case will go through the petty violations court in federal court in Brooklyn, and no date has been set for her to appear.

Blair’s lawyer says missed doses of her MS medication left her confused and disoriented

Blair was first accused of punching one flight attendant and biting another after she allegedly tried to open a Delta plane door during the trip from Los Angeles. Monday’s hearing was the first time her legal team explained in court what it says caused her behavior.

Attorney Shawn Barnes told the judge Blair’s actions were not intentional. He said the actress, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018, had missed several doses of a powerful medication that controls severe neurological symptoms. Barnes added that she boarded after a heavy workload and hit her head during the flight, and that those factors along with the altitude left her in a state of severe confusion.

The charging documents lay out the state’s side. The officer who escorted Blair to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center said that while she was strapping the actress to a stretcher, Blair freed a leg and kicked her repeatedly around the face, neck and chest. The officer described serious pain and substantial swelling, while a nurse later said Blair kicked her in the chest as she was being moved.

Blair appeared to cry as she stood in court in handcuffs, wearing jeans and a white hooded sweatshirt. Her representative has said she experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct, and that she received immediate medical attention after landing. However, the actress has not made any public statement of her own since the arrest.

Delta has not released details of what happened in the cabin. However, the airline said it has zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior, as the safety of its customers and crew comes first. Air traffic audio captured the pilot asking for medical staff at the gate to treat bite marks and a bloody nose, and saying the passenger appeared to have hit her head on a bulkhead.

Blair has advocated for disability rights since her diagnosis, and she joined President Joe Biden at the White House in 2023 to mark the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The medical explanation her lawyer offered in court is likely to sit at the center of both cases going forward.

Prosecutors in Queens and federal officials in Brooklyn could each weigh that medical defense differently, as the state and federal cases are moving on separate tracks with no shared court date.