Selma Blair's team breaks silence after plane incident and arrest

Selma Blair's team is speaking out about the actor's recent arrest following an alleged mid-flight incident on Oct. 11.

"Since Sunday night, the public account of what happened to Selma aboard a flight to New York has been built almost entirely on a police statement and a decade-old headline,” Blair’s representative said in a statement to CBC News.

The actor was arrested after being accused of injuring two flight attendants on a trip from Los Angeles to New York. She was also charged Monday with assaulting a police officer who was taking her to the hospital and a nurse after she arrived there.

“A handful of journalists have taken the time to report on Selma as a human being rather than a headline, and we are grateful to them," the statement says. "But fair reporting has been the exception, and in the space left by our silence, speculation has hardened into something being treated as fact.

"We can, however, correct the record on a few points already in public circulation."

Blair appeared in court on Oct. 12 and pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree assault. She was later released on bail.

"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," her representative wrote.

A police officer who took her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center said in charging documents that while Blair was being secured to a stretcher, the actress pulled her leg from the straps and kicked the officer repeatedly around the face, neck and chest, causing serious pain and substantial swelling.

Later, a nurse moving Blair said the actress kicked her in the chest, causing substantial pain.

One of Blair's attorneys, Shawn Barnes, previously told a judge her actions were not intentional and that the actor, who has multiple sclerosis, missed several doses of "a powerful medication that controls severe neurological symptoms," according to the New York Daily News and New York Post.

Blair, was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2018 and has been an advocate for disability rights.

He said she had gotten on the plane in Los Angeles after a heavy workload, and hit her head during the flight. Those factors, as well as the plane's altitude, led to "a state of severe confusion and disorientation," he said.

Selma Blair accused of assaulting and injuring flight attendants, police officer and nurse

Blair's representative in the statement also addressed apparent comments about her diagnosis.