Natasha Lyonne has finally addressed her removal from a Delta flight earlier this week.
The 47-year-old actress took to X (formerly Twitter) to finally offer up an explanation as she blamed the incident on taking a sleeping pill while also revealing that she ended up being detained by controversial US government agency ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
Lyonne was reportedly asked to leave an aircraft bound for New York City late Tuesday night after she failed to respond to flight attendant instructions.
She wrote on the microblogging site on Friday: ‘Indeed, I took a Lunesta once seated, to ensure some shut eye on the Delta One red eye flight to NYC.
‘Boarded seamlessly with just a backpack and sneakers, eager for a nap.’
She was scheduled to appear on The Drew Barrymore Show, which is filmed in the Big Apple, the following day but failed to make it.
Natasha Lyonne (pictured in New York City on Thursday) has finally addressed her removal from a Delta flight earlier this week
The 47-year-old actress took to X (formally Twitter) to finally offer up an explanation as she blamed the incident on taking a sleeping pill while also revealing that she ended up being detained by controversial US government agency ICE
Lyonne continued by explaining: ‘Plan was to be bushy tailed & beauty rested, as I was meant to head straight to glam for a slot with our beloved @DrewBarrymore, upon landing.
‘Was looking forward to seeing Drew & an in depth convo, but I guess ICE had other plans & I was detained instead. Sign of the times, I guess.’
Airports nationwide are reporting historic wait times for security amid a severe shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers due to a partial government shutdown and ICE agents have had a presence in the last few weeks at the travel hubs.
Lyonne concluded her message by expressing her gratefulness for TSA workers as she wrote: ‘Thanks for all the love and support. Never had a problem with @Delta or @TSA before. Heart is with our unpaid @TSA workers. [two beating heart emojis] Apologies to any travelers who were delayed.’
During the incident, the actress was said to have appeared ‘out of it’ as she prepared to depart Los Angeles on Tuesday, hours after attending the season three premiere of Euphoria in Hollywood.
She eventually made it to New York City as she appeared on the red carpet of documentary Lorne in the Bronx on Thursday night.
The incident comes three months after Lyonne revealed she had suffered a relapse after being sober for nearly 10 years.
Lyonne was sitting in first class and still in some of the clothing she wore at the premiere when the drama began, according to Page Six.
Lyonne was reportedly asked to leave an aircraft bound for New York City late Tuesday night after she failed to respond to flight attendant instructions, hours after attending the Euphoria season 3 premiere on Tuesday
The actress is said to have appeared ‘out of it’ before being kicked off the Delta flight bound for New York (stock image)
The staff were eventually able to retrieve her laptop and the plane taxied onto the runway before it returned to the gate, where a Delta staffer boarded to speak to Lyonne.
‘Ma’am, do you need medical attention?’ the employee reportedly asked Lyonne. ‘Ma’am, I need you to come off the plane. Do you need help with your belongings?’
‘Where are we?’ she was heard asking.
‘We’re still in LA. The plane hasn’t gone anywhere,’ they said. ‘The plane is not going anywhere until you come off it.’
According to Page Six, Lyonne ‘coolly shushed’ the staffer before heading towards the bathroom and coming out snacking on a bag of pretzels.
She departed the plane obediently after her luggage was removed.
The captain later revealed they had dealt with a passenger who was unable to follow ‘basic commands’ as they addressed the more than hour-long delay for travelers waiting to get to New York.
‘We have a passenger who, for whatever reason… wouldn’t follow some basic commands… We had a passenger who didn’t seem up to the task tonight, so that’s why they were asked to be booked on another flight,’ the captain reportedly said.
‘I do apologize for the inconvenience, but we will get you to New York as quickly and as safely as possible.’
Earlier in the evening, Lyonne had shocked fans when she walked the red carpet flashing her braless bust in a mesh top, as she plugged her role in Euphoria. Above, with Brian Grazer
She eventually made it to New York City as she appeared on the red carpet of documentary Lorne in the Bronx on Thursday night
The Daily Mail contacted representatives for Lyonne for comment earlier this week but did not immediately hear back. Delta declined to comment.
Earlier in the evening, she had shocked fans when she walked the red carpet flashing her braless bust in a mesh top, as she plugged her role in Euphoria.
The incident comes three months after she revealed she suffered a relapse.
‘Took my relapse public, more to come,’ Lyonne told her 545,000 followers, who showered her with support.
‘Thanks, boss … for the grace, etc.,’ the actress wrote in response to one bolstering comment. ‘Sending love back your way. May become a pothead or a nun. TBD.’
Lyonne didn’t give an exact time frame of when the relapse occurred or how, but she stressed that ‘recovery is a lifelong process.’
‘Anyone out there struggling, remember you’re not alone,’ her written message continued on Saturday, January 24.
‘Grateful for love and smart feet. Gonna do it for baby Bambo. Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets.’
The incident comes three months after Lyonne revealed she had suffered a relapse after being sober for nearly 10 years – pictured April 7
A witness observed Lyonne being given instructions by multiple flight attendants, and the actress was reportedly dozing off during the mishap. She was heard telling flight attendants at one point: ‘Ah! You scared me!’
The Orange Is The New Black alum added: ‘If no one told ya today, I love you. No matter how far down the scales we have gone, we will see how our experience may help another. Keep going, kiddos. Don’t quit before the miracle. Wallpaper your mind with love. Rest is all noise and baloney.’
To one devotee, she wrote, ‘Love ya back,’ and to another, she confided, ‘We need better systems and to end shame — bill the Sacklers and stilettos or something but don’t @ me for getting honest.’
She was referring to the notorious Sackler family, known for owning Purdue Pharma, which developed the highly addictive pain medication OxyContin and amassed billions from its sales.
Last year, the company was forced to cough up a $7.4 billion settlement for its role in the current opioid epidemic.
In March, she offered an update on her sobriety journey: ‘Proud to report this kid is doing a whole lot better & back on her feet,’ she posted to X.
Lyonne, who completed rehab in 2006, previously spoke about her downward spiral into drug and alcohol addiction in a candid interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2012.
‘Spiraling into addiction is really, really scary,’ she said. ‘Some things have a very A-to-B scientific effect. Like, alcohol is a depressant. Cocaine is a stimulant. And then: Cocaine plus heroin is bad! That’s the point of my story, that’s the moral. Coke plus heroin equals speedball. And speedball equals bad, you know?
‘It’s weird to talk about,’ she said at the time. ‘I was definitely as good as dead, you know? A lot of people don’t come back. That makes me feel wary and self-conscious. I wouldn’t want to feel prideful about it. People really rallied around me and pulled me up by my f***ing bootstraps.’
The New York City native took to social media in January saying she felt better after her relapse
She was heard telling staff after apparently getting startled at one point: ‘Ah! You scared me!’
Lyonne was making headlines in the early to mid-2000s but not the nice kind: a drunk-driving arrest, a run-in with a neighbor resulting in a court appearance, hospitalization for hepatitis C, a collapsed lung, infective endocarditis and later open-heart surgery to correct damage done.
In 2006, at age 27, she checked into an inpatient rehab for treatment for her drug and alcohol abuse.
‘Eventually, I made it through those dark nights of the soul,’ Lyonne told The Times in 2024.
Lyonne has seen a career resurgence in her 40s, and recently she has shifted her focus away from starring roles to directing, writing and producing, such as the 1980s-set boxing film Bambo.
Read the full article here
