Natasha Lyonne had a troubled past before she was booted off a Delta flight for looking “out of it.”
Over the years, the “American Pie” actress has struggled with drugs and alcohol — even once being arrested for a DUI.
Here’s a look at Lyonne’s tumultuous past.
When she was 8 years old, her father, Aaron Braunstein, moved their family to Israel, where “his dreams were about bringing Mike Tyson to the Tel Aviv Hilton and becoming the Don King of Israel,” she previously told Rolling Stone.
Braunstein created a “tough-guy ethos” in their unstable home, prompting Lyonne to grow up with a tomboy stance she thought would cause her distant parents to like her.
Lyonne said she didn’t have many female friends and now realizes that the “hypervigilance I was experiencing was more about being a kid in an unsafe home.
“I was just developing this high emotional IQ, for better or worse, about the human condition,” she told the outlet in 2020.
After the “Scary Movie 2” star’s parents divorced, she moved back to New York with her mom, Yvette Braunstein.
Lyonne was kicked out of the Upper East Side yeshiva — where she had been on scholarship — for selling marijuana.
In 2001, Lyonne was arrested in Miami for driving under the influence, infamously telling cops, “I’m a movie star — can I talk to my entertainment lawyer?”
One year after her arrest, she pleaded guilty to driving drunk and was slapped with a $1,000 fine.
In 2005, Lyonne was admitted — under a pseudonym — to Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, New York, suffering from hepatitis C, infective endocarditis, and a collapsed lung.
She was there for five months and was placed on methadone, a drug used to treat heroin addiction.
A warrant was issued for Lyonne’s arrest in January 2006 after she missed a court hearing relating to her prior legal problems. Her lawyer claimed the actress had an emergency, but did not give details.
Later that year, Lyonne was admitted to a drug and alcohol treatment center. When the “Orange Is the New Black” star appeared in court afterwards, the judge entered a conditional discharge.
In 2005, Lyonne was evicted from a NYC apartment in a building owned by actor Michael Rapaport, who later penned a scathing account of the actress’s tenancy.
The comedian wrote in the May 2005 issue of Jane magazine that her bedroom looked like a “grenade had gone off.”
“There was garbage everywhere: scripts, contracts, pages from Hustler magazine, photos, letters and things I can’t even mention,” Rapaport wrote.
“There were glasses smashed in the kitchen and there was standing water in the clogged tub with flies hovering over it. When the plumber saw the condition of the bathroom, he said he’d never seen anything that bad before. A freakin’ New York City plumber — that’s how bad it was,” he added.
Rapaport claimed he spent $16,000 repairing the damage Lyonne caused — including ripping the ceilings open to fix the pipes.
“I know that girl needs help, and I tried to help her — a lot of her friends did,” he wrote. “But she screwed me. She can kiss my ass.”
In January 2026, Lyonne revealed she had relapsed after nearly 10 years of sobriety.
“Took my relapse public more to come,” she wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
She added: “Recovery is a lifelong process. Anyone out there struggling, remember you’re not alone. Grateful for love & smart feet.”
“Gonna do it for baby Bambo,” she wrote, referencing the title of her upcoming movie about hockey player Sophie “Bambo” Braverman.
“Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets,” the post continued. “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 & baloney.”
Two months later, Lyonne gave an update on how her sobriety journey was going following the relapse.
“Proud to report this kid is doing a whole lot better & back on her feet,” the “Russian Doll” alum wrote via X March 19.
“Want to thank our recovery communities & the fans who stood by & were so supportive,” she added.
“Aiming to keep the journey somehow private, but look forward to sharing my experience, strength & hope as makes sense. My heart is with everyone ever going through it.”
In April 2026, Page Six exclusively reported that Lyonne was booted from a Delta flight hours after she shocked fans with a risqué look at the “Euphoria” Season 3 red carpet premiere.
Lyonne — who joined the show as a guest star — was seen aboard the flight to NYC in the same black stockings and shades she’d worn to the premiere, as well as sneakers and a black coat.
When flight attendants asked Lyonne to close her laptop and fasten her seatbelt for takeoff, she didn’t respond.
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Numerous flight attendants repeatedly tried to get Lyonne, who sat in first class, to follow instructions and an eyewitness told us she seemed to be dozing behind her sunglasses. At one point, she even got startled and said, “Ah! You scared me!”
Lyonne’s laptop was taken out of her hands. Though the plane taxied to the runway, it later turned back to the gate before takeoff.
A Delta staffer boarded the plane and asked Lyonne, “Ma’am, do you need medical attention?” Then they said, “Ma’am, I need you to come off the plane. Do you need help with your belongings?”
The “Poker Face” alum was overheard asking, “Where are we?” before being told, “We’re still in LA. The plane hasn’t gone anywhere. … The plane is not going anywhere until you come off it.”
Ultimately, Lyonne got up, went to the bathroom and then exited the plane without further issue.
The flight’s captain apologized to the remaining guests for the incident, saying Lyonne “wouldn’t follow some basic commands.”
Lyonne’s rep did not respond to Page Six’s multiple requests for comment.
