'Hairspray' Star and 'Top Model' Spar Over Seats

Etiquette guru weighs in on fight between "Hairspray" and "Top Model" stars.

ByABC News
February 12, 2009, 12:10 PM

Aug. 5, 2008— -- A fight over five saved seats in a Caribbean airport terminal reportedly ended in a brawl between the families of two celebrities, resulting in both of them being charged and the mother of one ending up in the hospital.

Nikki Blonsky, star of the film "Hairspray," and her father were arrested Wednesday at the Providenciales International Airport on the island of Turks and Caicos following an "altercation" with the family of Bianca Golden, a contestant on "America's Next Top Model" over five seats Blonsky was holding for family members. Golden, too, was arrested.

"There was an altercation between the Blonsky family and the Golden family," Det. Sgt. Calvin Chase, the Turks and Caicos police spokesman, told ABCNews.com.

Blonsky was charged with assault and actual bodily harm and common assault, while her father was charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm. Golden was charged with assault and doing actual bodily harm.

Golden's mother, Eleine, suffered a head injury and had to be airlifted to a hospital in Aventura, Fla., Chase said.

Both women were released on $6,000 bail, but Blonsky's father will have to cool his heels in jail until Aug. 8, when "he will be further dealt with," Chase said. He said the dustup took place just after noon Wednesday in the departure lounge of the airport, while both families were waiting on flights.

Airports with their rules, long lines and lengthy delays can be stressful places where good manners sometimes get swept aside, said Peter Post, director of the Emily Post Institute.

According to Post, it is OK to save seats, but fighting over them is bad manners.

"I think the rule on saving seats is that people need to be reasonable," he said. "There is no formula for how many saved seats make it OK. It doesn't matter if it's one or three or five. You can't make a formula based on the size of the room and the number of available seats.

"If people are getting a magazine or using the restroom, but they're around, it's reasonable that you can hold their seat for them," he said.