Gigi Hadid is not the model to mess with.
The Huffington Post reported that Hadid was leaving a Milan Fashion Week show with her sister, Bella Hadid, in Milan, Italy, when the incident happened.
TMZ video, which contains explicit language, shows a man approach Hadid from behind, as she is flanked by security on both sides, and lift her in the air while she pauses to pose for photos with fans.
"Let go of me," Hadid said. "Who the (expletive) are you? You piece of (expletive)."
Hadid can be seen on the video elbowing the man in the face before he walks away. Bella Hadid attempted to remove the man's hands from around Gigi Hadid's body.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Ukrainian media personality Vitalii Sediuk is the man responsible for the incident. He is known for pranking celebrities at public events or spaces, most notably attempting to tackle Brad Pitt at a movie premiere in 2014 and trying to kiss Will Smith on a red carpet in 2012, for which Smith slapped him.
"While I consider Gigi Hadid beautiful, she and her friend Kendall Jenner have nothing to do with high fashion. By doing this, I encourage the fashion industry to put true talents on the runway and Vogue covers instead of well-connected cute girls from Instagram," Sediuk said in a statement to THR. "You can call it a manifest or a protest. This is also a wake-up call for Anna Wintour, who turned Vogue into a tabloid by putting Kardashians and other similar celebrities on a cover of a well-respected magazine," he said.
Whatever the reason for the prank, Sediuk's antics have been criticized and some have called it assault, which he considers to be "over-dramatic."
Hadid said on Twitter she was well within her rights to defend herself. The tweets were in response to an article that had a since-changed headline claiming she had not been exhibiting "model behavior."
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