For anyone who hasn't heard yet, Gigi Hadid was recently the victim of what some people are calling an attack, and others a harmless prank while in Milan for fashion week. While walking to her car a random man came running up to her and promptly tried to lift her up, somewhat groping her in the process. She immediately reacted by elbowing him in the face, making him drop her while she proceeded to try to chase him down. Gigi eventually got in the car but not before telling a member of her security team to go find him.
It was revealed later that the man in question was notorious "prankster" Vitalii Sediuk, a man who has gotten in trouble multiple times for his red carpet antics with celebrities, including the likes of America Ferrera and Brad Pitt. His activities have gotten him arrested and fired from his job, and many in the media are not fans of him. It often seems like there is no reason for his antics, but in this case Sediuk has said he was trying to draw attention to the fact that Hadid isn't truly a supermodel and doesn't deserve the notoriety she is getting.
But I have no idea how lifting her up and embarrassing her in public, as well invading her personal space brings any attention to the fact that she shouldn't be a high fashion model. It was just a poor excuse for him to make up why he would manhandle a young women for absolutely no reason. Furthermore, no one has the right to touch another person like that without their permission, regardless if they are a celebrities who puts themselves out there. His behavior was disgusting and he should be charged for assault.
What is possibly more disgusting though is the fact that many people called this incident simply a 'prank' and claimed that Hadid overreacted to it. There were headlines stating that Gigi aggressively lashed out and he was just a fan trying to get close to her, while she should have been praised for her ability to defend herself.
Since Hadid is small model, it wouldn't be surprising if a larger man was able to overpower her. But instead she reacted quickly and was able to prevent the attack, and it should definitely be called an attack, from going any further. At time Hadid had no idea what this man was doing, he could have been planning on grabbing her and trying to kidnap her (plenty of celebrities have stalkers and need for concern).
For that reason she should be praised for her ability to defend herself. This is the sort of celebrity incident that little girls can actually admire and aspire to also feel confident in their abilities to protect themselves.
