No, the Man Who Tried to Attack Gigi Hadid in Milan Was Not a 'Fan' [Updated]
Gigi Hadid at Max Mara's spring 2017 runway show during Milan Fashion Week. Photo: Antonio de Moraes Barros Filho/WireImage
Like her friends and fellow Instagirls, Gigi Hadid loves her fans. She routinely thanks them on her platform of choice, Instagram, when her follower count increases by another million or simply to express her general gratitude. ("The way you love and support me and my career is something that still wows me every morning when I wake up," she wrote last New Year's Eve.) She knows a fan when she sees one, and she would like you to know that the man who attacked her in Milan on Thursday morning was no fan of hers.
While leaving Max Mara's spring 2017 runway show with her sister, Bella, a man grabbed her and attempted to pick her up. Gigi went on the offense, like any human person being handled by a stranger without permission, and attempted to free herself using her arms and elbows. (You can see pictures of the incident over on the Daily Mail.) In the Daily Mail's coverage, the news outlet referred to Gigi's attacker as an "over eager fan," while The Sun called her reaction "not model behaviour."
Gigi soon after addressed the episode on Twitter, thanking Twitter user Rachel McGrath for correcting The Sun's headline to read: "GOOD FOR HER: Gigi Hadid Reacts in Totally Appropriate Way When Random Man Tries to Lift Her in the Street."
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So, to all the "over eager fans" out there: It's never okay to invade a person's space like that. Obviously! And to Gigi: Your "actual fans" will support you without the use of unwarranted physical contact.
Update, Sept. 23: Video has now surfaced from the incident, in which we see the attacker — confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter to be serial celebrity prankster Vitalii Sediuk — lift Gigi off the ground.
In an interview with the publication, Sediuk said that Gigi and "her friend Kendall Jenner have nothing to do with high fashion." He continued: "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."
Later on Thursday, Gigi extolled the benefits of boxing on Twitter.
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