Gigi Hadid will not be manhandled.
The supermodel, who is in Milan for Italy's fashion week, was exiting MaxMara's show arm-in-arm with her sister Bella Hadid on their way to a chauffeured car. After pausing to take a few quick photos with fans, Hadid was suddenly lifted into the air by a man who grabbed her from behind.
The man in question was later identified as Vitalii Sediuk, who has gained notoriety for physically accosting a handful of Hollywood's most famous figures on red carpets, including Will Smith, Bradley Cooper and Leonardo DiCaprio.
In photos captured of the altercation, both Hadid sisters fought back at the stranger, Gigi elbowing Sediuk in the neck before he let her go and ran away.
In videos of the altercation, Hadid shortly chased after the man before returning to her car and asking security to find him.
Milanese police told E! News a police report was not made because it was not considered an assault and that the man "pushed" Gigi when she was leaving the fashion show to get into the car. Per the Italian authorities, her private security handled it, so police were not involved.
Meanwhile, When a website published a headline blaming Hadid for "not model behavior," the blond beauty took to Twitter to sound off.
"To unknown article writer: fan?!!! The ACTUAL fans that were there can tell you what happened. I'm a HUMAN BEING," she tweeted. "and had EVERY RIGHT to defend myself. How dare that idiot thinks he has the right to man-handle a complete stranger. He ran quick tho."
While Bella hasn't issued any comments on the event, she did retweet remarks from a fan account.
"Men [need] to learn the boundaries about touching women like this isn't acceptable in society. I hate it when they aren't listening," the tweet read. "Who tf do you think you are trying grabbing Gigi without your consent, it is NEVER okay to grab someone let alone a woman. Educate yourself."
Meanwhile, Sediuk spoke of the incident on his Instagram account, calling it encouragement for the fashion industry to put "true talents on the runway and Vogue covers."
"While I consider Gigi Hadid beautiful, she and her friend Kendall Jenner, have nothing to do with high fashion. By doing this I encourage fashion industry to put true talents on the runway and Vogue covers instead of well-connected cute girls from Instagram. You can call it a manifest or a protest," he wrote on social media.
"This is also a wake up call for Anna Wintour who turned Vogue into tabloid by putting Kardashians and other doubtful celebrities on a cover of a well-respected magazine."