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Gigi Hadid proves that she’s a total badass after a man grabbed her — and she elbowed him in the face

gigi hadid
Gigi Hadid. REUTERS/Peter Power

A man lifted supermodel Gigi Hadid from the ground during Milan Fashion Week on Thursday, forcing the model to defend herself and elbow him in the face.

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Vitalii Sediuk, a Ukranian-born man with a long history of red-carpet stunts on celebrities, has come forward as the man in the video, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The moment happened as the 21-year-old model was leaving the Max Mara runway show, and was captured on video. Though she was accompanied by her security team as well as her sister Bella, Hadid was grabbed from behind and lifted by Sediuk in the crowd.

She struggled to get away, even landing what looked like a very satisfying elbow blow to his face. Sediuk dropped her and ran away.

Though Hadid tried to pursue him — shouting "Who the f--- are you, you piece of sh--?!" as she did so — her security team held her at bay.

Fans were quick to point out how badass the Los Angeles-born model was for defending herself.

The story was first picked up by UK tabloid The Sun, but with a grossly sexist headline: “NOT MODEL BEHAVIOR: Gigi Hadid aggressively lashes out and ELBOWS fan in the FACE after he tries to pick her up.”

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gigi hadid sun
The Sun/Twitter

The publication has since changed its headline after fan backlash: "DON'T MESS WITH GIGI: Moment model Gigi Hadid elbows prankster in the face when he pounces on her in the street and lifts her off the floor."

Gigi herself has responded to the original headline, stating that the man was obviously not a fan.

"I’m a human being and had every right to defend myself," she tweeted. "How dare that idiot thinks [sic] he has the right to manhandle a complete stranger."

"He ran quick tho [sic]," she added. 

Meanwhile, Sediuk told THR that he didn't consider grabbing Hadid without her consent an assault and that he did what he did because "[Hadid] and her friend Kendall Jenner have nothing to do with high fashion."

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"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 told THR.

Either way, Hadid was able to defend herself admirably, despite a slow response from security. That’ll teach the creep to mess with a supermodel who does kickboxing.

good morning @gothamgym ⚡️⚡️

A video posted by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Nov 7, 2015 at 6:25am PST

Way to go, Gigi!

Read the original article on INSIDER. Copyright 2016.

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