14 DAY TRIAL // The Hollywood premiere of Angelina Jolie’s Disney movie “Maleficent” was marred by an incident that almost turned violent, when Ukrainian “journalist” and prankster Vitalii Sediuk tried to get close to Brad Pitt and, before he was detained by security, he managed to hit him in the face and knock his designer sunglasses off.
Sediuk has been charged and sentenced after entering a no contest plea, but also issued a lifelong ban from all red carpet events taking place in Hollywood, because this wasn’t the first time that he attempted something as scandalous as this. In his defense, it was the first time that he actually assaulted someone.
After the attack, Brad, who was said not to have been hurt but was “shocked” by the incident, continued with his press obligations to the best of his abilities. He’s breaking his silence now, warning Sediuk that, if he keeps this up, he will be ruining the experience for many fans.
He also offers a bit more details on what really happened.
“I was at the end of the line signing autographs, when out the corner of my eye I saw someone stage-diving over the barrier at me. I took a step back; this guy had latched onto my lapels. I looked down and the nutter was trying to bury his face in my crotch, so I cracked him twice in the back of the head – not too hard – but enough to get his attention, because he did let go. I think he was then just grabbing for a hand hold because the guys were on him, and he reached up and caught my glasses,” Brad tells People magazine in a statement.
So Sediuk was trying to do his now-signature move called the “crotch hug,” which he also pulled on Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper but, not anticipating Pitt’s bodyguards would be so quick to act, his plan was foiled. He didn’t punch Brad in the face, at least not on purpose; but the actor confirms that he was hit.
“I don't mind an exhibitionist,” Brad continues, “but if this guy keeps it up he's going to spoil it for the fans who have waited up all night for an autograph or a selfie, because it will make people more wary to approach a crowd. And he should know, if he tries to look up a woman's dress again, he's going to get stomped.”
He makes a valid point here: should Sediuk continue to pull such stunts, security around actors will be tighter and they will probably refuse to get closer to fans on his account. To the many people who wait for hours, come rain or shine, outside a movie theater at a premiere, this could spell heartbreak because they might never get the one thing they had been waiting for: an autograph or a photo.
Food for thought for Sediuk: a prank stops being funny when people are getting hurt, even by accident. It also stops being funny when it has implications that affect loving fans who did nothing wrong.