Gigi Hadid has opened up about her frightening experience at Milan Fashion Week, saying she had "every right" to fight off her attacker and criticising media outlets who suggested she did not.
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The 21-year-old model wrote for Lena Dunham's email newsletter Lenny Letter about the incident last Thursday, which saw Ukrainian prankster Vitalii Sediuk lift her off the ground as she exited the Max Mara show.
"Honestly, I felt I was in danger, and I had every right to react the way I did," she wrote.
"If anything, I want girls to see the video and know that they have the right to fight back, too, if put in a similar situation. Practicing self-defense is important so that when you're in the moment, reacting from muscle memory comes more naturally to you than freezing up."
Hadid also addressed original media reports of the incident, specifically a Daily Mail headline which described Sediuk, who has a history of assaulting celebrities at red carpet events, as a "fan" and said Hadid's self-defence was "not model behaviour".
"That's when I really got pissed," she wrote.
"If my behaviour isn't model behaviour, then what is? What would [the reporter] have told [her] daughter to do in that situation?"
THANK YOU Rachel.
To unknown article writer: fan?!!! The ACTUAL fans that were there can tell you what happened. I'm a HUMAN BEING — https://t.co/G7Pbp0G8yP— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) September 22, 2016
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 — Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) September 22, 2016
The model, who thanked her boxing coach of two years on Twitter following the incident, went on to say that, while it was "touching" for people to view her act as heroic, it was "just what [she]had to do".
"I know people are put in much worse situations every day and don't have the cameras around that provoke social-media support. I just want to use what happened to me to show that it's everyone's right, and it can be empowering, to be able to defend yourself."