Advertisement

Brad Pitt calls ‘Maleficent’ prankster Vitalii Sediuk ‘nutter’

Share

Brad Pitt is speaking out against former journalist Vitalii Sediuk, who accosted him at the “Maleficent” premiere last week in Los Angeles.

The recently fired Ukrainian prankster approached Pitt on the red carpet, where the actor was with his fiancée (and the film’s star) Angelina Jolie and several of their children. However, Sediuk, who has a history of getting inappropriate with A-listers at high-profile events, got a little too close for Pitt’s comfort before taking a tumble and getting carried away by security.

“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,” Pitt told People. “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.”

Advertisement

Pitt said he didn’t mind exhibitionists but didn’t condone Sediuk’s antics if it means “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,” Pitt added, referencing Sediuk’s attempt to crawl under actress America Ferrera’s poufy gown at the Cannes Film Festival last month.

Sediuk previously crashed Adele’s Grammy speech in 2013, tried to kiss Will Smith and planted his face in Bradley Cooper and Leonardo DiCaprio’s nether-regions at high-profile events.

He has since been banned from Hollywood events, but sang a different tune when asked about the incident by the Associated Press on Monday.

“I never hit, I never punched, I never slapped Brad Pitt in the face,” he said. “This is absolutely false information.”

The 25-year-old said he was merely trying to hug Pitt and didn’t mean him any harm. He’d been posted in a fan area and reached over the barricade to hug the actor when he fell through and was arrested, he said.

Advertisement

“I’m a normal guy,” Sediuk told AP. “I’m not crazy.”

Sediuk spent two days in jail and pleaded no contest to to battery and unlawful activity at a sporting or entertainment event.

The prankster was sentenced Friday to three years of probation, which includes community service and a restraining order barring him from Hollywood events. He’ll also have to undergo a year’s worth of psychiatric counseling.

Advertisement