Red carpet prankster will spoil it for fans, warns Pitt

Brad Pitt has spoken out after being accosted by a man with a reputation for red carpet pranks.

Vitalii Sediuk, 25, has said that he was merely trying to give the actor a hug, but in a statement to People magazine, Pitt accused the former Ukrainian television reporter of attempting to grab his crotch.

He said he hit Sediuk a couple of times on the back of his head during the red carpet event for Maleficent in Los Angeles last week.

He added: “I don’t mind an exhibitionist, 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 said, referring to an incident at the Cannes Film Festival when Sediuk crawled under America Ferrera’s dress.

His contact caused Pitt to lose balance and Sediuk spent two days in jail before pleading no contest to battery and unlawful activity at an entertainment event.

He was sentenced to three years’ probation, a year of psychiatric counselling, and ordered to stay away from Pitt. “I’m a normal guy,” Sediuk said in the interview. “I’m not crazy.”