Celebs Who Got Pranked By Vitalii Sediuk

A former journalist with Ukraine's 1+1 television network, Vitalii Sediuk gained notoriety far beyond the borders of his homeland for his bizarre encounters with celebrities on red carpets. According to BBC News, Sediuk (who was fired from his job after one of his stunts) claimed to be a "serious journalist" whose showbiz "pranks" were only meant to entertain. "Some pranks are funny, some pranks are less funny. It's up to you to decide," he insisted. "My intention is never to hurt anyone, never to offend anyone. I'm basically a normal guy."

Celebrities who've been accosted by Sediuk at star-studded events would beg to differ, such as the supermodel who elbowed him in the face when he snuck up behind her and lifted her off the ground, or the actress whose dress he crawled under, or the Oscar-winning movie star whose expensive sunglasses were smashed when Sediuk rushed at him and tried to hug the actor's crotch. While his actions may be weird, Sediuk offered a plausible explanation for his motives. "I'm doing this for attention," he said.

This infamous red-carpet interloper has been busy over the years; read on to learn all about the celebs who got pranked by Vitalii Sediuk.

Will Smith was being interviewed on the red carpet for the 2012 Moscow premiere of Men In Black 3 when Vitalii Sediuk leaned in for a hug. As the video shared on YouTube by Associated Press demonstrated, Smith was accommodating enough to give him a hug back. However, while up close to Smith's face, Sediuk started giving the star some sloppy kisses, aiming for his lips, in a ridiculous attempt to make out with the actor.

Smith was not amused by being violated on the red carpet. His expression suddenly annoyed and glowering, Smith angrily pushed Sediuk away. "What is your problem, buddy?" he declared as he whacked Sediuk across the face with an open hand.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Smith told the members of his team who'd accompanied him on the red carpet that Sediuk should consider himself fortunate he'd escaped with only a light smack. "He's lucky I didn't sucker punch him," said Smith before calming down and moving on. 

There have been times when Vitalii Sediuk's antics have transcended notoriety and actually landed him behind bars. That was the case with his infamous appearance at the 2013 Grammy Awards when he crashed Adele's acceptance speech.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, before Adele made her way to the stage after presenters Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull announced she had won the Grammy for best pop solo performance, a tuxedo-clad Sediuk had already hopped on the dais. "It's such an honor to receive this award," Sediuk declared as the confused-looking singer climbed the stairs. "I love you, Adele," he added. Lopez, glaring at Sediuk with her patented I'm-not-playing-right-now look, gestured at Sediuk to get off the stage immediately — which he did.

Amazingly, Sediuk was able to gain entrance to the Grammys with no credentials and no ticket, with THR reporting he simply "strolled" in "alongside Katy Perry." Once inside, he grabbed an empty seat that had been left vacant when its intended occupant, Maroon 5's Adam Levine, arrived late and wound up sitting on the floor. Sediuk was arrested for trespassing, and spent the night in the slammer. 

Kim Kardashian has been unfortunate to have encountered Vitalii Sediuk not once but twice. The first time was outside a Paris fashion show in 2014, when TMZ reported the Ukrainian event-crasher lunged for the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star's legs. "Stop it," Kris Jenner could reportedly be heard saying as security pulled him away. 

Sediuk struck again in 2016, once again during Paris Fashion Week. This time, he dropped to his knees and attempted to kiss Kardashian's derriere, a stunt that was thwarted instantly when her security yanked him off and slammed him down on the concrete sidewalk. According to CNN, his second attack on the reality star was impromptu, when he spied Kardashian and husband Kanye West arriving at the "posh restaurant" where he happened to be. "I swear I didn't know she was going to be there," he wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. "So I had to come out with an idea very fast." In that deleted post, reported E! News, Sediuk claimed his stunt was "protesting Kim using fake butt implants" (something she has denied).

E! News reported that Kardashian filed a "complaint" about Sediuk with local authorities.

Bradley Cooper was chatting with his American Hustle co-star Michael Peña and fellow actor Mandy Patinkin on the red carpet at the 2014 Screen Actors Guild Awards when Vitalii Sediuk sprang into action. 

The Ukrainian prankster dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Cooper, pressing the side of his head into his crotch. According to Us Weekly, Cooper became "red in the face" and attempted in vain to lift Sediuk to his feet. After Cooper made a few attempts to disengage his crotch-hugging assailant, Sediuk finally stood up on his own. He leaned in and whispered something in Cooper's ear and then walked off — no security required. A nearby photographer called out to Cooper to ask if he was OK. Cooper, reported the magazine, "confidently nodded and smiled."

Sediuk later shared a photo on Instagram, of himself gazing lovingly into Cooper's eyes, writing in the caption, "My husband and me... those eyes can't lie."

As it turned out, the "crotch hug" was apparently something of a go-to move for Vitalii Sediuk during 2014. A few weeks after he wrapped himself around Bradley Cooper at the SAG Awards, he pulled the same stunt on Leonardo DiCaprio outside the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

As the Wolf of Wall Street star was walking past throngs of fans, Sediuk breached the barricade and ran to DiCaprio, dropping to his knees and giving the star a big below-the-belt hug, per the Daily News. DiCaprio took it in stride, and reportedly seemed to be mildly amused, although security quickly emerged to pull Sediuk away from the actor's "nether region," as the outlet tactfully described that area of DiCaprio's anatomy.

According to the newspaper, Sediuk wasn't arrested and experienced no repercussions from the incident — other than another celebrity ambush to add to his résumé.

Vitalii Sediuk also made an unwanted appearance at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Actress America Ferrera was minding her own business, posing on the red carpet at the premiere of the animated hit How to Train Your Dragon 2, when Sediuk struck again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the tuxedo-clad Ukrainian snuck up behind her as she stood alongside co-stars Jay Baruchel, Kit Harington, Cate Blanchett, and Djimon Hounsou.

Sediuk zeroed in on Ferrera's Georges Hobeika Couture gown, crawling over and sticking his head beneath it. Security personnel quickly entered the scene and pulled Sediuk away. "I don't even know what happened!" Ferrera later told Vulture of the bizarre incident, adding, "I feel something behind me, and there's this guy under my dress, and then two guys drag him away! Of all of the things I prepared myself for, that was not one of them." 

Admitting the whole thing "felt like a crazy weird dream," Ferrera was asked if she found Sediuk's prank to be "kind of violating." She responded, "I agree with that statement." According to The Hollywood Reporter, the stunt resulted in Sediuk being arrested and later fired from his job at Ukrainian TV channel 1+1.

Later in 2014, the you-know-what finally hit the fan for Vitalii Sediuk when he made an ill-fated decision to target Brad Pitt at a Hollywood premiere. According to CNN, Sediuk jumped over a barricade and lunged at Pitt while he signed autographs. A scuffle ensued as security pulled him away, with Sediuk nearly losing his pants and Pitt apparently struck in the head, his pricey sunglasses reportedly damaged in the melee. Sediuk, who "was already on three years of 'formal diversion' — a form of probation — in Los Angeles' for the Grammy-crashing incident, was handcuffed and arrested. 

In a statement to People Pitt explained that "the nutter" had "latched onto my lapels" and "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." Pitt also referenced the dress-diving incident with America Ferrera at Cannes, warning Sediuk that "if he tries to look up a woman's dress again, he's going to get stomped."

According to The Independent, Sediuk was "charged with four counts of battery, assault, unlawful activity and interference at a theatrical event." After pleading no contest to the battery and unlawful activity charges, he was sentenced to three years probation, ordered to attend psychological counseling for a year, and prohibited from within 500 yards of any event featuring celebrities. 

While Vitalii Sediuk may have been banned from celebrity events in Los Angeles after his 2014 red-carpet ambush of Brad Pitt, he still had free reign in Europe. Later that same year, Sediuk accosted singer Ciara during Paris Fashion Week as she attempted to enter the Valentino fashion show.

As E! News reported at the time, Ciara was posing for photos when Sediuk rushed at her after stripping off his nondescript, baggy black clothing to reveal a glittering gold shirt and no pants. His junk covered with a butt-baring thong, Sediuk stood next to Ciara, placed his arm around her waist and posed with her for a few moments before being led away.

According to "an insider," Ciara was "doing fine" after the encounter, although "she was a little thrown off" when Sediuk "came charging at her." Added the source: "She thought he was so creepy in that thong."

Vitalii Sediuk was at his most notorious during 2015's Paris Fashion Week, where he once again made headlines for accosting unwitting celebrities. One of these was model Miranda Kerr. As Us Weekly reported, Kerr was on her way to attend the Louis Vuitton runway show when Sediuk ran up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Kerr barely reacted, smiling demurely as she walked away after Sediuk's unwanted affection. 

Kerr wasn't Sediuk's only victim that year during Paris Fashion Week. A few days earlier, he was lying in wait outside the Chanel show and managed to accost Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, noted The Hollywood Reporter. Wearing a single gold glove while a black veil partially covered his face, Sediuk slipped past the barricade and strode up to the fashion icon as she exited the show. "Anna, will you take me on the cover of Vogue?" he asked before he was led away by security. As he was pulled aside, he managed to quickly make the "bunny ears" symbol over Wintour's head with his gold-gloved hand. 

During Milan Fashion Week in 2016, Gigi Hadid and her sister Bella Hadid were on their way out of the Max Mara fashion show, when an unidentified man she later described as an "idiot" ran up to her from behind, reported Harper's Bazaar. That "idiot" was Vitalii Sediuk, who grabbed her and lifted her off her feet. Surprised and taken aback, Gigi acted instinctually by cracking him in the face with her elbow. 

"Let go of me! Who the f**k are you? You piece of s**t!" she yelled at her attacker as he scurried away. 

Gigi later took to social media to address a report of the incident that included a headline claiming that she "aggressively lashes out and elbows fan in the face." In a brief message she shared on Twitter, she insisted she "had EVERY RIGHT to defend [herself]," adding, "How dare that idiot thinks [sic] he has the right to man-handle a complete stranger. He ran quick tho."

Vitalii Sediuk showed off another side of himself when he crashed the stage of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest — his backside. The annual musical competition was held in Sediuk's native Ukraine that year, broadcast throughout Europe from the International Exhibition Centre in the nation's capital, Kyiv. 

As The Sun reported, during a performance from the contest's reigning champion, Ukrainian singer Jamala, Sediuk somehow managed to make his way onstage. With an Australian flag draped around his shoulders, he began dancing around Jamala, who impressively managed to ignore him and kept on singing. For the coup de grace, he turned his back to the audience, bent over and pulled down his pants, mooning the audience — and millions of TV viewers — with his bare buttocks. Moments later, a crew of people rushed onstage to drag him away — while Jamala soldiered on with her performance.

According to Ukraine's Detector Media, Sediuk was fined 8,500 UAH (approximately 284 euros) for literally making an a** of himself on live television.

In 2019, Justin Timberlake and wife Jessica Biel were attending the Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week. According to People, as they strolled the red carpet on the way into the show, Vitali Sediuk was laying in wait, crouching on the outskirts. When they approached, he made his move and lunged at the couple. 

Sediuk grabbed Timberlake's ankle and clung onto the singer. He was quickly pulled off by members of Timberlake's security team and ushered away. Timberlake and Biel "appeared to be concerned and confused," noted People. A source told the magazine that Timberlake and Biel were not harmed in the bizarre altercation. "He was not attacked. This is just getting blown way out of proportion," the source told the magazine, adding, "Justin's fine, the guy just touched his leg."

Sediuk later took to Instagram Stories (via CNN) to share his thoughts about what had taken place. Seemingly couching his justification as some sort of LGBTQ activism, he said, "Before media says that my prank was an 'attack' (as always), I want to explain what attack means. This summer my friends and me were attacked and injured by an aggressive homophobe at a gay beach in Kyiv." He claimed that "police did nothing," and the incident got no media coverage. "I hope now something will change to LGBTG community in my country and all over the world feels safe." 

The stunt that started it all for Vitalii Sediuk took place in 2011. Madonna was giving a press conference at the Venice Film Festival when Sediuk approached. In a video of the incident aired on CNN, Sediuk gives her a bouquet of hydrangeas. "You are my princess," he tells her, adding, "I love you."

With a pained smile on her face, Madonna takes the flowers and quickly hides them beneath a table. According to CNN, she could be seen rolling her eyes, while an open mic allowed her words to be heard. "I absolutely loathe hydrangeas," she haughtily declared.

Madonna responded to the ensuing controversy with an apology... of sorts. In a cheeky video she posted on YouTube, she cradles a bouquet of hydrangeas while words appear beneath her. "You have no idea how many nights I have lost thinking how I hurt you... If I could take back my words I would but I can't, so what am I left with?" At that point, the sound of a needle dragging across a vinyl LP is heard. "I'm left with the fact that I still hate hydrangeas! And I will always hate them! It's a free country! So f**k you, I like roses!!"