LOS ANGELES – The man who was arrested after jostling with Brad Pitt on a red carpet last week says he was merely trying to give the actor a hug and didn’t mean him any harm.
Vitalii Sediuk says he accepts responsibility for the incident and will spend the next few months dealing with the legal ramifications of his prank, which briefly disrupted the red carpet of the Disney film Maleficent.
The 25-year-old pleaded no contest to battery against Pitt on Friday and was sentenced to three years of probation and a year’s worth of psychiatric counselling.
Sediuk told The Associated Press in an interview Monday that he didn’t attempt any similar stunts on the red carpet at Wednesday’s Maleficent premiere because he knew that there would be children around.
Sediuk has gained a reputation for outlandish pranks on red carpets in Moscow, Los Angeles and last month, at the Cannes Film Festival when he crawled underneath America Ferrera’s dress at a film premiere.
His contact with Pitt, which caused the actor to lose balance while he was signing autographs, led to Sediuk’s arrest.
“I’m a normal guy,” Sediuk said. “I’m not crazy.”
The former Ukranian journalist, who has hugged the crotches of Bradley Cooper and Leonardo Di Caprio and crashed the 2013 Grammy Awards said the primary purpose for his pranks is entertainment.
“I’m doing this for fun,” he said.
Sediuk has been fired by the Ukrainian television station 1+1 and said he does not know what his next steps will be. He said he intends to spend the next few months focusing on fulfilling his sentence in the Pitt incident, which include community service and a restraining order preventing him from going near Hollywood events.
He said he would like to remain in the entertainment field, working as a movie director or appearing in a reality show, and would continue work as a journalist — if anyone will hire him.
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