In the latest Lenny Letter, Lena Dunham speaks to Gigi Hadid about what it was like to fight back after getting attacked by a stranger after a show at Milan Fashion Week. Recall: Gigi and her sister Bella were leaving the Max Mara show when a man — later revealed to be Ukrainian serial celebrity attacker Vitalii Sediuk — grabbed Gigi and picked her up. She elbowed him and he quickly ran away.
According to Gigi, fighting the stranger back "wasn't a choice" as her fighter instincts kicked in right away. "I played volleyball, and my coaches talked about muscle memory. I started boxing two years ago and I always remembered that," she says.
Gigi adds that she hopes girls who see the video of her fighting back come out knowing they can do the same. "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. Confidence in your own ability to defend yourself comes with educating yourself about it, and is a massive advantage when in an unsafe situation."
Gigi also slams one particular story by a female writer who painted the supermodel as not displaying "model behavior" in the attack. To the writer, Gigi says, "What would you tell your daughter to do? If my behavior isn't model behavior, then what is? What would you have told your daughter to do in that situation?" Gigi previously responded to the writer on Twitter: "I'm a HUMAN BEING — and had EVERY RIGHT to defend myself."
Elsewhere in Lenny Letter, Gigi credits her mom Yolanda Foster for teaching her the power of her own instincts. "I continue to use that intuition within the fashion industry and the people who I have to be around," she says. "It usually guides me pretty well. I think it guided me in this situation, too."
Read Gigi's full account over at Lenny Letter.
