#Socialites, get a load of this! Ukrainian model Sawa Pontyjska is suing the Cannes Film Festival for “assault” after allegedly being “brutally restrained” and “dragged” by the same security guard who had similar encounters with American R&B singer Kelly Rowland, Dominican actress Massiel Taveras, and K-Pop sensation YoonA.
RELATED: Kelly Rowland Addresses Viral Altercation At Cannes Film Festival: ‘I Stood My Ground’
As we previously shared, over a week ago, Kelly Rowland was filmed and photographed scolding an unnamed security guard during the premiere of ‘Marcello Mio’ on May 21. While posing for photos on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet stairs, Kelly Rowland was intercepted by a female security guard who extended her arm to stop Rowland from continuing to pose.
The 43-year-old singer and actress gave a smile to the security guard and gently touched her arm to signal that she understood the need to continue moving. Despite the security guard maintaining her arm in place and guiding Rowland up the stairs, the Destiny’s Child star offered a friendly finger wave to the woman again indicating that there was no need for such unnecessary and excessive force. Things escalated with Rowland pointing her finger and scolding the woman.
RELATED: Dominican Actress Massiel Taveras Moved From Cannes Film Festival Carpet By Same Security Guard In Kelly Rowland Incident
After the viral incident, Rowland told the Associated Press, “The woman knows what happened. I know what happened. I have a boundary, and I stand by those boundaries, and that is it. And there were other women that attended that carpet who did not quite look like me, and they didn’t get scolded or pushed off or told to get off. I stood my ground, and she felt like she had to stand hers, but I stood my ground.”
After Kelly Rowland’s viral incident at the Cannes Film Festival, another woman of color, Dominican actress Massiel Taveras went viral after being pushed up the staircase carpet at the film festival just days later.
RELATED: Spike Lee Becomes First Black Person To Lead Cannes Film Festival Jury
On Saturday (May 25), a video surfaced showing Taveras going up the red carpet stairs in a white gown that featured a long train of what appeared to be the likeness of Jesus Christ printed/painted on it. As Taveras attempted to show off her train, the same security guard involved in the incident with Kelly Rowland is seen gesturing for Taveras to hurry up and move along as she posed for photos.
Like Rowland, Taveras was seen in a heated verbal exchange of words with the security guard, who kept her arm up trying to push the actress up the stairs. Social users debated the difference in treatment for White celebrities like Heidi Klum, who was seen posing on the carpet on May 14 with no interference. However, Kelly Rowland and Massiel Taveras weren’t afforded that same freedom and treatment.
Days after the viral videos of the Cannes Film Festival security guard mistreating Kelly Rowland and Massiel Taveras, it was later learned that the same security had a prior encounter with K-Pop star YoonA, and now it’s been learned that the guard also manhandled Ukrainian model Sawa Pontyjska.
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Speaking with BBC News, the Ukrainian model reveals she is preparing a legal complaint against the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival, claiming she was “assaulted” by a female security guard while attending the ‘Marcello Mio‘ premiere on May 21. After Rowland got into it with the security guard, Pontyjska, who also shared a clip of the confrontation on TikTok, claims the female staffer put her in a “bear hug” and was “brutally restrained.”
She added, “I was trying to escape from this lock. I went down, and I started to run away on the stairs because it was the way back [out]… She was trying to push me in[side], so nobody can see what she’s doing with me. Then she kicked me out through the back door.” She said she wasn’t doing anything wrong and has tried to request an apology from organizers but to no avail.
In addition to alleging physical harm and psychological trauma, the model reportedly claims she suffered “acute pain, and that her rep was harmed in the incident as well. She is reportedly seeking 100,000 Euros (roughly $108,300) in damages.
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