Ukrainian model sues Cannes after alleged assault on security guard

Model Sawa Pontyjska took legal action against the Cannes Film Festival following an incident with a security guard.

Pontyjska told BBC On Thursday, May 30, she filed a complaint against Cannes, alleging that she had been “attacked” by the anonymous guard. The woman in question also went viral for her interactions with other stars on the red carpet, including Kelly Rowland and Dominican television host Massiel Taveras.

“I was trying to escape from that lock. I went down and started running away down the stairs because it was the way back,” Pontyjska told BBC. “She was trying to push me inside so no one could see what she was doing with me. Then she kicked me out the back door.

Pontyjska shared a TikTok video on May 21 in which she could be seen receiving – through her account – a “bear hug” from the security guard, who appeared to drag her from the red carpet to the Palace of the congress at the Palais des Festivals. The winner of Miss Europe 2023 shared a second TikTok video on Wednesday May 29, revealing her intention to “sue the Cannes Film Festival” and requesting the help of a “serious lawyer”, urging them to contact her via the networks social.

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“I always dreamed of participating in the Cannes Film Festival, but then I was shocked by the rudeness and unreasonable use of physical force, which I experienced on the red carpet with other international stars” , Pontyjska said in the clip. A third TikTok video shared on Thursday apparently showed documents from his lawsuit against Cannes.

According to the BBC, Pontyjska accused the film festival of “physical assault and psychological damage” and is seeking 100,000 euros in damages, the equivalent of $108,769.50.

The guard's interactions on the red carpet raised eyebrows throughout the festival. Rowland, 43, attended the premiere of the film Marcello Mio on May 21, and videos circulated online of the security guard raising his hand behind the singer's back. Rowland looked frustrated, turning around and saying something to the guard.

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Rowland made light of the incident a few days later. “There were other women on that mat who didn't really look like me and they weren't scolded, pushed away or asked to get off. I held on and she felt like she had to hold on to hers,” she told the Associated Press. “But I held on.”

She continued: “The woman knows what happened, I know what happened. I have a limit and I respect it, and that's it.