Model Pushes Security Gaurd On The Red Carpet: Is It Self-Defense?

In a recent video clip posted on social media, X, a model, pushes a security guard while walking on the red carpet. In response to the incident, the social media world has lit ablaze with people arguing for both the guard and the model. While some find the model’s behavior childish, others say she acted in self-defense. Let’s watch the video and dissect it through the lens of a legal defense. 

While many versions of the clip circulate, someone who can lip-read what the model says edited one helpful version. The clip shows a security guard holding her arm and ushering her inside a red-carpet venue. The model is trying to show her dress. To the security guard, she repeatedly says things like, “Leave it, ma’am,” ”It’s a dress,” and “One second, please.” 

Unfortunately, these clarifying remarks fall on deaf ears since the security guard continues to usher the model with her arms. After the security guard grabs her, the model pushes back and says, “Don’t touch me!”. 

Is The Gaurd Committing Battery or Assault? 

When it comes down to defining battery or assault, specifics can make the situation difficult to decipher. It is clear when someone hits another that assault has taken place, but what if it’s simply pushing and shoving like the guard and the woman in the video? 

Generally, assault is defined as an intentional act that puts someone in immediate fear of threat, danger, or harm. Assault does not have to take the form of physical harm. In some cases, it can be serious threats or a show of force. Most assault charges require the presence of a few factors: 

• Intention to commit the action: For something to qualify as assault, the person who committed the action must have intended to do so. This can occur even if the person didn’t intend for the action to cause threat or harm. They proved their intention as long as they intended to take the action.
• Reasonable apprehension: The victim of an assault must have the genuine belief that they are in harm’s way. 
• Imminent threat or harm: For an action to fall under assault charges, it must either occur or have a clear and imminent threat of occurring soon. 
• Harmful or offensive: Under typical social standards, the actions involved in the assault must be directly harmful or offensive. Likewise, some typically non-offensive contact can become offensive if the perpetrator knows it will affect the victim.

Concerning assault, battery charges can commonly occur. Battery charges essentially refer to the act of actually committing assault charges with physical touch. 

When Can Someone Use Self-Defense

A typical hot topic in legal circles is self-defense law. In stressful situations, it’s easy to escalate things to a physical level, but the law might not view this positively. The rules of self-defense can vary from state to state. In addition to physical defenses, laws can get even more tricky when it comes to firearms and home trespassing. 

In most jurisdictions, someone can use self-defense if they are under direct fear or threat of some assault. This requires that the threat is reasonable and imminent. While standards can vary, most judgments rely on what a “reasonable” individual would believe. For example, if someone walks towards you with a knife, you have the right to use self-defense because the threat is reasonably present and imminent.

When applying self-defense, the force you use must be reasonable in its own right. Most jurisdictions state that self-defense must be proportional, meaning the force is justified and necessary to stop the threat. For instance, you would not have the right to protect yourself with a firearm after someone slaps you. On the other hand, if someone threatens you with the deadly force of a knife or gun, you would undoubtedly be within your rights to use a firearm to neutralize the threat. 

In situations like the one shown in the video, the mild level of personal contact can make things tricky. Generally, it requires a detailed examination of both parties’ opinions and the touching involved.

Attorney Ugo Lord’s Analysis 

In a prompt video response, TikTok attorney Ugo Lord clarifies the niche details of the model’s behavior. In his response, Lord describes that it is legal for security professionals to remove someone from a private building. However, the guard in this video tried to get her in the building, which complicates matters. 

At this point, a legal professional would ask whether a reasonable person would be offended by the guard’s physical contact. When the model entered the building and asked not to be touched, the guard ignored her request and continued to touch and push her along.

Most people would be offended if someone crossed their boundaries after they gave a warning. Therefore, the model would have the right to “neutralize the threat” by pushing the woman away. The law would defend her actions as long as her force remains proportional and reasonable.

Viral videos like this offer an exciting glimpse into the hidden world of legal rights and defenses. So, next time you see a celebrity getting frustrated with security, you might want to explore the underlying causes of the conflict!