Kendall Jenner denies punching paparazzo
Model Kendall Jenner has dismissed reports she "punched" a paparazzo in Paris earlier this month (Mar16).
Kim Kardashian's younger sister hit headlines after she was photographed seemingly lashing out at a photographer while she was leaving L'Arc nightclub with her close pal and fellow runway regular, Gigi Hadid.
Images of the incident reportedly showed the 20-year-old star
hitting out at a cameraman who got a little too close for comfort,
before one of her bodyguards quickly intervened and held Kendall
and Gigi back as he scolded the shutterbug.
Kendall has now addressed the situation and defended her actions
online, insisting she only grabbed the camera to push it out of her
"personal space".
"Even though you know about my anger towards the paparazzi - I
didn't touch him," she writes on her app. "Gigi, security and I
were walking out together in a conga-line formation. All of a
sudden, this paparazzi (sic) took his camera and started taking
pictures right below my face. It was in my personal space, like
centimeters from my body. I was so annoyed. All I ask for is just a
bubble of space to breathe, and he disrespected that."
"So, I grabbed his camera and pushed it away across my body, sort
of trying to push and pull it out of his hand at the same time,"
she continues. "Of course, that side motion with my arm is why all
of the pictures look like punches were flying. They totally
weren't! I just wanted him and his camera out of my face!"
Kendall explains her bodyguard made the shutterbug erase the
pictures because she worried he would try to be "sneaky" about the
incident. She also insists she would never use physical force
during an altercation and laments she sometimes just wants the
paparazzi to leave her alone.
"I wanted to be 100% that the photos were gone for good because the
paps can be sneaky," she adds. "(Sometimes, they will press delete,
and when the camera reconfirms if they actually want to delete it,
they quickly press 'no' thinking celebrities won't realize it.) He
definitely deleted them, which I'm thankful for. Violence is never
my thing. I get that they have a job to do, too - but I'd love it
if they gave me a break every now and then."
Kendall has been vocal about her disdain for the paparazzi in the
past, particularly for those cameramen who put lives at risk just
for a celebrity photo.
She previously explained to fans, "There are definitely moments
when the paparazzi scare me. I'm always more worried about other
people's safety, especially when they're driving. For example, if
the paps run a red light - all twelve of them - and almost kill
someone else, I'll definitely tell them off. I stop, tell them to
pull up next to me and I say, 'You a**holes! Not only are you going
to kill yourself, but you're going to kill innocent people around
you.' I just go off on them. And their responses are, 'Well, then
don't run away from us.' I'm not running from anyone - I'm just
living my life! I'm not speeding away from them because how can I
escape twelve paparazzi? I can't. It's kind of impossible."