Global Courant 2023-06-01 04:40:48
A woman whose wig was ripped off her head by a man while walking in New York City early Monday morning said she now wants legal action.
The woman, known online as Lizzy Ashliegh, posted a video to TikTok of an incident she says happened around 1 a.m. near Penn Station, when a man ripped a turquoise-colored wig off her head. In the video, which has been viewed more than 500,000 times by Wednesday night, Ashliegh, who is audibly distraught, asks the man, “Why did you take off my wig?” The man appears drunk in the video and is seen laughing when questioned.
“Why did you do that?” Ashliegh asked the man. “Why do you think that’s okay?”
Video of the incident shows that two people were with the man and encouraged him to apologize.
Ashliegh, creative director, actor and singerposted another one TikTok later that morning, he explained how her wig was secured with combs, highlighting the excessive force the man used when he ripped it off her head.
“When you pull the wig, it looks like it’s going to come off, right, but it gets stuck because it has combs in it,” Ashliegh said in the video. “So he ended up pulling my hair.”
Ashliegh’s first TikTok video about the incident generated hundreds of comments from TikTok users that eventually helped identify the man in the video as Anthony P. Orlich, who worked as a trial attorney for Leader Berkon Colao and Silverstein LLP, a law firm based in New York. The company declined a request for comment, but referred NBC News to a statement posted Tuesday on LinkedIn announcement of Orlich’s termination.
“We have been made aware of a video of a non-work related incident involving one of our employees on social media,” the statement said. “We take any inappropriate behavior by an employee seriously, both inside and outside the workplace. This employee is no longer with the Firm.”
The company’s post prompted responses from dozens of people on LinkedIn, including some black users who said Orlich should be charged with assault and that his firing isn’t enough.
NBC News reached out to Orlich’s previous business email and received a reply stating that he “is no longer with Leader Berkon Colao & Silverstein LLP.”
Attempts to reach Orlich via telephone numbers under his name were unsuccessful.
Ashliegh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In another TikTok video Ashliegh posted on Monday, the singer thanked her followers and noted that people “found him in less than 12 hours”. She said she also reported it to the police later that day and visited a doctor, who told Ashliegh her “neck area is very tense” and prescribed her a muscle relaxant, she said.
NBC News sought comment from the New York Police Department, who said they could not provide details about the incident.
In a TikTok video posted Tuesday, Ashliegh said she “can’t say more at this point while I’m moving on legally.” She told her followers she would share updates on the case with them.
Isabela Espadas Barros Leal contributed.
