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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 to take legal action.
The woman, known online as Lizzy Ashliegh, posted a video on TikTok of an incident that she said took place around 1 a.m. near Penn Station, when a man ripped off a turquoise-colored wig from her head. In the video, which had over 500,000 views as of Wednesday evening, Ashliegh, who is audibly distraught, asks the man, “For what reason did you take my wig off?” The man appears intoxicated in the video, and is seen laughing when questioned.
“Why did you do that?” Ashliegh asked the man. “What makes you think that that’s OK?”
The video of the incident shows two people were with the man, and they encouraged him to apologize.
Ashliegh, who is a creative director, actor and singer, posted another TikTok later that morning explaining how her wig was secured with combs, highlighting the excessive force the man used when he ripped it off her head.
“If 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 initial TikTok video about the incident garnered hundreds of comments from TikTok users who ultimately helped identify the man in the video as Anthony P. Orlich, who worked as a litigator for Leader Berkon Colao and Silverstein LLP, a law practice based in New York. The firm declined a request for comment, but directed NBC News to a statement posted Tuesday on LinkedIn announcing Orlich’s termination.
“We have been made aware of a video of a non-work related incident involving one of our associates circulating on social media,” the statement read. “We take seriously any inappropriate behavior by any employee, whether inside or outside the workplace. This associate is no longer with the Firm.”
The firm’s post prompted comments from dozens of people on LinkedIn, including some Black users who said Orlich should be charged with assault and that his termination is not enough.
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NBC News reached out to Orlich’s previous work email and received a response saying he “is no longer with Leader Berkon Colao & Silverstein LLP.”
Attempts to reach Orlich through phone numbers listed under his name were unsuccessful.
Ashliegh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In another TikTok video Ashliegh posted Monday, the singer thanked her followers, noting that people “found him in less than 12 hours.” She said she also filed a police report later that day and visited a doctor, who told Ashliegh that her “neck area is very tense” and prescribed her with a muscle relaxer, she said.
NBC News sought comment from the New York Police Department, which said it could not provide any details regarding the incident.
In a TikTok video posted Tuesday, Ashliegh said she is “unable to say more at the moment as I move forward legally.” She told her followers she would share with them any updates on the case.
Isabela Espadas Barros Leal contributed.
