Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Angelina Jolie and actor Brad Pitt pose at the premiere of "Maleficent" at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.Reuters

Hollywood actor Brad Pitt almost got into an ugly fight in public after a crazed man hit him in the face on Wednesday, at the world premiere of his partner Angelina Jolie's new film "Maleficent".

The 50-year-old was walking the red carpet at the "Maleficent" premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, along with his fiancee and children, when a serial prankster singled him out from the crowd and punched him in the face.

It is understood that the incident happened when Pitt and Jolie were signing autographs, and fortunately their children were not near them then. The attacker, identified as Vitalii Sediuk from Ukraine, was overpowered by the security following the attack, and was taken to police custody before being released later.

"Brad Pitt was standing before my fence and the guy next to me jumped over the fence on Brad," a source told Hollywood Life. "The security jumped on the attacker and Brad tried to get away."

"Maleficent" is a dark fantasy adventure film directed by Robert Stromberg, and features actors like Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville, besides Jolie.

Wednesday's incident was not a first for Sediuk, and he is, in fact, known for crashing such big events in the past as well. He was recently caught trying to put his head up the dress of America Ferrera at the premiere of "How To Train Your Dragon 2" at the Cannes Film Festival.

Sediuk also tried to interrupt the proceedings of Met Gala earlier this month, by attending the event in a pink underwear. He had also walked down Prabal Gurung's runway in a similar underwear at the New York Fashion Week earlier this year.

The Ukrainian prankster had crotch hugged Bradley Cooper and Leonardo DiCaprio in the past at separate events, and was also seen on the stage, when Adele went up to accept the Grammy Awards - an act which got him banned from the Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles.

Sediuk also recieved a slap from Will Smith, after he tried to kiss the actor on the lips at the premiere of "Men In Black 3" back in 2012.