Gigi Hadid hits back at paparazzi after photographer ‘tries to sue her’ for posting image on Instagram

Gigi Hadid has hit back at a paparazzi after a photographer allegedly tried to sue her for posting an image they took on Instagram.

The 23-year-old supermodel posted a photograph of herself standing outside an event, and was contacted by her management, who informed her she was being “legally pursued” for using the image without a credit.

Ms Hadid responded, writing an impassioned post on the social networking site about the trials of fame, complaining she is often unable to leave her house because of worries about being followed and photographed.

She accused paparazzi of “legally stalking” her and trapping her in her home.

She wrote: “It is not spoken about enough the mental/emotional toll that this kind of pressure has on people, days I (& countless others) have stayed inside because I don’t want my photo taken or to have that attention/suffocation while just trying to live as normally as possible.”

The model added that she had found the photograph uncredited on Twitter and that she would have credited the photographer if she had been asked to do so.

She wrote: “These people make money off us everyday, LEGALLY stalking us day in and day out. “For someone to take a situation where I was trying to be open, and sue me for a photo I FOUND ON TWITTER (with no photographer's name on the image), for a photo he has already been paid for by whatever outlet put it online (!!!), is absurd.”

Her post has been liked 750,000 times, with fans commenting to show their support.

She also received support from Kylie Jenner, the make-up entrepreneur and sister of Kim Kardashian, who wrote: “We’re ‘public figures’ and it’s legal for them to invade our privacy. It’s pretty disappointing.  We gotta change this.”

Her sister, Bella Hadid, added:  “Well said sister ! Thank you.”