New York celebrity stylist Aleksander Janik was charged with a hate crime Friday after a confrontation with a rabbi outside New York's Chelsea Hotel, according to reports.
Rabbi Chezky Wolff said the encounter occurred when Janik's dog ran toward the doors of the Chelsea Shul last Tuesday and Wolff asked Janik to leash the dog.
Wolff claims Janik muttered a Jewish slur in response, and the rabbi then followed him down the street, filming him.
Wolff claims Janik then allegedly swung his tote bag, allegedly hitting the rabbi in the face and knocking his yarmulke off his head.
Janik, however, told the Daily Beast that his dog lay down in front of the shul to shelter from the heat when Wolff opened the door and ordered the two to leave.
Janik claims that Wolff called him a Polish slur before he started kicking his dog. He told the New York Post earlier this week: "Yes, I pushed him. I pushed him with my bag."
Sources told the Post that Janik was charged Friday with assault as a hate crime.
Janik, 52, a personal shopper to the stars, pleaded not guilty at his Friday evening arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court just hours after he was arrested, the Post reported. He was reportedly released without bail.
Janik vehemently denied using a Jewish slur because he's Jewish.
"I'm Jewish. I love Jewish. I love Jews," Janik told The Daily Beast.
He called the accusation that he used a Jewish slur "disrespectful" and "absolutely appalling," adding: "My grandmother was in Auschwitz."
