Arnold Schwarzenegger drop-kicked while taking selfie in South Africa

Video has captured the shocking moment a man drop-kicked Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger as he posed for photos with fans in South Africa. 

The Sun reports that the burly Terminator star, 71, was blindsided by a screaming “idiot” in front of stunned children in a gym in Johannesburg.

The former Governor of California was the judge of a skipping competition when the unnamed coward pounced.

Dramatic footage showed the attacker bounce off the former Mr Universe — who didn’t realise he had been attacked until he saw the video afterwards.

Schwarzenegger tumbled forward into a crowd of people while the man who kicked him was quickly pinned down by security at the event, held in a posh suburb of Johannesburg.

A video of the attack at the Arnold Classic Africa event showed the man being quickly detained before Schwarzenegger walked away unscathed.

Schwarzenegger later took to Twitter to describe the incident.

In a message to his four million fans, he said:

Thanks for your concerns, but there is nothing to worry about. I thought I was just jostled by the crowd, which happens a lot. I only realized I was kicked when I saw the video like all of you. I’m just glad the idiot didn’t interrupt my Snapchat.

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) May 18, 2019

Earlier the man was spotted lurking behind the movie giant before he was seemingly pulled away by what appears to be the star’s personal security team, reports the Sandton Chronicle.

However, just as a smiling Schwarzenegger hands over the phone on which he was taking a selfie video, the man returns and launches his attack.

The event organiser said that Schwarzenegger would not be pressing charges, adding he viewed the event as “an unfortunate incident by a mischievous fan”.

The Arnold Classic Africa said the man had been handed over to police.

Schwarzenegger was born in Austria and first rose to prominence as a bodybuilder, winning the Mr Universe title aged 20.

After moving to Hollywood, he achieved worldwide fame in 1982 action film Conan The Barbarian, which launched his film career.

Schwarzenegger served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.