Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

‘Intrusive’ woman filming fellow plane passenger for travel blog sparks debate online

The vlogger continued recording as the man slept

Natalie Wilson
Tuesday 05 December 2023 05:29 EST
Comments
The content creator told the man he was a ‘bad ambassador’ for the men of his country
The content creator told the man he was a ‘bad ambassador’ for the men of his country (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A man travelling for a family emergency was left feeling violated after a fellow passenger spent the journey filming and photographing him on a flight departing the UK.

In a post shared on Reddit, the 21-year-old male asked “AITAH for not letting this intrusive girl vlog next to me on the plane?”

“AITAH” stands for “Am I the a**hole?” and the forum allows readers to share their opinion about who was in the wrong in incidents shared on Reddit.

The “sad” and “worried” man found himself sitting in a row with a chatty 22-year-old female who switched from the aisle to the middle seat to film the plane taking off.

“I opened my eyes and she had the camera on me in that moment,” said the Reddit user, who then said he had to tell the woman “I don’t want to talk” so he could sleep instead.

He added: “I thought she had stopped bothering me for a while, because it was silent, but when I opened my eyes I saw that she was filming me. I raised a brow and she giggled. I told her I need her to stop. She laughed and told me I had said I don’t want to talk but I didn’t say I don’t want to be filmed.”

The man claims that the vlogger proceeded to film herself telling the camera: “he is so cranky.”

A man in the aisle seat then informed him that the woman had been “trying to do stupid things like pretending to touch my face, waving her hand in front of my eyes, hovering her hand over mine to compare size(?), put her shoe next to mine” while he was sleeping.

When confronted about consent, the woman allegedly “stated she doesn’t need it” but stopped filming when the man threatened to complain to the cabin crew.

The “entitled” girl then “fell asleep, kept resting her head against me... which I kept pushing away... only for her to kind of frustratedly put her head back?”

He added: “She said I ruined her video. It was her first time visiting this country and I was starting her off on the wrong vibe. She also said I was single-handedly giving her a bad impression of men in my country. I was being a bad ‘ambassador for the brand’.”

The post was met with 165 comments from the Reddit community, with most agreeing the man was “NTA” – not the a**hole – in the story.

One user commented: “NTA. This post was hard on my blood pressure. She is so far out of line I don’t know where to start.” They added: “You can’t expect others to be in your content just because it is convenient for you.”

“NTA. If something like this ever happens again, call for a flight attendant and explain that the person in the next seat is filming you without your consent,” wrote another.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in