I was belittled by an entitled man at the gym who said I shouldn’t film my workouts because they’re ‘distracting’

An influencer who posts fitness content online captured the awkward moment an ‘entitled’ man tried to ‘belittle’ her for filming TikTok videos at the gym.

Madi Webb was filming herself doing exercises at her local gym in Los Angeles, California, when the complete stranger criticized her out of the blue.

The ‘rude’ man suggested that her videos were ‘distracting’ her from exercising and that she would get ‘more out’ of her gym session if she put her phone down.

However, the 25-year-old had the ultimate comeback and instead of getting defensive, she put the gym-goer in his place by making him “feel stupid” while claiming to make between $10,000 and $35,000 per TikTok video.

The social media content creator shared the footage on TikTok with the caption, “where tf [the f***] did he find the audacity,” which has since gone viral with 2.5 million views.

In the clip you hear the man say to Madi: ‘Your shape is good. I don’t know why you have to make these little videos. It distracts a bit from your training. You’d probably get more out of it [if you stopped].’

The footage shows the influencer smiling politely before saying ‘look, I’m already getting a lot out of it because I’m making so much money with these ‘little’ videos’.

As the man walks away, the video shows the 25-year-old raising her middle finger and angrily saying “f**k you” to the camera.

Many users responded to the comments, praising the influencer for her “perfect response,” while others wondered if the man was trying to “flirt.”

The fitness enthusiast had just joined a new gym and revealed she was in the middle of filming her exercises when the stranger appeared out of nowhere.

Instead of getting defensive, Madi admitted that she found the experience “funny” and wanted to “get involved” [her] power’ against the ‘rude’ man.

Madi said: ‘I thought it was funny. I grabbed my phone to record him because he just sounded like an idiot. I already had my phone ready to record, so all I had to do was pull up the camera.

‘He was right. I basically wanted to make him feel stupid. If people are going to belittle you, you might as well stand in your power and not let that happen.

“I honestly think his intention was to make that immature boy dance and make fun of me so I would notice him, instead of just being a nice person.

‘If he wanted my attention, he could get it in so many ways, he didn’t have to insult me.

‘Women are so conditioned to think that’s flirting. I don’t think it’s flirting. I just think it’s rude. If he wanted to flirt with me, he could have done it a million ways.

“Instead, he chose to put me down. Any man who has to belittle a woman to feel more masculine is not a man.

‘I know that reacting defensively will never turn out the way you want it to. It essentially gives them more of an excuse to be an asshole.

‘He was embarrassed because I didn’t play his game at all, get offended by it or be defensive.

‘I didn’t do anything that was stupid or rude. All I did was respond to him very politely but in a brutal way.

‘I don’t think he expected that reaction at all. Absolutely not. That’s my favorite way to respond to men.’

The podcaster, who curates all her own content, admitted this isn’t the first time she’s been “belittled” for her TikTok videos, but since she came “out of nowhere” she’s grateful it helped her to get where she is now.

Madi said: ‘I’m always belittled because of my videos. I’ve been doing that since the day I started social media. It’s jealousy in a way.

“The only difference between me and everyone else is that I’m not afraid to be seen trying. I never even posted the videos I was filming in that gym. I was just practicing for future gym content.

“I wasn’t afraid to go out with my phone and film my videos and look silly. I’m not afraid of that. When people scold me because I look weird or annoying or stupid or stupid, it feels like a compliment to me.

‘Doing this is what got me to where I am today. I live in a penthouse in LA. I came out of nowhere. So there’s literally nothing you can say to make me feel bad about what I’m doing.

“I manage myself so that whatever I earn is essentially self-earned. I’m more of an entrepreneur than an influencer.’

The 25-year-old admitted that although her reaction came naturally to her, she used to be a people pleaser and had to learn to empower herself and is now encouraging other women to do the same so they never fear to do so. doing. ‘take place’.

Madi said: “I grew up a people pleaser. Every part of me was very learned because I didn’t want to be like that anymore.

“Once I learned to empower myself, all I wanted to do was empower other women. And give them the skills, the tools, the advice and the tips that I would like to have.

“I feel like all my content is a love letter to my younger self, who had no one to look up to to teach me how to step into my power.

‘You have the right to use space. Men are so intimidated by women who aren’t afraid to take up space and stand in their power. A lot of men are intimidated by that because it’s very anti-patriarchy.

‘You can be there. You can do whatever you want to do. You can film your workouts. Or you can simply train in peace with your headphones on.

“The bravest thing you can do is not be afraid of being unloved and misunderstood.”

However, the influencer warned that everyone must “prioritize safety” and admitted that she would not have reacted the way she did if she had been in danger.

Madi said: “I always tell everyone to put safety above everything else. If you are alone with a man in a gym and he comes up to you, don’t laugh or be petty and rude.

“If you feel safe in your environment and are around other people, I would say never allow anyone to make you feel small.”

Many users took to the comments to praise the influencer’s response. One user said: ‘Perfect response as it spread quickly.’

Another user said: ‘How could you think so quickly?’ A third user said: ‘You devoured his soul.’

A fourth user said: ‘Why is he so concerned about what you do? I love your reaction.”

Other users wondered if the man was trying to ‘flirt’ with Madi. One user said: ‘Am I the only one who thinks he was trying to flirt.’ Another user said: ‘Was this supposed to be a chat-up line?’