"Discrimination at its finest": Airline passenger gets trolled after revealing she was weighed on baggage scale

A viral TikTok video that depicts a woman passenger getting weighed using a baggage scale in an unidentified airport is now all the rage on the internet. The video, which was initially posted in early March on TikTok by user @lilwessel, has since gone on to amass over 1.6 million views. @lilwessel claims that the passenger was required to do so as she had lied about her weight to the airline.

The now-removed TikTok showcased an unidentified lady passenger who was asked to step on the baggage weighing scale by airport personnel in front of an entire queue of passengers. According to @lilwessel, who goes by Lillian, the passenger was asked to do so as the staff suspected she was lying about her weight. The text overlay on the video said:

“The whole airport trying to mind their own business as a woman is asked to step on the baggage scale because she claimed she was 130lbs.”

The video has provoked a lot of polarizing reactions from the internet. Users were split as some felt that the measure was undignified, embarrassing, and discriminative. Some others supported the airlines' decision, while a few users also criticized @lilwessel for capturing the moment and posting it online.

Some users labeled the situation as discrimination (Image via Twitter)

According to the video's caption, the reason the checks were stringent was because of the fact that it was a "tiny plane". The caption read:

“It’s a tiny plane so they needed our weight to take off for safety reasons”

The internet stands on both sides of the fence when it came to the passenger being weighed

The viral video, which showcases the woman being put in an embarrassing situation in front of an entire queue of passengers has brought in a slew of reactions and comments on the internet.

Users said that she shouldn't have lied about her weight in the first place and that safety came before feelings of embarrassment. Some users, including those claiming to be pilots, explained that the weigh-in was a necessity as it directly affected the stability of the plane. A few even mentioned the FAA guidelines.

Users supported the airline and criticized the woman for lying (Image via Twitter)

Some netizens engaged in relentless trolling of the passenger via comments, gifs, and pictures.

Twitter engaged in some merciless trolling of the passenger (Image via Twitter)

There were also comments that said that she shouldn't have been embarrassed and that this was a wake-up call to lose weight.

Some comments encouraged the individual to take it as a sign to lose weight (Image via Twitter)

The other end of the comments section called the entire situation fatphobic and discriminating. Some users claimed to have understood the gravity of the situation but commented that it should have been handled better. One user commented that the entire situation was giving off "racist vibes."

Users were critical of how the situation was handled. (Image via Twitter)

There were also a few users that called out the person who posted the video online, calling it an embarrassing practice and an act that was supposedly worse than what the airline did.

Users called out the actions of the TikToker (image via Twitter)

This TikTok comes right after another infamous TikTok that was posted earlier this week, in which a plus-size TikToker who goes by Big Curvy Olivia criticized airplane aisles to be discriminatory as they were narrow. That TikTok also received a similar reaction with people taking stands on both sides of the fence.

On one side were people supporting her including a change.org petition that has garnered over 9000 signatures, and on the other side were people justifying the structure of the airlines and saying that she just needed to adjust accordingly.

Edited by Upasya Bhowal