Watch: Indian influencer snaps at pedestrian during sidewalk fit check, viral video sparks outrage

A short video circulating on X (formerly Twitter) has sparked fresh debate about influencer behaviour in public spaces, public etiquette and the growing tension between social media content creation and everyday life in crowded cities.

The clip was shared from Instagram, early Thursday, by X user Chota Don and featured an Indian woman, Amulya Rattan, recording a “fit check” or a style video showcasing her outfit.In the video, Amulya, who has 4.6 million Instagram followers, publicly snaps at a pedestrian who inadvertently walked into her shot. When the bystander entered the frame, she complained that there is no civic sense in people for accidently photobombing and then leaving without an apology, a remark that ignited widespread criticism online.

Viewers quickly lambasted her attitude as a display of entitlement, treating a public sidewalk as if it were a private film set and the video has garnered thousands of reactions, highlighting growing frustrations over how content creators use public places.

What happened in the viral clip

In the now-viral post, the influencer is seen filming her outfit on a busy city walkway when a pedestrian, minding his own business while on a phone call, unintentionally walks through her shot.

Rather than pausing or reshooting, she reacts sharply and suggests that the pedestrian should apologise for interrupting her content creation.These moments may seem trivial but they tap into a larger conversation about who gets to occupy public space and how. An ongoing subreddit thread hammered this point in colourful language, with commenters arguing that influencers often act as though “every public place is their private property.”

One frequent line of critique read, “If it was so important then hit the record button again… No ma’am, next time the whole street will be closed for you to record your ‘fit check.

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Why this resonated with the viewers

The reaction underscores two broader tensions. In many urban settings, especially crowded Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru, sidewalks are shared by pedestrians going about daily life. When influencers set up or pause pedestrian movement for filming, it can lead to collisions (literally and figuratively) between content creation and civic courtesy.

Critics argue that public space is just public and no one person has priority over others simply because they’re recording.