"No One Deserves This": Brazilian Woman takes legal action against viral flight video

Brazilian woman who went viral on social media after refusing to give her seat to a crying child, has filed charges against the airline and the passenger for allegedly filming and defaming her. Jennifer Castro, the 29-year-old is a bank employee from Belo Horizonte, and stated that she is not willing to give up her pre-selected window seat as she paid for it.  

The incident notably took place in December, and according to reports the cameraman of the viral video was not the mother, but a fellow passenger. The viral video surrounded her immensely with online shaming, and her Instagram followers immediately rose to 2.1 million after the incident.  

Castro claimed that the sudden increase in her followers made her secure multiple brand deals as an influencer. She has now stated that she has filed against GOL airlines to seek compensation for all the damage and distress the incident has caused her. She also emphasized that she has filed the fellow passenger who filmed her.  

She didn’t reveal the amount demanded under Judicial Secrecy as she emphasized that she did not want another public shaming in the future. Castro mentioned that her life has taken a significant turn following the incident as judgements, attacks and speculation from people who don’t even know the story were constantly revolving around her.  

While shedding light on the incident, Castro mentioned that the incident began when she boarded the flight and saw a child sitting at her place.  

“I waited for him to correctly accommodate himself to another seat, and then i sat down to my seat,” she mentioned. She further noted that the situation further escalated when someone started filming her without her consent.  

“What surprised me was the fact that a person who had nothing to do with the situation started filming me without permission, insulting me and trying to publicly embarrass me simply because I didn’t want to change seats,” Castro emphasized.  

She mentioned that the viral video has made her face severe mental health consequences  both personally and professionally . She said that she wants to sue the airlines highlighting that whatever happened to her was a huge embarrassment for her.  

“No one deserves to go through what I went through, being filmed, insulted, and attacked just for exercising a basic right,” she stated.