A TikTok video posted by Melyssa Rene, who uses the account @melyssareneee, has gained over three million views after she shared a clip from a Pilates studio. In the video, she approaches another woman who had set up a camera pointed in her direction.
On-screen text in the clip reads, “POV: Confronting a girl in Pilates who completely ignored me and continued filming after I politely asked her to adjust her camera so I wouldn’t be in her video.”
Rene begins by speaking to the other woman, who remains off-camera at first. She says, “Hey, I just wanted to say you seem really far in your fitness journey, but it’s girls like you that cause a lot of girls not to get started.” She continues by noting that she had asked the woman to adjust the camera and that she knew where the camera was positioned and the angle it captured.
Creator shares more details about the encounter and her decision going forward
In the exchange, Rene states, “It’s girls like you that stop a lot of girls from starting fitness because you’re so self-centered in your video that you don’t care about the comfort of others.” The other woman responds from off-camera, “No, it’s cinematic mode. You weren’t in it.” Rene replies, “It doesn’t matter. You’re making someone else uncomfortable, and you care more about your silly little video.”
She then says she is recording a video as well and suggests they both share it, before the camera pans to show the other woman on a Pilates reformer, who smiles and says, “Okay.”
In a follow-up TikTok video, Melyssa Rene said she had posted the confrontation clip the day before after the woman on the reformer next to her set up a camera pointed directly at her to film herself. She explained that she had very kindly asked the woman not to point a camera at her, but the woman ignored the request and kept filming in the same position. Rene stated that the original video got pretty popular online and started a broader conversation about filming in class in general.
She clarified that she was not attacking filming in class and said she actually thinks promoting fitness is a wonderful thing and one of the better things promoted online. Rene added that she was not attacking influencers, noting that she is not an influencer herself and has no idea why people watch anything that she posts, though she really respects the art and craft of what they do.
She also said her problem was not with her favorite workout studio, MegaLit, which she called the best studio in Miami, mentioning that they sage the room before every class and have the best music and energy.
Rene explained that her issue was specifically with the woman who chose to prioritize her content over the comfort of others. Addressing questions about whether she checked the other woman’s camera roll, she said, “No, it is not my job mid-class to surveillance another woman’s camera roll, nor is it the instructor’s.”
She argued that basic human decency should make it easy to adjust a camera when someone asks not to be filmed. She described wearing white Alo leggings and realizing she was in a vulnerable position when the camera was pointed up at her from the ground.
Rene said she lives in Miami and noted that you never know when a video next to you might get millions of views, so she did not want that on the internet. She stated that she approached the woman and asked her to adjust the camera because she really did not want one pointed at her that day, but the woman blatantly ignored her. Similar frustrations have come up before, such as when a stranger pushing a woman during dinner refused to respect her space.
She added that she heard the other woman was disturbed by the reach of the video, and responded that she had approached kindly, was blown off several times. She said she started the later conversation with a compliment, yet the woman did not look her in the eyes until she mentioned recording and acted very rude and dismissive.
Rene said it was not surprising that the woman was not disturbed by her own behavior but only by it being caught on film. She stated that if the other woman is not going to learn from her actions, she will, after reading thousands of comments from people discussing domestic violence, stalkers, and postpartum discomfort with being on camera.
She admitted she has never been asked not to film or take photos by someone, and if she had, she would have probably thrown her phone outside the studio. Rene then made a commitment to no longer take videos or pictures in Pilates classes at all, whether at the beginning or end of class, unless it is a social media-specific event or studio, saying that women furthest along in their fitness journeys should help create an encouraging environment and that it starts with her.
Viewers shared a range of reactions to the original video. One commenter wrote that both women were in the wrong. Another stated, “Recording strangers in public has become way too normalized.”
A third described personal discomfort, writing, “I take off my hijab when it’s an all girls class and feel so uncomfortable when someone in front of me starts recording. They’ve told me they will cover me up but I have no idea if they actually did and still makes me uncomfortable. I had to stop hot Pilates cause of this.”
Others noted that some people have restraining orders and cannot be put online with their location for safety reasons, while one suggested reporting the issue to the instructor, and another wrote, “Cameras don’t belong in Pilates studios. Period. I manage one and we forbid it.”
Published: Oct 18, 2026 11:15 am