Tennessee woman says she noticed a man staring at her repeatedly during her workout. When she reacted, he allegedly yelled at her instead of stopping

A 21-year-old woman says she was yelled at by a man at her local gym after she reacted to him repeatedly staring at her during her workout. The woman, who posts on TikTok under the handle @halliemckayyy, shared the incident in a video that has since gained 2.8 million views and more than 238,700 likes.

According to the woman, identified as Hallie McKay, she works out at the same public gym every day and is familiar with the staff and regulars there. She said she had never had any bad interactions at the gym before this incident.

McKay said she noticed a man, whom she had seen at the gym before, looking at her multiple times while she was between sets during her leg day workout. She said she made eye contact with him a few times because he kept looking at her.

Woman says she shook her head in response before the man began yelling

McKay said that after finishing a set, she looked up and noticed the man was already looking at her again. She said she shook her head, explaining that she found it frustrating to be stared at while trying to work out. She said she then looked down at her phone and changed the song playing in her headphones.

McKay said the man then began yelling at her, though she did not hear him right away because she had her headphones on. She said she did not realize at first that he was speaking to her. According to McKay, the man shouted, “What are you shaking your head at? Like, do you have a problem? I’m, I’m in here working too. Like, I’m in here working too.”

McKay said she responded by asking him who he was talking to and why. She said she told him that she had shaken her head because he had been staring at her, and that his comment to her had drawn attention to his own behavior. She said the exchange became a back-and-forth between the two of them.

McKay said she reported the incident to the gym and obtained the owner’s email to file a complaint. She said employees at the gym approached her afterward to apologize and check if she was okay. She described the man as appearing to be around 40 years old with gray hair. 

Such gym confrontations can escalate quickly, as when a New Jersey woman told a man she had a few more sets left on a gym machine, but he kept coming back until she started recording on her phone. 

In a follow-up TikTok video posted the next day, McKay said she turned off comments on her original post because of the volume of negative reactions and arguments in the comment section. She clarified that a line in her original caption was meant as satire and said she does not believe all men behave this way.

McKay said she had since spoken with the gym owner, who told her he was sorry about what happened and said he would review security footage and take appropriate action once he returned to town the following week. She said that the response was all she could ask for, adding that she is not a confrontational person.

She also said she is planning to move out of state the following month and will no longer be attending that gym. McKay said she posted the original video while in an emotional state and had not expected it to reach as many viewers as it did. She said she left the gym, gathered herself, and cried in her car afterward, and had not intended to record or post the video when she did. 

McKay said she received a large number of negative comments and said she was scared by some of the reactions to her video. She said she does not plan to delete the original post but was unsure whether she would turn comments back on. Such encounters have prompted discussions about gym conduct and privacy, as in a separate case where a woman had another woman’s membership canceled for recording her boyfriend without his consent. 

Several viewers responded to McKay’s videos with supportive comments. One commenter wrote, “This is why we need all female gyms!! there are not enough.” Another wrote, “It happenes to most girls thank you for bringing awareness.” One comment addressed the man’s alleged behavior, stating, “He got mad because he felt rejected. disturbing behavior and no they don’t grow out of it.” 

Another commenter wrote, “Thing is if this had happened to a lot of those dudes sisters or friends they’d be ready to fight the guy. When it’s a stranger they act like they can’t understand.” Another viewer encouraged McKay to keep her report on file, writing, “Dont delete it and file a report … we dont know what he will do next.”