‘I’m Taking This … As a Threat’: Black Woman’s 14-Hour Flight Goes Viral After Seatmate Pokes Her with Bare Feet, Flashes Knife, Then Acts ‘Dumbfounded’

A Black travel influencer said a recent 14-hour flight experience became the stuff of nightmares when her elderly seat mate napped on her, poked her with her bare feet, and even brandished a knife in her direction.

“This flight turned into a horror movie! PSA: If you lean on strangers mid-flight… don’t,” TikToker @essiebtravelin wrote under now-viral footage of the incident from August.

Essie posted a set of videos showing an elderly woman seated next to her getting too close for comfort on a Qatar Airways flight, prompting her to call over a flight attendant for help.

In the footage, the blanket-covered woman is seen spreading her legs across the row, napping on Essie’s shoulder, and even leaning forward and spreading her hands across the row, leaving Essie with very little personal sp