A woman who became the center of attention for refusing to switch her airplane seat with a crying child has come forward to share her side of the story. She also announced her intention to take legal action against the individual who recorded the incident.
Jeniffer Castro, who hails from Brazil, is not the first, nor will she likely be the last, to decline moving from her designated plane seat for a child.
Castro, 29, plans to pursue legal action against the mother of the child, who took it upon herself to film Castro and subsequently post the footage online, where it quickly gained widespread attention.
The incident took place on December 4, 2024, when Castro boarded a GOL Airlines domestic flight in Brazil and discovered a toddler occupying her seat.
The mother of the child requested the window seat for the view, but Castro insisted on occupying the seat she had booked. This led to her asking the mother and child to move.
The mother began recording Castro, capturing a moment in the video where she remarked: “I’m recording your face, this is disgusting. It’s the 21st century and people have no empathy for children.”
Castro has since spoken publicly about her perspective on the incident and her potential legal plans against the mother.
Appearing on the Cola Mais Podcast, with the episode airing on January 22, Castro was questioned about her intentions regarding legal action against either the airline or the mother.
She mentioned taking ‘measures’ without specifying their nature, stating: “[Translation] Measures are now being taken. What I went through wasn’t easy. The flight attendants could have asked me if I need anything, or if I was bothered by the passenger, but they didn’t. They stayed out of it.”
Castro recounted that upon boarding, she informed the mother and child that it was her seat and ‘waited for him to leave’.
“A guy across the aisle said ‘Change with him, you sit next to the aisle and he’ll have your place’,” she added.
Once seated, Castro noted that the mother was ‘very rude’ and that ‘the boy cried the entire flight, it was around 50 minutes from Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte’.
The video recorded by the mother attracted a lot of online attention and sparked mixed opinions, though many people supported Castro.
“She is well within her right not to move! I’m sick of self-entitled parents,” one Facebook user commented, while another added: “I would sue everyone who filmed me against my will. Just saying.
As a photographer… I need permission for everyone I have a picture of or they can sue me for this. You need permission of everyone that you have pictures of and videos of… I think people have forgotten this fact in this age of social media.”
“She paid for it, it’s her seat. The toddlers parent’s poor planning doesn’t constitute an emergency for the lady so nope,” another commenter argued.