Man Refuses to Make Way for 80-Year-Old Woman on Stairs, Sparking Online Backlash

A UK man is facing backlash – again – after a recently resurfaced video saw him refuse to make room for an 80-year-old woman attempting to pass him on the stairs at a London-area metro station.

In the video, which was originally shared on X in 2025, and re-posted by several users, including U.K. reform member, Ben Graham, an older woman appears to be trying to move past a man who is standing near the handrail on a staircase leading away from the train platform.

After asking him to move repeatedly, things start to get tense. The man then informs the woman that he is recording the interaction.

“I’m recording you, don’t touch me,” the man shares.

“That’s fine,” the woman replies, before asking him to move again.

“You can go around,” he suggests, before the elderly woman informs him of her age.

“I’m 80,” the woman exclaims, implying that she needs to use the handrail the man is standing in the way of to safely make it up the stairs.

“OK. So?” the man replies, seemingly unbothered. He then reminds her one more time that he’s recording her.

Frustrated, the woman then lashes out, telling the man behind the camera that she “doesn’t give a damn” what he’s doing, before calling him “extremely rude and arrogant.”

The video ends with the woman attempting to tell a metro worker about the situation.

Social media users were outraged by the incident and quickly shared their reactions in the comments.

“If I had of seen that he would have been thrown down the stairs! That poor woman! Jesus this has me raging,” one commenter wrote, with another user adding, “If that was my grandmother, I’d be in jail right now.”

Others pointed out how elderly adults depend on handrails for safety, and to prevent falls.

“Did he ever consider the fact that she might need the hand rail to keep her balance?” one user noted.

Though most commenters sided with the elderly woman involved, there were some, however, that took the side of the man recording the video, with one arguing that the woman could have taken another route, writing, “Arrow shows to the left, move (…) over, he’s right, she’s wrong.”