“I’m flabbergasted”: The “pink jacket girl” who went on a mall rampage has become a diva anti-hero legend

A little girl in a pink jacket who wreaked havoc in a Manchester mall went viral on TikTok, all over a petty theft and a little snitching. Footage showing the child fleeing from security on an escalator, attacking the teens who told on her, and then posing like a diva on the way back down has the internet captivated.

Set to the tune of the Jet2 holiday ad, this is now the U.K.’s favorite meme.

Somebody hold this girl’s hand

A TikTok video by @dreams_dreams24 gained over 59.4 million views with the combined footage of the incident and the sound from the Jet2 ad. It shows a girl who can’t be older than 10 in a pink puffy jacket climbing against the elevator with a roar that echoed through the Manchester Arndale shopping centre.

@dreams_dreams24 Nothing beats it #fyp #zxybca #viral ♬ original sound – Kendy

At the top, she made a beeline for a group of teen girls and grabbed a handful of one’s hair. After a brief scuffle, the kid got back on the escalator, riding it down as she posed like a tiny model until it slowed to a stop. She then ran down the rest of the way herself.

Extended footage before the hair assault shows mall security escorting this child down the same escalator. She escaped them by climbing over the median between hers and the one going up while the guards did nothing to stop her. It’s unclear why they let her do this, but it allowed her to get back to the top and spy on the teens.

After the assault, pick jacket girl is again apprehended by security, who appear to take a white t-shirt or other garment from her and hand it to a store employee. They then hand the child to her mother and attempt to contain the situation as the entire mall watches.

What really happened at the Manchester Arndale shopping centre?

The shopping center security does not appear to have put out a statement on the incident, but The Tab found a TikTok commenter who claimed to know the whole story.

According to the TikToker, the girl “stole a four [pound] watch from Claire’s and her mum took the watch from her.”

“The mum put it inside of her bag cause she didn’t want her daughter to get in trouble and that group of women over there snitched and told the police and while the mum was being taken downstairs the daughter went up to the girls who snitched and were laughing at her and grabbed them by the hair in response to them snitching and then laughing at her mother which clearly she was having none of.”

Clearly.

“Scummy parents breed scummy kids”

Clips of the footage spread to both X and Reddit as people everywhere grew obsessed with pink jacket girl. On TikTok, they’re calling her Junie B. Jones—a children’s book series character known for going against the grain.

“That’s Junie B Jones,” wrote @themoonsoulchild on the viral video.

“Junie B Jones and the B stands for BOUT THAT ACTION,” said @finchieeee.

On Reddit’s r/TikTokCringe forum, people are blaming mom.

“Some people should raise their kids better,” remarked u/Economy_Quail_24.

“Scummy parents breed scummy kids,” wrote u/NotRealWater.

On X, meanwhile, some users focused on how this all might have gone differently if one detail of the story had changed.

“Yea I’m a be woke for a sec,” said @niya_noire. “If this was a little black girl.. this wouldn’t be cute or funny to anyone. Comments would be way different.”

“Honestly f*ck yall. If a little black girl was stealing from the mall and then started hitting people, it wouldn’t be a fucking meme,” agreed @AintPayingThe5.

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