- When Shannon McGee proposed to Linn Ekebom with a flash mob, they were both over the moon.
- But they didn't realize a stranger had filmed them, and soon a TikTok of the moment went viral.
When Shannon McGee proposed to her girlfriend Linn Ekebom in front of Central Park's Bethesda Fountain, they were both over the moon. Then the moment went viral.
McGee arranged for six people — a small flash mob — to perform by the fountain on Saturday, and popped the question to Ekebom by dancing along to the Bruno Mars track "Marry You."
McGee had been planning it for weeks and was full of nerves, but it "ended up working out perfectly," she told Insider.
"I started bawling my eyes out, I was so touched," Ekebom told Insider. "I usually don't cry when I'm happy, I only cry when I'm like sad or angry. But tears were just streaming down my face. It was beautiful."
New York is where the couple first met, so it seemed like the ideal location to get engaged. Ekebom said yes immediately, and they couldn't wait to tell everyone. However, it was clear someone had beaten them to it when Ekebom received a text from a friend congratulating her.
"I was like, wait, what?" Ekebom said. "I had not posted anything because I didn't want to, because my family is back in Finland, and it was just a few hours after the actual engagement."
Ekebom's friend sent her a TikTok which was quickly racking up millions of views, and a slew of mocking comments.
It showed McGee's proposal, recorded from about 100ft away with someone laughing and saying the proposal was "not the way to do it." It was deleted after amassing some 6.5 million views.
McGee posted her own video of the proposal from a closer angle.
The comments under the TikTok video, reviewed by Insider before its deletion, were often insulting, with people saying it had given them the "ick." Many mistakenly described McGee as a man.
One commenter said that if they had been Ekebom "I'd simply lay on the ground and wait for my soul to slip out of my body." Another said: "I'd say no."
While Ekebom and McGee initially thought it was nice that someone else captured their special moment, they soon realized the TikTok wasn't posted in good faith. Some comments were "really nasty," Ekebom said.
"Then the views started going up so much and I was like, this is horrible," she said. "I have just gotten engaged. I was so happy. And this just kind of put a damper on me. And I hate that it did, but it was hard to just ignore."
"I was definitely concerned about my parents somehow seeing this and seeing all the negativity about me and their daughter-in-law," she said.
McGee said it was hard seeing Ekebom struggle, especially after coming down from such a high.
"I didn't want her to feel upset about our engagement because it was a beautiful and very special moment in our lives," she said.
Ekebom messaged the person who posted the video, thanking him for the angle, but saying this wasn't how she wanted to end her engagement night. He did not reply.
Insider reached out to him, and he said he didn't want to comment, citing the backlash to his post. He removed the video from TikTok on Monday.
Ekebom said she wouldn't have minded so much if the TikTok had been posted to show a cute moment, but the negativity made her want to say something. She posted her own TikTok to give her point of view, which amassed more than 600,000 views.
@linn.paulina #stitch with @brett_neusty ♬ original sound - linn.paulina
"I just wanted to say something because it did not ruin our proposal, but it definitely put a negative spin on the whole situation," she said. "It's not everyone's cup of tea, and that's OK. You really don't have to like the same things as I do or anyone else does."
Before the first video was deleted, the comments had started to shift. On Saturday they were full of negativity, but by Monday morning most commenters were instead praising the proposal and commenting on how happy Ekebom seemed to be.
"It made me so emotional, it was so sweet," Ekebom said. "I've never had that much support from strangers."
Ekebom and McGee said they never wanted anyone to criticize the original poster, but they hoped it was a learning moment for him. McGee said they didn't want to stoop to his level, but it was a challenge when they were upset.
Ekebom said the experience showed that people need to remember to "be kind," and to stop normalizing the use of people they don't know as entertainment.
Overall, "everyone can make mistakes," she added, and she hopes the poster did learn his lesson. "Everyone can do stupid stuff," she said