A woman is defending herself after being called a 'cringe millennial' for her overjoyed reaction to IHOP pancakes, while also addressing allegations of racism for rebuking a critic

• Ana Moreira went viral this week with a clip of herself excitedly reacting to a plate of IHOP pancakes.
• Many, including a woman in the background, mocked her glee. Some now accuse her of being racist for how she confronted a derider.

A Brazilian creator is defending herself after a viral video of her dancing elatedly before a plate of IHOP pancakes sparked a mountain of mockery, including being called a "cringe millennial."

She then faced further outrage and accusations of racism for a comment she wrote in response to a critic.

In the eight-second TikTok from Sunday that triggered the saga, Ana Moreira (@addictedtoana) bounces up and down and dances with her shoulders as an IHOP employee drops a plate of pancakes before her. In the background, an unidentified customer at another table can be seen frowning at Moreira's reaction. The clip has been viewed over 30 million times.

"The best part of this video is the woman judging me," Moreira wrote in the video description.

The video quickly went viral — but not for favorable reasons. An onslaught of viewers said they agreed with the woman's reaction, or were confused as to why Moreira was acting so overjoyed toward breakfast food. "She's like 'it's ihop.. chill,'" one comment with over 255,000 likes says. "Girl in the back isn't even mean she's just honest," another person wrote, adding a sobbing emoji.

The video was reshared to X (formerly Twitter) in a post that received 98 million views — and spawned further disdain and quote-posts mocking her with tens of thousands of likes.

Some called Moreira "cringe" and her reaction "hyper-millennial behavior."

"You know what, fuck this happy ass lady im tired of acting like id be the bigger person here. STOP BEING WEIRD," one person wrote in a quote-post with over 126,000 likes. "Stupid TikTok is ruining people's ability to be NORMAL in public. EVERYTHING has to be recorded, always putting on a face for strangers. just EAT your fucking food."

Moreira told Insider that she knew the video had potential but didn't foresee it eliciting this level of response. She fought against the many claims that she was exaggerating for the sake of content. She said because she's not from the US, she was excited to try native American fare like pancakes.

"It's a food that usually we don't eat in our countries. For us, it was admirable," Moreira said.

"Many people were saying, 'Ah, she's fake,'" Moreira continued. "No, I'm exactly like that anywhere, with anything."

While Moreira said she isn't comfortable with the hate, she answers "hate with hate" and is comfortable standing up for herself. She said she only saw the woman scowling in the back of the shot after they had left the IHOP and she began to edit the video. If she caught the person doing that while there, she said she would have said something.

"I was like, what the fuck this chick is doing?" she said of seeing the clip. "I am used to that kind of look because I am a very voluptuous and small girl. I'm not average in the US."

She then began defending herself in the hate-filled comment section of her TikTok — and one response ignited another wave of backlash for her. In response to the user "Mr. Questions" saying they identified with "the girl in the back," Moreira wrote back: "For a black guy hating in other person that's food for thought society doesn't made u suffer with hate too? interesting."

Some people were confused by the way she worded the response, but others accused her of racism and asked what "his race" has to do with eating pancakes.

To these accusations, Moireira told Insider she stands by the comment and said the language barrier means that sometimes what she says can come out confusing.

"I know people are calling me racist. And people don't realize what racist is," she said. "What I meant was as being part of the minority — you know, as me being a woman, he being black, or a trans person — hating on strangers on the internet is something that I don't swallow very well. It's like, man, the society hated on you in your entire life, and this is what you spread? "

She added that she didn't write the comment because the user could be Black, and left similar comments to Brazilian naysayers.

"I thought for being part of the minorities make us better, in a way that we don't do to nobody what they do to us our entire lives," she said, reiterating that she is a woman and Latina. "It's not your right to talk trash to someone you don't know."

Moreira has not yet publicly addressed the backlash on TikTok, though she uploaded a video on Monday saying she had returned from her US trip.

As the ridicule continues to roll in, some viewers have found joy in Moreira's original video, saying they appreciate her excitement.

"Okay but tbf this is literally me whenever i get chocolate chip pancakes at a restaurant so just leave this girl alone and let her have fun," an X user wrote.