‘DONT touch women’: She was allegedly chased outside after Sephora staff accused her family of theft. Then they shove her and allegedly snatch their phones

A New York City woman said in a TikTok video that she and her mother were allegedly assaulted by a Sephora security guard in Rome after staff accused them of theft. Aldy, who posts as @aldynyc, shared the account in a video that has drawn 59,200 views.

In the TikTok caption, she wrote, “DONT touch women. storytime on how we were a*saluted by a Sephora employee and have literal wounds and video/image proof. @Sephora”

She told viewers that she and her mother walked into a Sephora in Rome and that her mother began looking at Drunk Elephant products. She stated that one item had a tester and the other did not.

Aldy claimed a security guard followed them outside, blocked her path, and grabbed their phones

According to her account, her mother opened the box of the product that did not have a tester. She claimed a Sephora employee immediately came over and said, “You can’t open it, you can’t open the product.” She added that the employee then brought a manager over.

Aldy said she and her mother decided to leave and go to another Sephora. As they were leaving, she recounted, a security guard ran up and yelled something like “pickpocket” or “steal.” She insisted they did not steal anything.

She described the guard following them out of the store, standing in front of her, and moving when she tried to pass, preventing her from getting by. She claimed he yelled outside the store that she was stealing and that he was calling the police. The incident highlights ongoing concerns about customer treatment at Sephora, as a New York woman felt disgusted after staff made her self-conscious and then tried to sell her moisturizer.

She said she took out her phone to record because he was physically blocking her and making accusations. When he saw the phone, she claimed, he demanded, “Give me the phone! Give me the phone right now!” and then yelled, “Delete the video! Delete the video!”

She stated that he grabbed her hand and tried to pull the phone away. Her hand hurt, she said, and it felt like he was shoving her. She told viewers she yelled, “Let go of me! Don’t touch me! You’re hurting me! Stop!”

She claimed he then grabbed her mother’s phone out of her hand. In the process, she said, he hit her mother with the phone on the chin and caused a bump. She added that she inserted a picture of the injury in the video and that he ran back into the store with the phone.

She said the store manager yelled at the guard and that she has video of that moment as well. She stated the manager yelled “Basta!” and, from her understanding of Spanish, was telling him to stop, that he could not do this, and to give the phone back.

They left after that, she said. She stated she plans to email Sephora and send all the videos she has. She told viewers she is still shaken up and spent most of the day crying from sadness, anxiety, and stress.

Some viewers focused on the open box as well as on the alleged force used outside the store. One commenter wrote, “Opening a closed product is a no no- sorry you had to go through such an ordeal.”

Another commenter wrote, “Still not ok to open boxes just because there is no tester.” A third commenter wrote, “the action of the employee was horrible but why open the boxes sephora has beauty testers.”

Other commenters urged a police report. One wrote, “File a police report.” Another wrote, “You should also report them to the police this is absolutely unacceptable. idk about Italy but I assume security has no right to touch civilians outside their establishment, or grab your phone, or try to restrict you.” The complaints don’t stop at security, as a man in Arizona was allegedly called weird for wanting to try makeup at Sephora.