TikTok fame Ashley Matheson aka 'Tripod Video Girl' addresses the infamous incident
Eleanor Gray
Published Apr 03, 2026
There are a number of ways to become popular on TikTok, but little did Ashley Matheson know that an incident involving a tripod would make one of her videos go viral, for all the wrong reasons!
Like every social media platform, TikTok isn’t new to some of the strangest happenings. You don’t have to necessarily get a flying broom on camera to capture people’s attention; it seems like a little accident is good enough too!
That’s what happened with Ashley when she was trying to establish her career as an influencer on TikTok long ago, and people still can’t stop talking about the infamous incident.
How the Tripod Girl became famous from a video
The video in question is still available on Ashley’s account and continues to make the rounds on TikTok.
It is only a few seconds long and was shot by Ashley using the selfie mode in 2020, when she had just started posting on the platform.
The viral video, which has been viewed close to 200 million times, sees Ashley jump on her bed with her knees bent, only to land on a tripod.
Her intention, obviously, wasn’t to get the tripod stuck between her legs, but the incident nevertheless got her immense attention, so much so that she came to be known as the famous “Tripod Video Girl”.
Ashley Matheson addresses the infamous incident
Ashley was on the OnlyStand podcast by Barstool, when she explained what happened in 2020 – she had just joined TikTok then.
Laughing at her past, Ashley said she had recorded multiple videos at the time and the one featuring the incident with the tripod was posted last by her.
She soon left for a Halloween party and when she checked her phone about an hour later, it was filled with her mother’s messages about the tripod video having received a million likes.
And much to her surprise, it went on to clock about eighty million views by the next day and is still being viewed and liked by TikTok users.
Currently, the video has been viewed more than 199 million times!
Influencer said the object impaled her
We urge the readers not to imitate or try recording videos that are similar in nature as it can be dangerous.
Ashley herself said she was injured when the tripod accidentally slipped between her legs. She never did it for clout and definitely wouldn’t want her fans to get inspired by an accident.
“I did injure myself. That did impale me, ” Ashley told the podcaster.
