A video of John Cena encouraging a fan who was filming him to let him “enjoy some time” with pals has sparked controversy about meeting celebrities’ manners.

The video was uploaded to TikTok on June 27 by @alex99rocks, who stated that it was shot by a buddy who met the professional wrestler and wanted to record him.

The guy behind the camera was heard asking Cena whether he could recite his catchphrase, “You can’t see me,” which he is famed for saying when wrestling on the WWE Network.

Cena, who looked to be sitting at a restaurant table, said to the guy, “How about I enjoy some time with my friends?” The video then cuts out after the fan apologized.

The TikTok video gained 442,000 views and a mixed reaction, as many debated whether it was proper for the fan to film and engage with the wrestler while he was with friends.

Some individuals believed Cena was being impolite by declining the fan’s request, while others commended him for appearing to set limits for his personal privacy, claiming the fan should not have bothered Cena when he was attempting to relax.

Although the video is brief and it is unclear whether the person filming sought permission to shoot Cena before filming, several people felt that the fan should not have approached Cena with a camera in his hand and instead tried to communicate with him without filming.

“Or maybe ask him without even recording, ‘Hey, when you guys are done eating and about to leave, may I have a picture? That’s a way better approach,” one person said.

Other accounts re-posted the video on Twitter, which sparked more controversy. Some praised the fan for apologizing and appearing to stop filming after hearing Cena’s remark, while others felt the fan did nothing particularly wrong because approaching celebrities in public is usual.

Some viewers sympathized with Cena and said they understood why he responded the way he did, given how tough it is for superstars to preserve a sense of privacy.

One Twitter user commented on a version of the video that has garnered 13 million views, saying it was “funny to watch,” but also praised Cena’s demeanor, adding, “He literally must have been asked that a trillion times, so to remain that calm is impressive.”

Videos of celebrities filmed by fans who have met them frequently go viral on social media, eliciting enthusiastic replies from internet users who say they appreciate learning more about what their favorite celebs are up to. However, some clips in which the celebrity appears to be uncomfortable or as if they were not expecting to be filmed in their environment have sparked backlash and criticism, with some suggesting that approaching a famous person with a camera and filming them without permission is not always appropriate.

John Cena has been wrestling on the WWE network since 2002 and has been in films and television shows since 2000. His most recent appearance was as Jakob in “Fast X,” the latest film in the Fast & Furious franchise, which opened in US theaters on May 19.

Cena has already expressed his desire for seclusion as a prominent person. In a May 2023 interview with the TODAY program, he stated that one of the “core values” he and his wife, Shay Shariatzadeh, whom he married in 2020, share is keeping information about their relationship secret and only sharing updates with those in their “inner circle.”