Did a viral video authentically show a woman being pulled high into the air by a hot air balloon after her foot got stuck in a rope? No, that's not quite true: The footage was not digitally edited or AI-generated, but it did not show a real, dangerous accident. Rather, it was a controlled stunt used by a French circus group to promote one of their shows.
The clip appeared in a July 14, 2025, post on TikTok (archived here), and garnered 23 million views in just one day. It can be watched below:
@susanhmd202 Follow for part 2 #jet2holidays #fyp #fails ♬ Jet2 Advert - ✈️A7-BBH | MAN 🇬🇧
In the background, the audio from an advert by the British airline Jet2 can be heard. The "Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday" commercial is an internet meme, as explained by the website KnowYourMeme (archived here):
The ad, which uses Jess Glynne's song "Hold My Hand," was initially shared in early January 2024 but gained sarcastic meme usage on TikTok in March 2025 as users added the female narration saying, "Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday," and juxtaposed the upbeat soundbite with content related to chaotic or dangerous situations they found themselves in.
The implication in the post is therefore that the video shows a real, unplanned, dangerous incident. This is misleading.
While the footage is not AI-generated or digitally edited, it does not show an authentic accident, but rather a planned and controlled stunt.
The original video was posted on August 14, 2024 (archived here), and showed French circus artist Louise Lenoble. In the original audio, she can be heard saying to the camera (translated from French by Lead Stories):
Hello! I heard there's going to be a show tonight at 8:45 pm. It's...
Then the balloon takes off and carries Lenoble with it. The video can be watched below:
At the time, Lenoble was travelling with a French circus called Cirque Inextremiste, and the stunt video was designed to promote a show at 8:45 pm that evening in Chamonix, in the French Alps.
The show, entitled "Exit", involved performers hanging from a real, moving hot-air balloon, as the following trailer video shows:
