The CCTV footage that unravelled a woman's elaborate story.

In the digital era, a bad review that goes viral can make or break a company. 

So when Chicago-based woman, Julia Reel, posted a video to social media accusing a bouncer at a local bar of "manhandling" her and sending her "flying down the stairs", it looked like it would spell bad news for the business. 

In the TikTok video, Reel said the incident occurred when she and her friend were ejected from Hubbard Inn, a popular venue in her area. 

Watch Hubbard Inn's full response to Julia Reel's claim that she was manhandled by a security guard at the venue. Post continues after video.

"So they are grabbing us immediately," she explained to her followers.

 "They don't even give us a chance to walk out on our own."

That's when Hubbard Inn entered the chat. 

Following the post, the venue shared surveillance footage of that night on their own TikTok account, alongside Reel's clip where she spoke about the alleged assault — and it seemingly disproved her claims. 

The clip has more than 5.5 million views and over 400,000 likes.

The venue's footage did not show the security guard pushing the young woman down the stairs, but instead leading her away from the scene at a distance. Hubbard Inn also said that Reel's roommate was "apologising repeatedly for her behaviour."

In her initial video, Reel had claimed: "I'm immediately grabbed by this man. And he's grabbing my arm. He's pushing me. He's manhandling me. 'What is going on? What is the issue here? Why are you guys kicking us out? Why are you screaming at us? Why are you grabbing me and manhandling me and dragging me?'"

The CCTV footage instead showed the bouncer slowly walking the women out of the venue. 

While they appear to be exchanging words as they walk toward the exit in the footage, it doesn't show the security guard being violent towards either woman. 

Reel also said that she was "just pushed down" the staircase. 

"He sends me flying down the staircase," she said. 

"[I'm] hysterical at this point. I think I start to kind of yell, scream back at him, kind of push back at him."

"And he takes me a second time... and shoves me again and sends me flying down the rest of the staircase... It was the craziest experience I've ever been in. It was completely and utterly ridiculous how much it escalated."

@hubbardinnchicago Response to the alleged incident. #hubbardinn #chicago #allegations ♬ original sound - Hubbard Inn

However, the surveillance footage shared showed the pair walking down the staircase. 

"She was politely escorted off the premises, ensuring a safe exit. Ms. Reel was not thrown from two sets of stairs," Hubbard Inn maintained. 

Following the viral video, the venue filed a lawsuit against Reel, claiming her video defamed the venue and negatively impacted business with a flood of critical online reviews and cancelled reservations.

The lawsuit claims Hubbard Inn repeatedly asked Reel to take down her post after staff received violent threats and that she was also invited to view their security footage.

As for Reel's response, she let her own lawyers do the talking with a clip that labelled Hubbard Inn's response as "self-serving". They also said she suffered a concussion and visible lacerations. The statement urged the public to avoid "a rush to judgment and/or victim shaming."

According to the Sun-Times, Reel filed a police report that stated she visited the hospital and was treated for a "bruised up arm and head," which struck the floor — but there is no mention of a concussion in the report.

According to the report, a security guard pulled the young woman out of a restroom stall while she was urinating and said "we know what you are doing" before she was pushed toward the exit not fully dressed.

As of now, there has been no further update from Hubbard Inn or Reel. 

Feature Image: TikTok @hubbardinnchicago/@juliareel.