Sometimes, friends don’t exactly approve of a new addition to the group.

In this case, a man introduced his new girlfriend to his friend group, but she was met with criticism by a female friend, and now he’s wondering if he was in the wrong when he took his friend’s side.

Let’s analyze the situation.

AITA for not taking my girlfriend’s side after she embarrassed my friend?

My girlfriend (19 years old, female) Fiona, and I (21 years old, male) have been together for around a month now, and yesterday I brought her to a Christmas party with all of my friends to introduce her to them.

Fiona got along with all of them well, though she was understandably a little shy.

It also makes it difficult for her that most of my friends and I are international students whereas she was born and raised in North America.

She sounds like she prefers to keep things to herself unless bothered.

For context, Fiona doesn’t like to cause conflict and often is okay with letting things slide to keep the peace. However if she‘s angered, she’s also the type to say something and can be a bit of a hothead.

That being said, she’s extremely sweet and understanding which makes this situation all the more bizarre for me.

Fiona was quiet most of the party, occasionally piping in the conversation and letting it take its course around her.

But one of his friends wanted to put his new girlfriend to the test, apparently.

She was holding a bag which I found out today is pretty expensive, around $2.7k.

My friend Celia pointed out her purse and asked where she got it to which Fiona explained that it was a gift from her parents.

At this, Celia asked what Fiona’s parents did.

Fiona told her that her mom was a stay-at-home mom and her dad worked in the oil field, and Celia made a face and said “You know digging oil is horrible for the environment.”

That was undoubtedly a rude comment, and Fiona picked up on it.

At this, Fiona asked Celia if the clothes she was wearing were made of Polyester and Nylon, if she participated in fast fashion, if she took planes, or used solar-powered energies primarily.

And then she asked Celia if she drew the line for being environmentally conscious at someone working hard to support their family.

Fiona’s tone was light but I could tell she was angry.

The rest of my friends laughed and told Celia that Fiona had a point and moved on.

But Celia went quiet afterward and left soon after.

Celia didn’t get the last word that night… But she tried the next morning.

This morning, I got a text message from her that Fiona was extremely rude to her and that she didn’t feel comfortable attending parties where Fiona was present anymore.

While she didn’t want to tell me what to do, she thought I deserved someone better and less snobby.

When I told Fiona she went quiet and told me that the reason she snapped at Celia was because she was purposely acting as if Fiona didn’t exist and being snide towards her.

After hearing this, he made… A choice.

I tried to argue that Celia never said anything off-putting save for the “oil field” comment and that Fiona should just apologize to keep the peace but Fiona refused and said I didn’t pick up on it because I’m a guy and girls have subtext.

Now Fiona and Celia are both upset with me and I feel bad for putting them both in this situation.

AITA?

Celia was blatantly rude and Fiona simply defended her parents by asking her a few questions.

Let’s see what Reddit has to say about this situation.

A reader shares their thoughts.

This person breaks it down.

Someone shares their point of view on the matter.

Another reader chimes in.

This commenter mentions a few important points to consider.

Exactly.

Hopefully, he will realize what his friend is trying to do in time.

But he might be single before he catches on.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.