A billionaire's new wife has gone viral after apparently trying to bully a woman who shares her new name into selling her Instagram lever.
Katherine Asplundh, formerly Driscoll, married Cabot Asplundh, 27, of the Pennsylvania billionaire family at a reception in Palm Beach, Floridatwo weeks ago.
After the happy couple exchanged vows, Katherine, an influencer with more than 14,600 Instagram followers, tried to change her username from @katherinedrisc to @katherineasplundh, but her desired username was already taken.
Katherine contacted the account owner, a woman named Kate, to ask if she could purchase her account, a practice in direct violation of the platform's terms of service.
Kate declined, explaining that she feared selling the username would get her “banned from Instagram.” This prompted Katherine to launch into a tirade of seemingly titled posts.
Kate, who claims she was initially open to changing her username but decided against it after Katherine “seemed snarky,” later shared the conversation online.
Katherine Asplundh, formerly Driscoll, married 27-year-old Cabot Asplundh weeks ago at a reception in Palm Beach, Florida
After the happy couple exchanged vows, the new Asplundh reached out to another woman with the same name in hopes of purchasing a new Instagram account name
By contacting the woman known only as Kate, who has since shared the messages on social media, the newlyweds have inadvertently gone viral.
In the now-viral exchange, you can see Katherine messaging an anonymous user, presumably Kate, asking if she can buy her Instagram account.
“Hi, I was wondering if I could buy your username from you,” she wrote. 'Just got married and this in my new name!'
Kate replied, “That's my name too. I just googled it and it said if I sold my username I would be banned from Instagram.”
But Katherine pushed back, saying, “I bought my username in the past, but that's not true. Celebrities do it all the time, so they all have their handles as their full names.
'So strange, I didn't know there was another Asplundh family. Over there [are] no Katherine Asplundh in our family.”
She then adds, “I see you're not that active here, but you started Instagram in 2018 and changed your username three times? Is there any way I can get you to change your username again?'
Kate responds, explaining that the @katherineasplundh account is her so-called “finsta,” a term that refers to a “fake” or secondary account that users create to share content only with close friends and family.
The conversation turns sour, with Katherine seemingly questioning Kate's identity.
“I don't actually believe your name is Katherine Asplundh, who would make their finsta their real name?” Katharina wrote.
“I reported you on Instagram and they can tell me your real name. I really hope I don't know you because that will be very embarrassing for you.'
Kate asks the influencer to report her, but Katherine confirms that she and her new husband have already done so.
Katherine then continues to question the legitimacy of Kate's name, claiming that her husband's family are the only Asplundhs in the US.
Kate confirms that she is not American, to which Katherine responds, “Do you have proof that is your name?” I'd like to see that.'
Asplundh then continues to question the legitimacy of her name, which confirms that she is not American
Kate eventually tells Asplundh that if she had been nice, she would have considered giving her the account name for free
The family she married into founded Asplundh Tree Expert, which reported 2021 sales of more than $5.4 billion dollars
Kate then tells Katherine that if she had been nice, she would have considered giving her the account name for free.
She hits back at the influencer, saying, “But it wasn't. I reported you for asking me to sell my account, and another for harassing me. Nice day.'
Speaking with the Philadelphia researcherKate told the outlet, “I was open to giving her my username.
'I just didn't want to sell it because I would get banned. After I replied to her, her messages came across as sarcastic, so I said to myself, “Okay, this isn't worth it.”'
According to her social media pages, Katherine is originally from New Vernon, New Jersey, where she attended the College of Charleston.
Her TikTok page, called Lost Etiquette, has over 80,000 followers with over 5.5 million likes on her profile.
The family she married into founded Asplundh Tree Expert, which reported 2021 sales of more than $5.4 billion dollars.
The two met in Prague while Katherine was studying aboard and connected while growing up on the Jersey Shore, according to their wedding website.
Two years later, Cabot, the great-grandson of Carl Asplundh who founded the family business with his two brothers, proposed to her in Mantoloking, New Jersey.
Since then, Asplundh's social media pages have been filled with comments and she reportedly had to privatize her page – before making it public again
Her TikTok page, called Lost Etiquette, has over 80,000 followers with over 5.5 million likes on her profile
Former Senate candidate and famed surgeon Mehmet Oz is part of the family through marriage, with his wife Lisa's grandfather founding the family business in 1928 along with his two brothers.
The company, which maintains trees for electric utilities, municipalities and others, is run by third-generation Asplundhs and owned by nearly 200 family members, who together are worth at least $3 billion, according to Forbes.
Kate, who only told The Inquirer that her name was Katherine J. Asplundh, shared the conversation on Reddit, telling the outlet, “The whole thing just seemed stupid and ridiculous to me.” I thought they would laugh, and that would be it.”
One user commented: 'Legitimately insane behavior “I don't believe that's your name” HUH?!?!.'
Another wrote: 'The hey girly pivot to show me your birth certificate gave me whiplash.'
While another said: 'Omg this is crazy, she married into a billionaire family and acts like they're the only ones allowed to have that last name, wtf.'
Since then, Katherine's social media pages have been filled with comments and she reportedly had to privatize her page before making it public again.
In posts about the wedding, Katherine described it as the “best day” of her life, sharing photos of her in her dress.
According to Instagram, users are prohibited from buying, selling or transferring “any aspect of your account.”
Nevertheless, a study by Vox shone a light on an entire economy of people selling and buying names on dedicated online marketplaces.
Social media handles are intended to be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, but in some cases celebrities have used their influence to push these rules.
In 2019 Kevin Keiley from West Sussex claimed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had adopted his @sussexroyal handle.
Instagram said the reassigned account name was due to Keiley being inactive.