The owner of a Dublin hotel has billed a British vlogger Elle Darby of more than USD 52,00,000 (Rs 39 crore) after refusing to accept a request for free accommodation in return for features on her social media pages. Elle Darby of Bath, Somerset, wrote to Paul Stenson, the owner of the White Moose Café and Charleville Lodge Hotel in Dublin, Ireland asking if he would like to ‘collaborate’. Stenson shared a picture of the mail on Facebook, that Darby sent him, which reads, “‘I would love to feature you in my Youtube videos/dedicated Instagram stories/posts to bring traffic to your hotel and recommend others to book up in return for free accommodation.”

However, Stenson shared it on social media with a scornful reply rejecting her offer. Without identifying Darby, he wrote, “Thank you for your email looking for free accommodation in return for exposure. It takes a lot of balls to send an email like that if not much self-respect and dignity. If I let you stay here in return for a feature in your video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you?” The post was quick to go viral on social media and also received wide media coverage. Darby has 87,000 YouTube subscribers and around 76,000 followers on Instagram.

Darby who spotted the post unveiled her identity on YouTube with a video titled ‘I was exposed (SO embarrassing)’. Darby in the video says, “These were all 30 years plus people internet bullying a 22-year-old girl who is just trying to run her own business and raise awareness of what appeared to be a stunning Dublin hotel.”

Here are the Facebook posts:

Stenson later took to Facebook saying that he has banned all bloggers from his hotels.

Here is the video:

Darby accused the hotelier of bullying in the video while he has sent her an invoice for the ‘publicity stunt’. Stenson shared a picture of the bill on the White Moose Café’s Facebook page which details charges for, “The provision of features in 114 articles across 20 countries with a potential reach of 450 million people.” In the terms section of the bill, it says, “Mentions in videos will not qualify as payment.” Stenson’s Facebook posts sparked a public row with most supporting Darby and calling out Stenson’s approach to the incident. Many social media users commented on his post explaining how blogging works and detailed how bloggers/influencers are potential marketers.