Katherine Asplundh, the newly married wife of Cabot Asplundh, heir to a billion-dollar tree service family, recently deleted her Instagram account following a public backlash. This controversy erupted after she attempted to purchase an Instagram handle from another user who shares her new surname. The incident led to significant criticism and mockery online, contributing to her decision to remove her social media presence.
Katherine, who had just taken her husband’s surname following their wedding on April 27, sought to change her Instagram username to reflect her new name. She approached an existing user of the handle @katherineasplundh, asking if she could buy it. The other Katherine, known as Kate, declined the offer, citing Instagram’s policy against selling usernames. The exchange between the two was posted on Reddit, where it quickly gained attention and sparked widespread discussion.
Kate explained in the conversation that she also bore the surname Asplundh and had a legitimate claim to the username. Despite this, Katherine implied that Kate was impersonating or falsely using the name, a claim that escalated tensions between them. Katherine’s approach, which included suggesting that Kate wasn’t a real person because she couldn’t find her on Facebook, was seen by many as entitled and aggressive.
As the dispute went viral, internet users rallied around Kate, with some creating multiple accounts featuring variations of the Asplundh name to further prevent Katherine from claiming a username of her choice. This online movement was partly in response to Katherine’s persistence and her attitude in the messages, which many viewed as an attempt to bully Kate into relinquishing the handle.
The backlash was significant enough that Katherine decided to delete her Instagram account, which had over 14,600 followers and featured posts from her recent wedding. The incident has raised questions about social media etiquette, privacy, and the entitlement sometimes exhibited by individuals in positions of wealth and influence.
This event underscores the complexities and potential conflicts that can arise from the use of social media, especially among public figures or individuals connected to prominent families. Katherine Asplundh’s attempt to secure a desired social media identity ended up attracting negative publicity and a strong defensive reaction from the online community.