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Dublin Hotel That Snubbed YouTube Star Jokingly Sends Her Massive Bill

Dublin Hotel That Snubbed YouTube Star Jokingly Sends Her Massive Bill

The White Moose Cafe in Dublin 'charged' YouTuber Elle Darby over €5,000,000 after the pair's argument over celeb freebies went viral.

Chris Ogden

Chris Ogden

It was only yesterday we heard about Elle Darby, the YouTuber who got publicly slapped down by a Dublin hotel after cheekily asking them for a free five-day stay in exchange for 'exposure'.

Well, now the argument between the pair has reached another level as the hotel's owner Paul Stenson has sent her an invoice for the exposure they've given her - to the tune of over €5,000,000 (£4,410,063, $6,112,100). Ouch.

The invoice, which the White Moose Café shared to its social media profiles today, charged Ella €4,300,000 for "the provision of features in 114 articles across 20 countries with a potential reach of 450 million people".

Stenson also added VAT at 23%, meaning that Elle has to pay €5,289,000. Looks like beauty vlogger Elle might need some specialist moisturizing cream to take care of that burn.

We assume that the invoice isn't entirely serious, but according to the number crunchers from international agency ClearStory the figure Stenson has charged Darby looks entirely legit, given the publicity it's given them both.

And to think that this could all have been avoided. It all started after Elle got in contact with the hotel by email, asking them if they would be interested in a 'possible collaboration'.

Elle explained that she and her partner planned to visit Dublin between 8 - 12 February to enjoy an 'early Valentine's Day weekend ... [and] to explore the area'.

Highlighting her 87,000 YouTube subscribers and 76,000 Instagram followers, she offered to feature the hotel in her YouTube videos, Instagram stories and posts 'to bring traffic to your hotel and recommend others to book up in return for free accommodation'.

Stenson responded publicly to Elle's cheeky request, saying that it takes 'a lot of balls' to send an email like that, but 'not much self-respect and dignity', making a point of asking how all of his staff would get paid if he were to give her the freebie.

"In future, I'd advise you to offer to pay your way like everyone else, and if the hotel in question believes your coverage will help them, maybe they'll give you a complimentary upgrade to a suite," Stenson replied.

"This would show more self-respect on your part and, let's face it, it would be less embarrassing for you."

Although Stenson didn't name Elle directly in his post, she later took to YouTube to address the controversy. insisting she contacted Stenson with "nothing but the purest intentions".

In her video, she claimed people who are over the age of 30 have "no idea how social media works these days" and was clearly upset as she defended herself.

Stenson has now banned all social media bloggers from the hotel, saying the backlash the White Moose Café received gave the whole blogging industry 'a bad name'. Wonder whether Elle will be brave enough to respond with another video this time.

Featured Image Credit: Elle Darby/YouTube

Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity, UK, YouTube