This Woman Threatened to Sue Her Niece After She Ruined Her $20,000 Coat for Social Media Clout
Published Oct. 3 2023, 11:10 a.m. ET
For those unaware, Scream 4 successfully predicted the effects of social media on young people and the lengths they go to achieve an ounce of internet fame. Now, we're not saying they would do what the characters in that movie did, but many kids have done some terrible things — including this teenage girl described in the "Am I the A------" (AITA) subreddit.
The original poster, who goes by the handle u/throooowaaaayt, revealed that her niece ruined her $20,000 coat for a prank video on social media. As a result, the OP wanted to take the spoiled teenage girl to court.
Read on to find out what happened. Plus, stick around to hear what social media has to say.
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This woman threatened to sue her niece for ruining her $20,000 coat.
The OP, who's married to a wealthy man, revealed that during her first Christmas with her in-laws, her MIL gifted her a very expensive coat. She didn't know the exact price, but when the OP visited her sister and 16-year-old niece, they all looked it up and discovered it cost around $20,000.
From then on, the OP didn't wear the coat much, but she did sport it during another visit to her sister's house (and she probably wishes she didn't). When she was putting her coat on to leave, the OP felt something hit her back. Her niece started cackling, and then the smell of paint filled the room.
As expected, the OP was furious; her niece wasn't apologetic at all. The OP's sister grounded her ungrateful daughter before claiming she would pay for the dry cleaning. OK, that sounds reasonable — but it gets worse.
While the OP was in her car, she got an alert that her niece posted an Instagram Reel — it was a video of the "prank" she just pulled. The teen girl said, "I'm going to hit my aunt's $20,000 coat with a paint-filled balloon to see how she reacts." The OP saved the clip on her phone and sent it to her sister; the video was taken down shortly after.
The following day, the OP learned that her coat wasn't able to be saved. She quickly called her sister and demanded her niece pay for the damages, and they got into a heated argument. The OP's sister said they wouldn't be paying for it, adding that if she wanted a new coat, she should ask her rich husband to buy it.
The sisters didn't reach an agreement, and eventually, the OP said she would be suing. She reminded her sister that she had video evidence of the incident, noting that the clip revealed the teen — who disclosed the coat's price tag in the video — ruined it on purpose for clout.
So, what's the verdict? Well, in the original post, many fellow Redditors agreed that the OP wasn't the AH — her niece was. The teen's "prank" was extremely childish, and several social media users were enraged by the girl's nonchalance and unapologetic behavior. We hope the teen learned her lesson, but she'll likely do something like this again.
The OP eventually told her husband everything that went down.
A little over a week after the initial post, the OP provided an update on the situation.
When her husband returned home, she showed him the video and told him everything that went down. He told the OP he would take care of it before calling the OP's brother-in-law. He relayed the information, telling the BIL that the coat was insured and they would file a claim and submit the video as evidence.
The OP's husband also said they might have to file charges for the claim; he assured the BIL that they would drop them because they didn't want the teen to go to jail. Then, he explained two things that could happen:
- After our insurance pays us, they will come after them.
- If their insurance pays, their premium will skyrocket. If it doesn't, [the OP] might sue them and might get a lien on their house.
The OP's BIL asked if there was a way he could pay them without involving insurance, but they declined the offer. They told him it was what they initially wanted, but the OP's sister insisted on not paying them back. In an unexpected turn of events, the BIL didn't know this — and it's safe to say he wasn't happy at all.
In the end, the OP's sister and BIL agreed to sell their daughter's car. But if that didn't cover the coat's entire cost, their daughter would have to get a job and give her paychecks to the OP until she paid off the coat. Even better? Because of her little "prank," the teenager was grounded for the rest of the school year.
The OP's sister and niece never apologized, but luckily, her MIL was getting her a brand-new coat!
