My boyfriend’s (28 M) mom asked me (26 F) to pay her $2000 after our trip. I feel uncomfortable

A few months ago my boyfriend and I went to Japan together. It was my first international trip without my parents in 15 years and our first big trip as a couple of 5 years.

Before the trip, we talked about budgeting. He wanted to stay in nicer accommodations, and I kept saying I didn’t need anything super nice — just clean and affordable. We compromised and agreed I’d pay less than half for the nicer place since he was the one who really wanted it. On the trip, I was pretty mindful about spending. The only big splurge we did was a $450 sushi omakase dinner for our anniversary (but I guess his mom wasn’t too happy to see that large transaction since his parents own a sushi restaurant). I also spent about $3,000 of my own money on shopping and personal things, not including the accommodation money I already paid him before the trip. There were also times I covered things for both of us so we wouldn’t constantly have to Venmo each other or keep track of who owes who (we’re not that kind of couple).

After we got back, his mom texted me saying he spent a lot of money and asked me to give her $2,000 to make up for it and because they are currently struggling in terms of sales at their restaurant recently. To be honest, that really caught me off guard. We never agreed to track everything 50/50 or reimburse each other beyond what we discussed. I told my boyfriend about this and he told me I only need to give him $800, which I’m completely fine with, and said I don’t need to pay his mom the 2K.

I feel extremely uncomfortable ignoring her message, but I also don’t feel it’s my responsibility to pay her for his spending choices. I’m fairly close to her, which makes this harder. How would you suggest I handle this? Should I respond directly to her, or let my boyfriend deal with it? He says I don’t need to respond to her but I feel that it’s disrespectful to do so.