“Bling Ring”: 5 keys to understanding the new Netflix documentary that is among the most viewed

When a group of teenagers robbed the mansions of various celebrities in the late 2000s, the press and public opinion argued that they were young people who were starving for fame and were mostly materialistic. The new Netflix documentary Bling Ring: The True Story of Hollywood Robberies offers for the first time a more humane version of the scandalous case.

In 2013, Sofia Coppola premiered The Bling Ring, a high-paced crime film that showed a different side of Emma Watson and the rest of the cast, as they orchestrated a series of heists on high-profile Hollywood personalities. Nine years later, the entertainment system docuseries offers the other side of the story, the one that has to do with those involved and not with what is written in the media.

The new documentary includes testimonials from Bling Ring members Alexis Neiers and Nick Prugo, as well as Alexis’s mother, Andrea Arlington-Dunne. The group of teenage thieves ransacked the homes of actors like Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan and more in the early years. Since its premiere several weeks ago, this project has been gaining popularity among the platform’s audience.

Before you play this production on the Netflix system, here are some things you should know about this controversial case. Some key points to understand one of the most scandalous stories in Los Angeles today.

Who were the original members of Bling Ring?

Although in Coppola’s film it shows that before the robberies the group of thieves was already made up of five members (four women and one man), the truth is that in real life the Bling Ring group began only with Nick Prugo and Rachel Read. Both young men started small by stealing cars in affluent neighborhoods before moving on to bigger targets.

Eventually, they invited more people to get involved, and there were a total of seven teens and young adults who helped commit the crimes. Aside from Prugo and Lee, Alexis Neiers, Diana Tamayo, Courtney Ames, Johnny Ajar, and Roy Lopez Jr. also robbed celebrities’ homes at one point during the crime spree. However, Neiers claims that Lee “started it all.”

What celebrities were mugged?

Prugo and Lee’s first major holdup was at the home of reality TV star Paris Hilton. They searched and found the blonde’s address and, using gossip websites like Perez Hilton, figured out when Paris would not be in town. The teens also used Google Earth to decide the best way to access the mansion.

In that first robbery, the youths managed to steal several thousand dollars worth of items. Other celebrities mugged by this group included Audrina Patridge, Orlando Bloom, Miranda Kerr, Rachel Bilson, Brian Austen Green, Megan Fox, and Lindsay Lohan.

The thieves returned to the scene of the robbery.

Apparently, once was not enough, and the Bling Ring went to the same house on more than one occasion to rob. The group attacked Hilton’s house multiple times and Rachel Bilson’s house between three and six times. Lee and Prugo stole so many items of clothing from the Bilson home that they sold much of it on the Venice Beach boardwalk because they didn’t have room to keep all of it.

The constant robberies in the same houses was what made the celebrities begin to suspect that someone had been in their properties. After reviewing security cameras, they discovered the group of adolescent criminals.

Sofia Coppola’s film told a different version

In 2013, the production company A24 released a film based on the teenage thieves titled The Bling Ring. The film stars Emma Watson as Neiers and Israel Broussard as Prugo. Neiers is portrayed in the feature film as the mastermind behind the robberies, but she in the new documentary denies that she started the group. She claimed that Nick invited her to go to a celebrity’s house to steal various items from her.

Alexis Neiers was in the same cell as one of his victims

Once the authorities found the members of this gang, little by little they were taken to prison. Separately, each young person promoted his own defense. The funny thing is, Neiers ended up in the same cell block as one of his victims. Just before Alexis’s sentence was up, Lindsay Lohan was booked at the same location.

Neiers spoke with AND! and bragged about sharing the space with one of his victims. “She was crying. She was talking to the agents and, you know, she was just trying to get over it. I didn’t really like to understand it, but from what I saw on the first day, I mean, she was laying there and just trying to calm down,” she said.

You can see Bling Ring: The True Story of Hollywood Robberies which is available on Netflix.

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