Toward the end of the 2000s, Hollywood was in the clutches of the Bling Ring, a bunch
of California teens who broke into celebrity homes.
They stole designer items like clothing, jewelry, and shoes, most of the time just by walking
through the back door or using a key under the mat.
The teen burglars were able to find the celebrities' homes on google maps, and use social media
and blog sites to determine when celebrities would be out of town.
The Bling Ring posted pictures wearing their stolen items, which were only used against
them later as evidence.
Overall, the Bling Ring got away with over 3 million dollars in stolen goods, which stuck
them all with serious criminal records all before they reached 20.
The story of the Bling Ring was the perfect over the top, soapy scandal that people ate
up at the time.
It was something right out of an episode of Gossip Girl or 90210.
A group of teens wanted to live the socialite life so badly they committed crimes to get
it.
They wore their spoils to exclusive events and Hollywood parties alike.
The teens made themselves comfortable in the mansions of celebrities they burglarized,
flying as close as possible to the California sun before it all came crashing down.
Some of their most famous targets included Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton.
The Bling Ring was made up of Rachel Lee, Nick Prugo, Diana Tamayo, Courney Ames, and
last but not least, Alexis Neiers.
Many of them had their own tangential relationship to Hollywood, sitting just outside the group
of socialites and it-girls the paparazzi adored.
Their story has been fictionalized in two movies.
The more famous of the two is sofia coppoilas the bling ring, which came out in 2013 and
starred emma watson in one of her first roles post potter.
The members of the ring of course are no longer friends, and none of them really achieved
the fame their hollywood victims possessed.
So,where are they now?
Rachel Lee: thought to be the groups’ ring leader, had attended an alternative high school
in Calabasas at the time of the robberies.
She was known to have an obsession with reality TV and tabloids, and idolized celebrities
like lindsay lohan and rachel bilson.
Other members of the Bling Ring have openly claimed her obsession with celebrities and
fashion led her to mastermind the robberies.
She was accused by Nick Prugo of being a kleptomaniac.
According to him, Orlando Bloom’s house was robbed because he was dating model Miranda
Kerr at the time, and Lee wanted “Victoria Secret Model clothes” Prior to the burglaries,
Lee had been cfine after stealing from a Sephora store with Diana Tamayo, another member of
the Bling Ring.
. As punishment for being the mastermind behind
the Bling Ring, Rachel Lee served 16 months in prison.
She claims that prison was a blessing in disguise, and that she truly has moved on from who she
was at the time.
After her release from prison, Rachel had been asked by Coppola to be a consultant for
the Bling Ring film.
Rachel declined as she wasn’t comfortable a the time, but felt comfortable enough to
introduce herself to Emma Watson years later in 2017 when she ran into her at a party.
writing television screenplays.
Alexis Neiers: Alexis Neiers, now known as Alexis Haines, is arguably the most famous
of the Bling Ring.
At the time of the robberies, she and her family were trying to make it big Kardashian
Style by filming their own Reality TV show.
Her father had worked on friends and her mother Andrea was a former playboy model.
Because of this, the Neiers girls were on the fringes of the hollywood social scene,
but were looking for their official way in.
their show Pretty Wild followed Alexis and her Two sisters as they aspired to become
models and actresses, or socialites at the very least.
Neiers and her family stood out for their Buddhist beliefs, unorthodox homeschool curriculum,
and moral compass based around principles from the secret.
Unintentionally, the show captured Alexis' arrest in 2009 for her part in the string
of hollywood home invasions.
Neiers continuously denied her part in the robberies, and painted herself as a victim
of her friend's poor decision making.
We did, however, get the icon Nancy Jo phone call out of the situation.
In 2010, Neiers was sentenced to 180 days in jail, as well as a 600,000 dollar fine.
She only served a month of her sentence, coincidentally in the same jai las Lindsay Lohan.
Though she was only 18 at the time of the robberies, Alexis was struggling with a severe
addiction.
Prior to her jail sentence, she had been kicked out of her home and had only been living there
while filming Pretty Wild.
Outside of taping, she was living in a hotel.
After her release from jail, Neiers entered a court-ordered treatment program after another
arrest.
Alexis married her husband, Evan Haines in 2012.
He was a businessman with experience with addiction, and had co-founded a sober living
facility.
Together, Alexis and Evans opened the Alo House, a recovery center where Alexis is a
counselor.
In addition, Alexis became a certified doula and helped women deliver their babies.
By 2013, Neiers had been sober for nearly 3 years and she gave birth to her first daughter
with Evan.
She began to use her backstory and platform to raise awareness of the opioid crisis by
writing for and appearing in videos for VICE and appearing on health talk shows like the
Doctors.
She also wrote about her experience in her book, Recovering from Reality.
Currently, Alexis and Evans have two daughters.
Alexis has continued to healthily move on from her past, but after years of unpacking
and confronting her trauma, addictions, and criminal history.
She an Evan are still happily married, yet Alexis has since come out as a member of the
LGBTQ community and has announced she and Evan are in an open marriage.
Alexis is transparent on her social media platforms about dating, queerness, motherhood,
and having to navigate life after becoming sober at only 19.
Personally, I’ve followed Alexis on Instagram for the past few years, and I really enjoy
her content.
It’s helpful to see someone be so transparent with their experiences with addiction, and
how there’s life on the other side of sobriety.
Alexis has since started a podcast, Recovering from Reality, in which she talks about her
healing from her addictions, family traumas, and her brush with Hollywood fame.
She has also featured her husband, mother, and partner Kris on episodes.
Aside from her family, Alexis also invites counselors, motivational speakers, and therapists.
Recovering Reality also covers topics like love, dating, manifestation, and acceptance.
Alexis Haines is still sober and though she accepts her involvement with the Bling Ring
is part of her past, that was a completely different version of herself than she is currently.
Nick Prugo: Nick Prugo was a transfer student to Indian Hills where he eventually met Rachel
Lee.
Lee introduced Prugo to the high school friend group who would soon become his accomplices.
Prugo and Lee stole credit cards from neighborhood cars and used them to go shopping.
The first house they broke into was the house of one of Prugo’s friends, who he knew was
out of town at the time.
Soon, Rachel and Nick expanded their robberies to celebrities, and brought more friends along
with them.
He developed a substance problem, and began stealing to pay for his habit.
He helped Lee locate the addresses of celebrities online, and carefully watch for indications
they would be out of town.
His first target was Paris Hilton, who left the key to her home under the doormat.
Nick and his friends continued to rob houses, often entering through unlocked doors and
windows.
Security footage of the Bling Ring was released to local news after being caught by cameras
outside Audrina Patridge’s home.
Still, Prugo and his friends continued the break-ins.
Footage from a later robbery at Lindsay Lohan’s home helped identify the Bling Ring as the
culprits.
For his crimes, Prugo was sentenced to 2 years in prison, though he only served a year.
served a year in prison for his part in the Bling Ring robberies.
Afterwards, he went to national news networks to share his side of the story.
Prugo did an interview with Good Morning America in 2010, in which he attributed his part in
the crimes to peer pressure and a desire to keep his friends.
According to him, he and his friends didn’t realize how serious their crimes were until
they were facing legal consequences.
Despite that, Prugo claimed that once reality hit, he wanted to take responsibility for
his actions by cooperating with authorities and apologizing to his victims.
He claimed the other members of the Bling Ring weren’t as willing to make amends,
and he was the only one trying to acknowledge his part in the robberies.
In 2015, Nick had another run-in with the law.
He was charged with stalking a West Hollywood esthetician, as well as other crimes against
her.
They had originally been friends but when the relationship went sour, Prugo allegedly
began to slash her tires, leave disturbing voicemails, and tarnish her reputation.
He has harassed the esthetician for over a year.
He ended up receiving three years probation and 350 hours community service for his actions.
For the most part, Prugo has done his best to keep a low profile and remain out of the
public eye.
The only confirmed news about him recently was in 2018 when he was said to be in a committed
relationship.
Diana Tamayo: Diana Tamayo was the class president at Indian Hills at the time of the robberies.
The 18 year old was popular, smart, and had earned a scholarship to help her become a
teacher.
Prior to her involvement with the Bling Ring, she’d received charges for petty theft.
After she was identified as a member of the Bling Ring, Tamayo faced deportation for her
crimes, as she was undocumented.
This was used as leverage to get her to confess to her part in the robbery of Lindsay Lohan’s
home.
In the end, Diana was sentenced to 3 years probation and 60 community service.
Though she does her best to live a private life, Tamayo is said to be a personal trainer
who is now married.
She is also said to have found God again and be extremely religious.
Tamayo has said it’s her intention to focus on her family career, and not speak to any
media.
Courtney Ames: Courtney Ames also attended Indian Hills high school, and had been an
old friend of Rachels.
Through her, the Bling Ring was introduced to her 27 year old boyfriend, Jonathan Ajar,
who was also connected to the burglaries.
Ames was charged with receiving stolen goods.
She and Ajar were in possession of stolen items like Lindsay Lohan’s jewelry and a
gun that belonged to Megan Fox’s then husband, Brian Austion Green.
Ames wore the stolen necklace from Lindsay to her own court hearing.
For her crimes, Courtney was sentenced to three months probation and 60 days community
service.
Her heavier charges were thrown out due to one of the officers on her case later consulting
Sofia Coppola for the Bling Ring.
Ames went on the study psychology, speech, and child development at a university, and
is said to
be excelling in her academic career.
In 2016, Ames filed to change her last name in an effort to keep a low profile as well
as honor her stepfather.
At this time, Courtney prefers her privacy It seems like the majority of the bling ring
found their fame only in their criminal acts.
Instead of helping them to become more like the celebrities they idolized, their crimes
seemed to deter them from their pursuit of fame.
The LA social scene did little more for the teens other than give them substance problems
and inspire them to commit crimes.
Fortunately, most of them seem to be living much different lives, and are trying their
best to contribute meaningfully to society.
None of them seem to want to capitalize off their fame, shown by their desire to lead
private lives, and the fact that none of them participated in the making of Coppola’s
movie.
The only one of them still in the public eye is Alexis Haines, and her perspective on fame
and influence is clearly much different than it was in her Pretty Wild days.
Haines especially was critical of her portrayal in the Bling Ring movie, and was especially
offended by comments Emma Watson had allegedly made about her.
She said Emma had called her disgusting and the “epitome of everything she’s considered
not to be”, despite Alexis having made it known she was struggling with a substance
problem as well as childhood trauma.
In an interview, Watson said she as an actress had to figure out how to play a “character
she hated”, and called Alexis “superficial, vain, and amoral”.
It seemed that Emma approached the role as if Alexis Neiers was a fictional character
rather than a human being.
Watson’s only point of reference for the role seemed to be Pretty Wild, as she played
a caricature of a vapid valley girl rather than a person with any emotional depth.
All in all, it seems like the bling ring have gone their separate ways.
Their 15 minutes of infamy came and went, and now the once supposedly invincible teens
are nearing their 30s.
Their crimes, now over a decade old, are just another scandalous capsule from the tabloid
celebrity landscape of the 2000s.