Rachel Lee lastly provided her unfiltered reality in regards to the Bling Ring — together with the aftermath of the crimes.
“I don’t resonate with that Hollywood model [of what happened]. In any respect. However I may see the way it was fairly entertaining for the world to see the story that approach. It was extra of a storm for me,” Lee defined throughout HBO’s The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring documentary, which aired on Sunday, October 1. “Every part that we do has a consequence. And the consequence I’ve to take care of is that in historical past, my identify was dragged via the filth. However who created that? I did.”
The Bling Ring made headlines within the 2000s after stealing roughly $3 million in money and belongings from celebrities together with Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Audrina Patridge and Rachel Bilson. Lee, Nick Prugo, Alexis Neiers, Courtney Ames, Diana Tamayo, Johnny Ajar and Roy Lopez Jr. had been arrested for his or her involvement within the crimes, which passed off from 2008 to 2009.
Lee in the end served 16 months in jail for her function within the Hollywood heists earlier than stepping again from the highlight. She remained largely tight-lipped after being launched from jail however made a uncommon remark in 2018.
“As a teen, I used to be chasing love in all of the improper locations, and by the point I noticed, it was too late and I used to be in jail,” she completely advised Us Weekly on the time. “I really really feel jail was a blessing in disguise — the very best factor that ever occurred to me. It made me understand you’ll be able to solely belief your self on the finish of the day.”
In the meantime, Prugo and Neiers individually participated in Netflix’s The Actual Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist. The September 2022 particular provided their model of occasions, however Lee was notably not concerned within the mission.
Scroll down for all the largest bombshells from HBO’s The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring:
Rachel Lee Obtained Arrested Based mostly on the Paris Hilton Theft
Rachel Lee. Courtesy of HBO
Based on Lee, gadgets seemingly related to Hilton led to her arrest. “The entire time they had been simply tossing the home,” she recalled in regards to the police raiding her father’s dwelling in Las Vegas. “Then lastly, they discovered a ripped up picture of Paris Hilton bare in my lavatory trash can.”
Rachel Lee Breaks Down How She Was Linked to Different Bling Ring Members
Nick Prugo and Alexis Neiers from ‘Netflix’s The Actual Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist’. Courtesy of Netflix (2)
Lee admitted that she “actually needed to be pals” with Ames earlier than she joined the Bling Ring, saying, “She was identified in class to be a badass. She was at all times the lady in highschool I used to be sort of intimidated by. I used to be like, ‘I may by no means be cool sufficient to be your pal.’”
In the meantime, Tamayo was a pal who Lee regretted bringing into the operation. “She was someone who really works a lot,” Lee recalled. “And he or she’s in highschool and taking good care of her brothers and household. I simply sort of led her down that highway.”
Within the documentary, Lee broke down how Prugo bought launched to Neiers, saying, “He really met Alexis via me. As a result of my pal’s boyfriend’s finest pal’s girlfriend was Alexis. She was at all times round, [and] Nick ended up clicking with Alexis and so they began hanging out on their very own. I used to be not included in issues and I used to be actually jealous that Nick was gaining a brand new finest pal.”
She continued: “When the group bought greater, abruptly it went from it being simply me and him to extra of a legal responsibility. It felt very harmful and I at that time actually felt like, ‘That is dangerous.’”
Lee additionally weighed in on the smaller sentence that Neiers obtained for her involvement. “I can’t communicate for Alexis, as a result of she is aware of what she’s performed,” Lee advised the cameras, referring to Neiers serving one month of a six-month sentence after a conviction for one depend of first diploma residential housebreaking.
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Rachel Lee Reveals What She Did With Stolen Objects
Rachel Lee. Courtesy of HBO
“I by no means bought something. I gave numerous stuff away,” Lee admitted earlier than being requested about Venice Seaside, the place she and the opposite Bling Ring bought a few of their stolen wares. “OK, then I did promote. That was that point. Sure. I believe I got here up with the thought, really. I used to be like, ‘What if we simply went to Venice and opened up a carpet and simply [offered everything] for $20?’ Individuals had been flocking and we might simply say, ‘It’s faux. It’s actual. Take it if you’d like it.’ We bought all the pieces in lower than quarter-hour.”
Inside Rachel Lee and Nick Prugo’s Codependent Relationship
Rachel Lee and Nick Prugo. Courtesy of HBO
Based on Lee, her friendship with Prugo was at all times a trigger for concern.
“If we weren’t collectively, then we had been on the cellphone. And if we weren’t on the cellphone, then we had been texting. It was at all times [a] very codependent relationship,” she recalled. “It was tremendous pure, at first. It was pure and it was candy. We felt like we had been very particular individuals on this world. And I lastly get to expertise the place I slot in.”
Lee recalled feeling an “unstated darkness” that she and Prugo shared within the early days earlier than they began to rob individuals. She additionally recalled feeling upset by Prugo’s curiosity in making different pals that he may deliver into the heist.
“I felt like, ‘I assume I’m that disposable the place you’ll be able to simply drop me and select these different women since you felt like they had been cooler than me,’” Lee added. “However after we had been stealing, me and Nick had been nonetheless on one another’s group. We’re Bonnie and Clyde — we’re nonetheless on this collectively.”
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Lee didn’t anticipate Prugo to betray her as soon as he began to admit to the police in regards to the Bling Ring. Nevertheless, Prugo seemingly bought Lee out when he known as to ask her for her dad’s avenue tackle mere minutes earlier than the authorities barged in to arrest her.
“Once I look again to when Nick and I had been really pals, our relationship was simply crumbling from the primary day that we met. To me, he’s harmful,” Lee continued. “That is very excessive what I’m going to say however it’s my reality, and to be trustworthy, I really feel like I used to be one in all his victims. I really feel like I used to be an ideal person who he may simply dig his claws into. … I’ll by no means enable him in my life once more it doesn’t matter what.”
How Rachel Lee’s Dad Was Accused of Allegedly Being Concerned within the Cowl-up
Rachel Lee. Courtesy of HBO
Rumors unfold about Lee allegedly receiving help from her father when it got here to protecting up the crimes. Lee’s father, who appeared within the documentary, maintained that he wasn’t concerned.
“I knew she was going to get caught eventually. So, I needed her to chop that relationship with these pals by relocating her from Los Angeles to Las Vegas,” he advised the cameras. “I attempted to cease her however I didn’t know the right way to persuade or the right way to change her thoughts.”
Within the HBO doc, Lee defined why there was hypothesis that her dad helped her bury gadgets associated to the case.
“I requested my dad, ‘If you happen to had been making an attempt to eliminate stolen property …’ I simply needed to know — I like figuring out individuals’s psyches. I requested him, ‘What would you do in the event you had a bunch of stolen stuff? What would you do with it?’ And he stated, ‘I’d bury it in the course of the desert,’” she famous. “And Nick twisted that into, ‘Rachel’s dad stated to bury it within the desert.’”
Lee’s dad, in the meantime, provided his aspect of the story in a confessional.
“As a mother or father, [our hope] is that they don’t get caught. You higher eliminate all of the issues — the proof,” he stated. “My identify was [brought into it] for publicity. I used to be not associated to the concealment of the products or no matter however I grew to become the one who might be requested about that matter. So, I simply gave up all of the enterprise I used to be doing and I disappeared. I stayed in Korea for 3 years.”
