Netflix’s newest reality show about rich people is called Bling Empire and it’s a real treat. Leading man Kevin Kreider is an adopted Korean-American raised in a fairly typical white American family in Philadelphia. When he moves to Los Angeles to pursue his acting and modeling career, he’s introduced to a world unlike any he’s ever known, featuring outrageously rich Asians and Asian-Americans. Like Alice down the rabbit hole, every Bling Empire fan goes with Kevin as he explores the world of the wealthy through his new friendships.
While Kevin is decidedly not rich and even lives with a roommate, his fellow cast members are wealthy beyond almost everyone’s wildest dreams. One of the cast member’s ex-husbands was one of the biggest cyber scammers in America. His wealth was so great that he owed the U.S. Government $168 million. The backdrop for the Bling Empire premiere episode is a Lunar New Year party. For this Lunar New Year party, the host shut down Rodeo Drive and sponsored a Chinese child on behalf of each and every guest in attendance.
Kane Lim is the 30-year-old Singaporean son of a real estate, shipping, and oil billionaire. He is also a millionaire in his own right. His father gave him a “small loan” when he was 17. He invested it wisely and was able to repay his father. Kane made his first million before the age of 20. Cherie is married to Jessey Lee, pregnant with her second child, and the heiress to a denim empire. In her younger days, Cherie signed with Sony Music and came quite close to being a Japanese pop star. When her mother decided that a pop star career wasn’t the right choice for her, Cherie put her dreams of musical fame to the side. She focused on her family instead. She and her boyfriend Jessey run a side hustle tequila company called Religion Tequila.
Jamie Xie, the fashion influencer and the youngest of the group, is the daughter of a tech billionaire, Ken Xie. She is a regular in the front row at Fashion Week and once believed she would become an Olympic equestrian. Kelly, the daughter of doctors, has mostly made her own money. Her father had to return to China when he couldn’t find work in America, so she was raised by her mother in Chicago. She carved out niches in the real estate and food and beverage industries and then turned to investments. She invested wisely, in companies like Me Undies and Nature Box.
Kim Lee is a former model who hosted Yo! MTV Raps on MTV Asia and appeared in Kanye West and Nicki Minaj music videos. She is also mostly self-made. She became a DJ with merch (and followers upon followers). Then there’s Christine Chiu, the wife of celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Gabriel Chiu, who supposedly would be something like 24th in line to a Chinese dynasty. Christine is a housewife who struggled to conceive and deliver her son. Her issues with pregnancy, IVF, and disapproving in-laws left her broken. So she spends her days collecting couture and worrying a lot about what Anna Shay is doing.
Then, there is Anna Shay. The eccentric daughter of billionaire Edward Shay is pure reality TV gold, and clearly the richest of this crazy rich bunch. She is the wild aunt every Bling Empire fan never had. Cross her and she will quietly deliver a blow that's so precise it cuts down your social life before you can even tell it's happening. And her money? Oh, it's very, very real, thanks to her late father, who was very, very rich. This show is too good to be true, so be sure to check it out soon.
Bling Empire is now streaming on Netflix
Sources: Elite Daily, The Cut, Hollywood Life, SCMP, Harper's Bazaar, Bustle