RedHanded - ShortHand: The Bling Ring

Episode Date: July 28, 2026

What happens when a group of fame-obsessed teens with a passion for fashion go for a shopping spree in their favourite stars’ wardrobes?You get the Bling Ring: the unlikely architects behind a string of burglaries in the Hollywood Hills in the mid-2000s, targeting celebs from Paris Hilton to Orlando Bloom…Until those Ugg-booted cat burglars finally ran out of lives. Behind the TMZ headlines lay a tangled web of teenage angst and codependent friendships – and we’re unravelling it all in this week's designer-label ShortHand. --Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesYouTube - Full-length Video EpisodesTikTok / Instagram

Picture it. La La Land, 2009. No. Make me. After a 10, okay, I will with my words. After a 10 months spree, the LAPD finally caught the perpetrators behind a string of audacious burglaries, targeting A-listers including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Orlando Bloom. The so-called bling ring had nabbed millions of dollars worth of designer clothes and jewelry from these people's lavish homes.

But if you're picturing, a group of hardened criminals, think again. Because this was actually the handiwork of a bunch of spoiled teenagers. Want to know how and why a gang of fame-obsessed kids pulled off some of the bullseous heists in Hollywood history? This is the frankly ridiculous shorthand. Let's rewind June 2006, when 16-year-old Nick Prugo moved to the Ritzie L.A. suburb of Calabasas,

which is Kardashian land. Nick's family had always been comfortably off, thanks to his film. an exact dad, but this was a whole new world. Kids were driving Bentley's and Nick was mortified to be seen getting picked up in his mum's Honda. To make matters worse, puberty had hit Nick like a train, taking him from a flamboyant kid with dreams of stardom to a self-conscious teen, crippled by insecurities. He was diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety and he missed school so often that he was sent to what's called a continuation school, called Indian Hills, and that is where the bad kids went. And it was there that Nick met a girl called Rachel Lee.

And it all started to go terribly, terribly wrong. Kicked out of Calabasas High School for stealing a classmate's Ugg boots, which is not only the most Californian thing I think I've ever said, but really dates this story. Rachel already had a reputation as a rebel. Pushing back against her strict Korean tiger mum's expectations, Rachel wanted to be, in her words, a badass. She partied hard, dabbled with drugs and became known as a popular girl.

At Indian Hills, your classic Queen Bee figure who was voted best dressed in the yearbook and wouldn't be seen dead in non-designer clothes, even for class. And for a closeted gay teen with a passion for fashion like Nick Prugo, Rachel was the ultimate cool girl, representing everything he wanted to be. The pair swiftly became besties after bonding over a shared love for style and celebs. And while Rachel described their friendship as super pure at first, let's just say it wouldn't stay that way very long.

After a party one night, Rachel jokingly tried a random luxury car door in their neighbourhood. And lo and behold, it opened. She gleefully swiped a credit card that she found inside. And the next day she and Nick went on an extravagant road to her. J-O-Drive Shopping Spree. High on the adrenaline rush, they started regularly checking cars almost every night, pocketing cash, drugs and whatever else they could get their grubby mitts on. According to Nick, they even stole a few of the cars,

brazenly driving them to school after changing the plates without being detected by police. Emboldened by their exploits, they nicknamed themselves Bonnie and Clyde, and declared that they were each other's ride or die. The only snag? The partners in crime were running out of unlocked cars. in Calabasas, blowing through their new piggy bank funds on designer gear and drugs, including Xanax and cocaine at alarming speed. Rachel and Nick were therefore in search of a new mark. So thank God for social media and the time on a tradition of oversharing.

Enter Nick's MySpace friend, Eden Maimon, aka Eden Hilton, a Paris Hilton superfan who made vlogs online pretending to be Hilton's sibling. When Eden gilelessly posted that he was off to Jamaica for a family holiday in early 2008, Nick and Rachel took it as an invitation. They broke into Eden's swanky Woodland Hills home, swiping eight grand in cash from under his parents' bed, as well as several pieces of his mum's jewellery. They crossed a line, but it wouldn't be the last time.

Nick and Rachel started setting their sights higher to a real Hilton. Yeah, we are talking about the OG Nepo Baby and reality. star influencer Paris Hilton. The motive was simple. Rachel liked Paris's style and she wanted a piece of her wardrobe, quite literally. Plus, they were counting on Paris's reputation as a dumb blonde in the hopes that she might be more likely to have lacked security at her home. But first, they had to do their homework. Nick found a website showing the addresses of Hollywood celebs, and they used Google Maps to figure out how they would approach the gated mansion. Next, they cyber-stalked Paris's social media and gossip sites to track her movements.

And we have to remember that this was what infamous online puppet master Perez Hilton dubbed the golden era of gossip in Hollywood, where for the first time people had instant access to celebrity lives through social media and sites like TMZ. And Perez Hilton did a lot of that damage his goddamn self. Paris Hilton herself got famous after the leak of a sex tape, killing any sense of privacy. The veil between us and the stars was at its thinnest,

and as Nick put it, we'd already seen so much of Paris's life that it didn't feel like that much of a step to enter her house. And one night in October 2008, they took that step. Nick and Rachel knocked on the door of Paris's six million-dollar mansion with a vague plan.

If somebody answered, they just make up an excuse for why they were there. But nobody did. And when Rachel, looked under the door mat. There was a spare fucking key. Inside the mansion, they were stunned by the sheer extravagance of Paris's home, where the walls were lined with photos of her,

like it was a museum to herself. While Nick kept watch at the door, Rachel slipped into Paris's bedroom and found a treasure trove of designer clothes, jewelry and handbags. Loes of it with tags still on. It felt more like a luxury boutique than a real person's bedroom. So Nick and Rachel did what they did best. They went shopping. Hearts pounding, they grabbed dresses, bras, jewellery,

as well as a shit ton of cocaine that they gleefully snorted before sneaking back out into the night. The loot from this first burglary totaled up to $3,000 to $4,000, which was basically just loose change to someone like Paris. So why didn't they go bigger? Well, Rachel and Nick were hoping Paris wouldn't actually notice that they dipped into her closet so that they could return for future sprees.

Very forward-thinking that I wouldn't expect from them. Hmm. So that's the plan, because for these teen bandits, one night in Paris wasn't enough. In fact, Rachel and Nick held on to that spare key and returned to Paris Hilton's home at least five times between October and December 2008. They jokingly referred to this as going shopping,

treating the heiress's wardrobe like their own personal department store. As for what they did, the stuff they stole? Well, they wore it, obviously. Emboldened by the lack of any reports on sites like TMZ, they showed off their fancy new gear and social media snaps without a care in the world. They brag to their mates and even got some of them involved like Rachel's old school friend, Courtney Amos. Courtney introduced an older guy she knew through her waitressing job, 27-year-old Roy Lopez Jr., who was meant to flog the stuff that they didn't want for their own wardrobes. But Lopez clearly didn't get the memo about making sure Paris wouldn't notice

because one night in December he got seriously carried away, clearing out up to two million dollars worth of jewellery. It was enough for even the dumbest of blondes to get wise to. And Paris is a lot smarter than people think. She taught me about weaponising competence. Paris reported the robberies and the story was splashed all over the news. And suddenly, shutters were down on Nick and Rachel's favourite store, which meant they had to find somewhere else for their retail therapy to fix. Next on Rachel Lee's fashion wish list, Audreyna Partridge. A reality star famous for appearing on the show The Hills, in which pretty people basically

hung around Hollywood hotspots without really doing very much. And this next heist would be a classic Nick and Rachel special. The besties struck Partridge's Hollywood home. on Oscar night in February 2009, certain that should be out in an industry party, like the rest of Tinseltown. Slipping in via an open patio door, they napped $43,000 worth of clothes and jewelry,

plus, O'Driona's passport and even a pair of custom fit jeans. But there was a deancy little problem. This time, the duo were caught on camera. Audrina released the grainy CCTV footage showing a teen boy and girls sneaking around her home to her own website and also to teens. Emz, appealing for her fan base to identify them. Miraculously, nobody came forward to grass up Nick or Rachel.

So for an hour at least, they were in the clear. Undeterred by their brush with discovery, they next targeted actress Rachel Bilsson, one of the stars of Rachel Lee's favourite show, the OC. After seeing paparazzi snaps of her at the airport headed for a filming project in New York City, Nick and Rachel knew that her lost feelers home would be empty. And they broke in at least five times between April and May 2009,

with Nick famously recalling a time where Rachel felt so relaxed during a heist that she left a little present of her own in the bathroom. But if you are afraid we might be going down a grim DNA forensic mystery road here. We're not going to because Nick assures everybody that she did obviously flush. shits and giggles aside Nick and Rachel did a serious number on Rachel Bilsen's closet stealing at least 30 designer bags and pretty much her entire jewellery collection to the total value of about $130,000.

But for the actress, the biggest loss was sentimental rather than financial because they also took her mum's engagement ring and jewellery that belonged to her grandma as well as a vintage shoe collection that she had been curating for years. Somehow, Rachel and Nick's bored and busting side hustle had snowballed into a criminal enterprise, and they had more stolen gear than they knew what to do with. They claimed to have gone down to Venice Beach with Rachel Bilsen's accessories laid out on a

blanket for $15 a pop in a bid to get rid of the extra loot. And meanwhile, Nick and Rachel had even more emotional baggage to unpack. Nick had started spending a lot of time clubbing in L.A. And since that wasn't exactly Rachel's scene, he'd got close to two other girls named Tess Taylor and Alexis Niers. Alexis was a true L.A. baby who'd grown up around showbiz. Her dad was a director of photography on friends, and her mum, Andrea, was an ex-glamour model. She and her best friend Tess would want to be starlets,

determined to get famous, doing gigs like Playboy shoots and half-naked dancing for music videos from the age of just 16. They were heavily involved in the Hollywood clubbing scene, where they met Nick, who they helped get into clubs in exchange for cast-offs from his robberies. And while Alexis claims that she had no knowledge of the burglaries and thought Nick was just a stylist giving away free clothes,

Nick has dismissed this as bullshit. Yeah, man. He said Alexis knew exactly what he was up to, and what's more, she wanted in. Around this time, Nick and Rachel were planning their next heist, targeting A-list actor Orlando Bloom and his live-in girlfriend at the time model Miranda Kerr. Rachel apparently wanted lingerie to match her new wardrobe,

and whose hand me down pants could be better than a Victoria's Secret Angel. But here is where things got awkward. Rachel felt jealous of Nick's new friendship with Alexis, while Nick similarly felt traded in by Rachel hanging out more with their school friend, Diana Tamayo. So in a fit of pettiness, both body and Clyde ended up inviting a plus one into the Bloom Mansion. On the 13th of July 2009, the rag-tag gang of four cut through a wire security fence and crawled through it to gain entry into the grounds. In an attempt to trick the security cameras,

they wore hoodies over their faces and walked backwards up the hill to the house. Alexis later claimed that she was so high that she didn't know where they were or what was going on. Nick has dismissed this as a crock of shit, though. The teens entered the house through an open window and stayed for about three hours, filling up bags of swag, including Bloom's incredibly valuable. vintage Rolex collection.

Rachel also grabbed artwork because she was due to move in with her dad in Las Vegas and she wanted to decorate her room. The total takings from this heist added up to a whopping $500,000. Nick sold the Rolexes to Courtney Ames dodgy boyfriend and a 28-year-old club promoter named Johnny Ajar, which apparently means Johnny Dangerous. Who let them in, despite being un? underage. After Orlando Bloom, Alexis got cold feet and didn't participate in any more robberies.

But Nick, Rachel and Diana weren't ready for the party to stop just yet. In August, they attempted to break into Disney Channel star Ashley Tisdale's house, knowing that she was away in Hawaii, but legged it when a housekeeper came to the door. Next, they snuck into the house of actor Brian Austin Green, with the real target being his girlfriend, Megan Fox, another one of Rachel. They sent Diana through a doggie door, swiping an expensive watch and a handgun which they later sold to good old Johnny Dangerous. The celeb couple didn't actually notice that they'd been targeted for a few months

when news coverage of the robberies had picked up steam. That August, Rachel Lee went to live with her dad in the Nevada Desert. But she soon got FOMO and couldn't resist going back to L.A. for one last rumble. And this one would be a biggie. Hollywood bad girl Lindsay Lohan, who Nick described as Rachel's ultimate fashion icon. On the 23rd of August 2009, Nick, Rachel and Diana took a chance on Lindsay being out clubbing

and targeted her rented Hollywood Hills home. Nick said he had a bad feeling about it. He was afraid that she might return at any moment and was pretty sure that she would have cameras installed. Still, he and Rachel boosted Diana into a window and they let themselves in. Nick said that Diana and Rachel's eyes were popping out the riches in Lindsay's home, and the trio ended up stealing several watches, a Hermes bag, two paintings, a fur coat,

and other valuables worth over $100,000. But as it turned out, Nick's superstitious hunch had been correct. Lindsay did have cameras, and, like Aldrina Partridge, she released the footage online. By now it was undeniable that the two crimes had been committed by the same teenage culprits, with the LA Times famously dubbing them, the blingring. Terrified that the net was closing in on them, a paranoid Nick had trouble sleeping, and was even starting to lose his hair. But he wouldn't have to stress about keeping the secret for much longer.

Because in September 2009, the LAPD got an anonymous tip from a caller claiming that the figures on the CCTV were Nick Prugo and Rachel Lee, who they'd overheard at a party bragging about their involvement with the robberies. That anonymous caller was none other than Alexis Nears. Or at least, she says it was. Nick was arrested on the 17th of September and instantly folded. Before even securing a plea deal, Nick ratted out all of the other members of the blingring

and confessed to crimes that the LAPD didn't even know about yet. Two weeks later the police rounded up Diana Teymo, Courtney Ames, Roy Lopez Jr and Johnny Ajar. Nick chucked Rachel under the bus by naming her as the ringleader, leading the police to bust into her dad's house and conduct a SWAT team-style search of the premises. When they found topless pictures of Paris Hilton that had been taken from her unlock safe, the jig was well and truly up. Hold in for questioning, Rachel allegedly perked up and excitedly asked, What did Lindsay say?

As if she wanted her idol's approval for robbing her blind. But it was Alexis Nears who truly stole the show. In true Hollywood fashion, her arrest came while she was filming a pilot for a reality series called Pretty Wild, which followed Alexis and Tess's desperate quest for fame alongside Mum Andrea's woo-woo obsession with the law of attraction in what producers marketed as a sort of hippie Kardashians. The show was pretty much exactly as bonkers as you would expect.

think shots of the girls gyrating on nightclub tables intercut with bizarre affirmation rituals in their house that looks like an explosion at a Buddhist-themed lawn-aulman factory. And although it was cancelled after just one season, it brought us to this ridiculous scene where Alexis leaves a voicemail for Vanity Fair writer Nancy Joe Sales who wrongly reported that she turned up to a court hearing wearing six-inch lebutons.

While everyone involved had pinned Rachel Lee as the leader, she kept a low profile after her arrest, which is a lot more than we can say for Alexis and Nick. Alexis had the reality show's camera crew trailing behind her all the way through the legal proceedings, while Nick's own lawyer described him as fame-addicted, and more interested in seeking press attention than clearing his name in court. So despite Alexis, only being involved in one of the burglary, she quickly emerged as the face of the blingring, with megastar Emma Watson, later playing her as the protagonist in the Sophia Coppola directed film about the case in 2013. Needless to say, Alexis nabbing the spotlight seriously pissed off her ex-bestie Nick.

In a 2022 Netflix documentary, he groaned that he was the real star of the story, while Alexis was just an extension. But back in 2009, in the eyes of the law, it didn't really matter who had top billing. raking in a total of about $3 million in stolen property across all heists, each individual member of the blingring was charged with various counts, including residential burglary and possession of stolen goods. Nick faced the longest prison sentence with seven charges.

Rachel had three charges, Diana had two, while Alexis, Courtney and Roy Lopez had one charge each. Johnny Ajar was dealt with separately, since he had other prior charges linked to his shady dealings that landed him with a prison sentence of three years. Alexis Niers ended up pleading no contest to a single charge of residential burglary.

In May 2010, she was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years probation, plus an order to pay $600,000 in restitution to Orlando Bloom. Alexis was ironically placed in the same jail block as Lindsay Lohan, who was in there for DUI charges. And while we wish we could have been a fly on that particular cell wall, disappointingly, they didn't interact.

In true Tinsel Town style, Alexis served just 32 days behind bars before walking free. Rachel Lee ended up pleading no contest to one charge of residential burglary, admitting to stealing $25,000 worth of goods from Audrina Partridge. She was sentenced to four years in prison, and of the 25th of October 2011, she was released after just a year and four months in 2013. And while Nick Prugo, Courtney Ames, Diana Tamayo and Roy Lopez Jr. were supposed to be headed for trial, a Hollywood twist turned the whole case upside down. When lead police investigator Brett Goodkin took a paid consulting gig during the production of Sophia Coppola's 2013 movie The Bling Ring,

without disclosing it to the LAPD and even appeared in a cameo scene in the final film, this utterly fucked his credibility, preventing him from testifying at any future trials. Fucking good. Oh my God. And that blew a big hole in the DA's offence case, with the Deputy DA Christine Key despairing. The defendants wanted to be famous,

the attorneys wanted to be famous, the police wanted to be famous. It's like a fucked up LA Green tragedy. Like O.J. Simpson. As a result, the prosecutors had to give up any hope of securing prison sentences for the remaining Blingring members and settled the case with, much weaker plea deals.

Despite literally wearing Paris Hilton's jewellery to court, Courtney Ames pled no contest to just one count of receiving stolen goods and was sentenced to 60 days of community service and three years probation. Roy Lopez pleaded no contest to receiving stolen goods and got just three years probation. Diana Tamayo ended up pleading no contest to one count of residential burglary for the Lindsay Lowhan case receiving 60 days of community service and three years probation.

And last up was Nick Prugo in April 2013. He pleaded no contest to the burglaries of Audrina Partridge and Lindsay Lohan and he was sentenced to two years in prison. But he had already spent a year at county jail and his good behaviour meant that they wrote off the remaining year. So basically he just walked free then and there. All in all, it was hardly the rough justice the DA's office had in mind for these teen rebels.

And in the most blingering twist imaginable, both Alexis and Nick actually ended up profiting from their crimes by acting as story consultants on Sophia Coppola's movie. For better or worse, these celebrity-obsessed teens ended up getting the one thing they wanted all along. Their 15 minutes of fame. So kids, we guess crime really does pay. Unbelievable.

You know that Nick Cage is a coppola. Oh? Changed it. Is he? Wow. All right, there you go. The only thing I really know about the Coppola, other than the films, is Francis Ford Coppola about how he sold all of his vineyards and all of his businesses and all of his property in order to make that terrible, terrible, terrible thing, film Megalopolis or something. That is honestly a story in itself, like how many times you tried to make that film and all of the things that stopped him. It was like the universe was telling him, don't do this. And it completely bankrupted him. Nicholas Cage is his nephew. Oh, there you go. And he was bankrupt.

by buying dinosaur bones. I didn't have to watch him do it, though. I know you do. So that's it. We'll see you next week for another short hand. Bye. Bye.