‘The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist’: Where Is Alexis Neiers Today?
A new docuseries on Netflix called The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist hits the streaming platform on Sept. 21, 2022. The three-episode documentary takes a deep dive into the crime spree of several teens and young adults as they targeted celebrities homes in Hollywood. Alexis Neiers, one of the main players in the Bling Ring, provides commentary on her participation in the crimes, but where is Neiers today?
Alexis Neiers wasn’t the leader of the Bling Ring
In 2013, the production company A24 released a dramatized version of the real-life events with a film titled The Bling Ring. Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame played the role of Neiers, and the film made it seem as though Neiers was the mastermind behind all of the burglaries. In reality, Neiers didn’t participate in the burglaries until Nick Prugo invited her along. Prugo and his friend Rachel Lee had already stolen from Paris Hilton, Audrina Patridge, and Rachel Bilson before asking Neiers to come along with them to burglarize Orlando Bloom’s house.
At the time, Neiers, her sister Gabbie Neiers, and their mother, Andrea Arlington-Dunne, were being scouted for a reality TV show. Arlington-Dunne had experience in the industry and became thrilled at the idea of her own reality TV series. However, Neiers’ drug use was increasing, and she tells producers that she was “open to the idea of robbing homes to get money for drugs.”
Prugo, who also gives commentary in The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist, claims he never wanted Neiers involved. He knew that more people meant less profit, but when Lee brought friend Diana Tamoya along, Prugo said he “begrudgingly” asked Neiers to join him.
She spent a year in a luxury rehabilitation facility after serving jail time for the crimes
Neiers is open about her drug use in The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist. She insists that she wasn’t aware they were robbing Bloom’s house when she came along with Prugo, but Prugo says otherwise.
“Alexis was very much aware that we were at Orlando Bloom’s house that night,” he tells producers.
Neiers also claims she believed Prugo was a celebrity stylist and didn’t think twice about the clothes he gave her. However, Rachel Lee and Prugo state the opposite, with Lee’s statement being included via text in one episode.
“Um…hello? She knew exactly where the clothes were coming from. Since Paris Hilton’s house, they had received the leftovers of whatever no one else wanted, essentially,” Prugo explains to the producers during The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist.
In 2010, cops arrested Neiers and charged her with possession of a controlled substance (heroin). During her arraignment, Greg Hannley sat in the gallery and offered Neiers a “scholarship” to his rehab facility called SOBA.
In a 2013 blog post, Neiers wrote, “Greg owns the SOBA recovery center. He stood up and told the judge that he would take me. He gave me a ‘scholarship’ to his treatment center for one year. The judge agreed, and I have been sober from all substances ever since, including medications for my psychiatric issues.”
Alexis Neiers divorced her husband Evan Haines in 2022
During an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Neiers met the man who would eventually become her husband – Evan Haines. Neiers and Haines married during a ceremony in Mexico in April of 2012. However, in April of 2022, she announced their divorce. They share two daughters together, who they plan to continue to co-parent.
Neiers spends her time helping other recovering addicts at a rehab facility, and she also hosts her own podcast, Recovering From Reality. She also penned a memoir with the same name. In both, she talks about her struggles over the years as well as the issues others with addiction problems might encounter.
Check out The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist, streaming exclusively on Netflix.
