''Bling Empire'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on January 15, 2021. The series focuses on the lives of wealthy, materialistic East and Southeast

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans with Asian diaspora, ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are Immigration to the United States, immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). A ...

socialites A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

based in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area, described as the real-life ''

Crazy Rich Asians ''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a 2018 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jon M. Chu from a screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lis ...

''. It is the first American reality television series in which the main cast are all of East and Southeast Asian descent. On March 10, 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a second season which premiered on May 13, 2022. The third season premiered on October 5, 2022. The sister Netflix series, ''Bling Empire:

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'', launched in January 2023. In April 2023, it was reported that Netflix decided to not go forward with the fourth season of this series and second season of the spin-off ''Bling Empire: New York''.

Cast

Main

*Cherie Chan: Denim heiress and former singer. Engaged to Jessey, mother of Jadore and Jevon Chan quit the series at the end of the second season due to a controversy within the cast *Christine Chiu: Born in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, co-founder of Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery inc., philanthropist, and couture collector. Married to Gabriel, mother of 'Baby G' *Kevin Kreider: Born in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

but adopted and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, male model *Kim Lee: Raised by her

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

mother, but searches for her father in season one, a DJ and former model * Kane Lim: Born in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, a real estate developer, and investor with family interests in real estate, shipping, oil, and tankers *Kelly Mi Li: Born in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, a self-made entrepreneur, and film producer * Anna Shay: Part-

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, part-

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

socialite, whose fortune came from selling her father's company Pacific Architects and Engineers. Mother of Kenny * Jaime Xie: A

fashion influencer A fashion influencer is a personality that has a large number of followers on social media, creates mainly fashion content and has the power to influence the opinion and purchase behavior of others with their recommendations. Brand marketing, Bran ...

and model. The eldest daughter of Chinese-American billionaire businessmen

Ken Xie Ken Xie () is a Chinese billionaire businessman who founded Systems Integration Solutions (SIS), NetScreen, and Fortinet. He is CEO of Fortinet, a cybersecurity firm based in Silicon Valley. Xie was previously the CEO of NetScreen, which was ...

* Mimi Morris (season 2): Born in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Married to Don * Dorothy Wang (season 2): The youngest daughter of Chinese-American businessman Roger Wang

Recurring

* Gabriel Chiu: Co-founder and plastic surgeon at Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery inc., who claims to be a 24th direct descendant of the

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

emperor. Married to Christine, father of 'Baby G' * Andrew Gray: Male model and an actor, who is best known for playing the Red Ranger in ''

Power Rangers Megaforce ''Power Rangers Megaforce'' is the twentieth season of the long-running television series ''Power Rangers''. The show is produced by Saban Brands and began airing on Nickelodeon on February 2, 2013. The show was part of the ''Power Rangers'' 20t ...

''. Makes a guest appearance during the last episode in the second season and the first episode in the final season * Jessey Lee: Family business is in furniture. Engaged to Cherie, father of Jadore and Jevon. Lee quit the series at the end of the second series due to a controversy within the cast * Guy Tang: Hairdresser and singer-songwriter. Married to Almar

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Season 3 (2022)

Reception

For the first season, review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported an approval rating of 91% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Bling Empire'' may be another celebration of lavish wealth, but the focus on an Asian American cast gives this reality program an intriguing layer of cultural celebration." Diane Gordon of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' thought the television series was more than the "grotesque opulence" that it depicted, with compelling characters among the cast, some of whom were exploring their identity. Eilidh Hargreaves of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' found the "epic rivalries", "ridiculous" problems, wild whims, "self-serving" philosophy of the main characters to be compulsive viewing and "deliciously odious to observe".

Spin-off

In October 2022, Netflix announced a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

-set spin-off series ''Bling Empire: New York''. It stars Dorothy Wang, who was a cast member in season 2 of the original series, Tina Leung, Deborah Hung, Stephen Hung, DJ

Freya Fox Janelle Kao, known professionally as Freya Fox, is a Filipino-Vietnamese-Chinese American DJ, record producer, singer, actress, and TV personality and former professional gamer. She is most notable for her collaboration with Joel Kim Booster and ...

and Lynn Ban. The spin-off was released on January 20, 2023.

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2021 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings 2020s American reality television series Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Television shows set in Los Angeles American English-language television shows Netflix original programming Asian-American television Asian-American culture in Los Angeles