Detroit Bridgerton Ball Scam

Overview

Detroit Bridgerton Ball Scam refers to a Bridgerton-themed ballroom experience event held in Detroit, Michigan that went viral in late September 2024 for the lack of structures and under-delivered on its promised attractions, as videos and pictures of the event showed people dressed in formal attire in a mostly empty salon and a single striper performing in the middle of the room. On social media, the event inspired memes and was widely mocked and compared to similar conventions like the Glasgow Willy Wonka experience.

Background

Detroit's Bridgerton Ball Experience^[1] was an event held at the Harmonie Club on September 22nd, 2024, in Detroit, Michigan, promising prizes, giveaway food and the experience of a ball similar to Netiflix's Bridgerton TV series. According to local station WBCK,^[2] the ball was not an official Netflix event. The Hollywood Reporter^[3] pointed out that tickets for the event were priced from $150 to $1,000.

On September 24th, 2024, TikTok^[4] user @thats.resa was one of the first people to call out the Bridgerton Ball Experience as a scam, in a video alleging Uncle & Me LLC & Chelsea Beard "hosted a 'Bridgerton Ball' last night in Detroit that was a complete SCAM!" The video (seen below) shows footage of the event, including emails exchanged between the organizers, the bad quality of the food and much more. The post amassed roughly 4,000 views and 275 likes in a day.

Developments

On September 24th, 2024, X^[5] user @rayleearts posted a thread detailing all the Bridgerton Ball SCAM evidence uploaded by her and many other attendees on social media. The tweet (seen below) amassed over 10 million views and 157,000 likes in a day.

In the thread, @rayleearts shared a picture^[6] of a solo violinist writing she was the “live music” advertised by the event organizers (seen below). The tweet received more than 24,000 likes and 783 reposts in a day.

Another widely commented moment from the Bridgerton Ball experience was the pole dance performance of an alleged stripper during the ball, as TikTok^[7] user @kiimberyly showed in a video posted on September 23rd, 2024. The video (seen below) amassed over 500,000 plays and 24,000 likes in two days.

Online Reactions

The disastrous event was covered by major news outlets and many attendees shared footage and videos of their experiences at the Bridgerton Ball. For instance, on September 25th, 2024, X^[8] user @tennisbagz compared Glasgow's Oompa Loompa picture with a screenshot of the Bridgerton Ball stripper doing a pole dance, captioning "When one supreme fades away, another rises 😂" The tweet (seen below) amassed roughly 1,000 views and 24 likes in a few hours.

Redditors also shared pictures and details about the event, as user @Savings_Sprinkles698^[9] posted on the Detroit subreddit channel a collection of images from the Bridgerton Ball experience, writing that "It was absolutely HORRENDOUS." The pictures (seen below) amassed more than 918 upvotes and 316 comments since it was shared on September 22nd, 2024.

Search Interest

External References