The Empire Is Calling

By now, you’ve heard about it. The newest and most explosive reality show in the streaming rabbit hole–Bling Empire. Most notably dubbed the “Crazy Rich Asians of LA”, this fashion-clad, diamond-dripping, money-smothered show debuted 16 days ago on Netflix and is blowing the minds of viewers everywhere. Is it because it’s good? That’s arguable. Is it because it’s juicy? That’s arguable, too. Is it because we get a look into a demographic of Los Angeles that we’ve not seen before? Well, yeah. As with any other reality show, there’s a wholly unreal cast of humans who were born into money and literal “bling” but there’s something about this show that keeps you coming back.

Produced by Jeff Jenkins, who is notably tied to a decade of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Bling Empire shows that he hasn’t lost his touch. Jenkins and a gaggle of five others claim the title of producer and we can certainly say, they’ve done a mighty fine job.

Let’s be honest – if you haven’t watched yet, you’re over there thinking you’ll be the outlier. You don’t care about junk like this, right? Oh but that little voice…the one in the back of your mind–it’s nagging you; I know it is! Don’t get me wrong – you most certainly will watch every high-jewelry, $100,000 dress, fancy-shoe episode and think, “what the f***? You’ve got to be kidding me!” But it’s all part of the intrigue. At the end of each show, when the ‘next episode‘ Netflix button starts auto-loading, not once will you lift a finger to stop it. Just you wait….

Let me introduce you to some of the crew…

Christine and Dr. Gabriel Chu – Co-owners of Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, Inc. (aka. plastic surgeon to stars and social elites). Gabriel is a plastic surgeon and is schooled in Osteopathic Medicine, microbiology and immunology. He is also a direct descendant of the Song Dynasty, meaning that if Chinese Dynasties still existed, he would be next in line for the throne. Christine, born into a well-off Taiwanese family, is a force to be reckoned with on the show and is known to have beef with Anna Shay. Both Christine and “Dr. Chiu” as she calls him, are recognized philanthropists, giving generously to endeavors in health, human services and the arts. They also have a son whom they refer to as “Baby G”. I’ll solve the mystery for you so that you don’t spend 5 episodes trying to figure it out: it stands for Baby Gabriel Chiu III.

Kelly Mi Li & Andrew Gray – Kelly is an entrepreneur and savvy investor who has built her own empire of wealth. Toxically connected to actor/model Andrew Gray, the two spend their time on the show fighting and then repairing their relationship. Andrew is known best for his role as the “red power ranger” in Nickelodeon’s Power Rangers: Megaforce.

Anna Shay – A Beverly Hills socialite and heiress to the defense technology company PAE, Anna is of Japanese & Russian decent and is quite the eclectic one. Her intriguing style is ever present in every episode but her presence is calming and kind. She spends a significant amount of time moseying the racks of high-end fashion, jaunting to the city of Paris, and rolling her eyes at Christine. Yep, a castle can’t have two queens…

Kevin Kreider – The self-proclaimed least wealthy of the group is seen riding around on a skateboard and living in a modest W. Hollywood apartment with a roommate. He manages to be the most relatable to the viewing audience (even those must of us do not run in circles that include Beverly Hills’ elite). Kevin is a model and fitness guru who moved to LA from Philadelphia. What’s truly notable about him, is the continual shirtless appearances. Put some clothes on, Kevin! Or not. We’re not really complaining.

Kane Lim – Easily characterized as the true “Crazy Rich Asian” of the group, Kane’s family owns a large number of shopping mall properties in Singapore (coincidentally where the CRA movie plot was based). He is an eccentric cast member in both fashion and personality. Kane and Kevin Kreider (pictured above) became fast pals, having met after Kelly introduced Kevin to what eventually became the social circle that is the cast of Bling Empire.

Jessey Lee & Cherie Chan – Both born as trust fund babies, Jessey is preparing to take over his family’s luxury furniture empire and Cherie is the heiress to a denim empire. The most calm of the Bling Empire cast, Jessey and Cherie focus heavily on their two children and family life. They come across as down-to-earth and pleasant; rarely getting involved in the shenanigans of other cast members. At one point in her younger years, Cherie was signed to Sony Records Japan and had aspirations of becoming a pop star. Her mother, not fond of the idea, convinced her to give up on the dream and move to LA where she settled into a more traditional cultural role of wife and mother.

Jaime Xie – The youngest of the ultra-wealthy cast, Jaime is a social media influencer for the biggest names in worldwide fashion. The daughter of a cyber security tech billionaire (her dad developed the first firewall and VPN) Jaime admits to being a ‘trust fund baby’ and paying her $19,000/mo rent from that account. As a youngster, she was a competitive and winning equestrian (rare in Asian culture) but has since given up the sport for fashion. Bringing in $40,000 – $60,000 per post on her social sites, this young one sits pretty in every sense of the word.