- Rachel Lee speaks out in a brand new documentary about tthe Bling Ring.
- Rachel served jail time.
- Rachel says Nick Prugo “betrayed” her.
Till now, Rachel Lee has been referred to as the supposed “ringleader” of Hollywood’s Bling Ring. Within the new HBO documentary, The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring, Rachel, now 33, tells her facet of the story concerning the crime spree she was concerned in that focused celebrities and their houses.
Not like different members of the infamous group, Rachel has by no means spoken publicly about her involvement. So, who’s Rachel Lee? She’s setting the report straight together with her perspective. From what led her to burglarizing celeb houses to the place her relationship stands with Nick Prugo, Rachel is spilling all.
What Did Rachel Lee Do?
Rachel was a part of the Bling Ring, a gaggle of Los Angeles space teenagers who went on a criminal offense spree the place they robbed celeb houses of cash, luxurious items, and extra between October 2008 and August 2009. The celeb victims included Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bilson, Audrina Patridge, Megan Fox, and Brian Austin Inexperienced.
As a result of she stayed silent following her arrest, Rachel was dubbed the “mastermind” of the Bling Ring, which impressed the 2013 Sofia Coppola movie of the identical identify. “I don’t resonate with that Hollywood model in any respect, however I may see the way it was fairly entertaining for the world to see the story that method. It was extra of a storm for me,” she says within the documentary.
After getting expelled from Calabasas Excessive Faculty for stealing, Rachel started attending Indian Hills Excessive Faculty, which is the place she met Nick. Nick and Rachel grew to become finest buddies, and Rachel says they started referring to themselves as “Bonnie and Clyde.” Rachel and Nick first began their crime spree by checking vehicles on the road. Ultimately, they took issues to the following stage by breaking into celeb houses.
“I don’t need this to look like I’m blaming as a result of it’s essential to me to take the accountability, but when we’re going to be particular it was when Nick had discovered that web site CelebrityAddressAerial.com,” Rachel says concerning the second she and Nick’s crimes began to evolve. The primary celeb home they broke into was Paris Hilton’s dwelling. “When it was over, I felt so excessive and clear-headed. It actually wakes you up… I actually favored that feeling rather a lot,” Rachel admits.
Others bought concerned of their crime spree, together with Alexis Neiers. As soon as surveillance of Nick and Rachel breaking a house was launched on TMZ, their home of playing cards started to crumble. Rachel fled to Las Vegas to stick with her dad, however she returned to Los Angeles to assist break into Lindsay Lohan’s home. Nick quickly confessed to his position within the crimes. Rachel was arrested on October 22, 2009, whereas in Las Vegas.
Did Rachel Lee Go to Jail?
Sure, Rachel went to jail for her Bling Ring crimes. She accepted a plea deal of 4 years for breaking into Audrina Patridge’s dwelling. She served 16 months earlier than getting out early on parole.
Within the documentary, Rachel remembers the second simply earlier than she was arrested. She was in Vegas when Nick referred to as her after his confession. Whereas on the cellphone, Nick requested concerning the avenue she lived on in Vegas together with her dad. Rachel instructed him the place she lived, and that’s how the police discovered her location. “Nick betrayed me,” Rachel says. The cops raided her home and located a ripped-up bare photograph of Paris in her lavatory trash can.
After she was arrested, Rachel’s mother instructed her to remain quiet. “That rebellious facet of me disappeared,” she says. “I grew to become very submissive, and I used to be simply doing precisely what I used to be instructed. Hold quiet. However that additionally meant I couldn’t defend myself.”
Whereas in jail, Rachel’s beloved grandmother handed away. Rachel’s dad, who fled to Korea after being accused of burying stolen items within the desert, visited Rachel in jail after his mom’s dying. Rachel remembers her dad blaming her for his grandmother dying alone. “He simply mentioned to me, ‘It would take me a very long time to forgive you.’ And was like, ‘Okay.’ However he nonetheless got here and visited me, and he nonetheless handled me like his daughter,” Rachel reveals. Rachel was launched from jail on March 28, 2013.
Are Rachel Lee and Nick Prugo Nonetheless Buddies?
No, Rachel and Nick usually are not buddies. Rachel admits that she has “trauma” over what occurred between her and Nick.
“Once I look again to when Nick and I have been really buddies, our relationship was simply crumbling from the primary day that we met,” she explains. “To me, he’s harmful. That is very excessive what I’m going to say, however it’s my fact. And to be sincere, I really feel like I used to be considered one of his victims. I really feel like I used to be the proper individual that he may dig his claws into…”
Trying again on the Bling Ring, Rachel believes she and Nick have been the ringleaders. “For lots of people that have been concerned within the Bling Ring, it was form of like a one-time factor for them, you understand? I believe for me and Nick it was very repetitive,” Rachel admits. “So I really feel like if anyone was the ringleader, it was me and him as a result of I really feel like we did it simply as a lot. He and I have been each equally as aggressive and equally as passive.”
There’s a second in The Bling Ring movie the place Nick’s character is narrating and talks about loving Rachel like a sister. ” I simply bear in mind after I was watching that second knew that it was a message for me from him, however I’ll by no means permit him in my life once more, it doesn’t matter what,” she says.
The place Is Rachel Lee Now?
Rachel is now a hairdresser within the Los Angeles space. She bought her cosmetology license in 2018. That very same 12 months, Rachel spoke out for the primary time to Us Weekly about her life in jail. “I actually really feel jail was a blessing in disguise — the perfect factor that ever occurred to me,” she mentioned. “It made me notice you’ll be able to solely belief your self on the finish of the day.”
