Rachel Bilson is opening up about her past traumas.
During a recent episode of her podcast, “Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen,” the “Hart of Dixie” star and her guest, Audrina Patridge, bonded over their shared experiences as targets of The Bling Ring, a group of burglars who target celebrities in 2009.
The Bling Ring broke into Bilson’s home when she was out of town, five times between April and May 2009, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of belongings, including her mother’s engagement ring. One of the thiefs, Rachel Lee, spoke about what it was like breaking into Bilson’s home in an interview after the group was caught.
“Rachel, who gave the interview, was like, ‘I got so comfortable, I pooped in her bathroom.’ I was like, ‘That’s almost the most offensive part,'” Bilson explained.
Rachel Bilson revealed the most ‘offensive’ part of being a victim of The Bling Ring. (Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage)
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Along with Lee, the group included Nick Prugo, Alexis Neiers, Courtney Ames and Diana Tamayo, all of whom were between 18 and 19 years old.
Bilson wasn’t in town when they broke in. For Patridge, she was co-hosting the VMAs after a trip to Australia, and came home to find her suitcase, laptop and other belongings missing. She recalled thinking, “am I losing my mind,” and “what is going on?”
“Then I went in my closet and I called my sister, and I was like, ‘OK, if I open my jewelry box and stuff is gone, someone is in my house or stole stuff,'” she told Bilson. “I opened it, and everything is gone. That’s when I locked myself in because I didn’t know if they were still in the house. I was afraid to get off the phone, so I had my brother-in-law call 911 while I was on speaker, and then they sent the cops.”
The burglars targeted the homes of not only Patridge and Bilson, but also Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Megan Fox, Orlando Bloom and many others. Police began surveying the group, after they were spotted on Patridge’s security footage when they ransacked her home.
The Bling Ring was put under surveillance after breaking into Audrina Patridge’s house. (David Becker/Getty Images)
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In the documentary, “The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring,” released in October 2023, Lee discussed their final heist before Neiers turned on Lee and Prugo and the whole crew was arrested.
“I remember pulling up [to Lohan’s house] … the stakes were so high because there was already surveillance of us,” Lee said in the documentary. “At this point, we were, like, just on the actual edge — I think there was a part of me that was like, ‘I’m going to finish strong.’”
Each member received different punishments, with Lee getting sentenced to four years in prison, specifically for burglarizing Patridge’s home. In total, the group stole around $3 million from celebrities, with their crime spree spanning from October 2008 to August 2009.
In October 2022, Bilson had Neiers on her podcast. During the episode, Neiers discussed her challenging upbringing and struggles with addiction, as well as intimate details of the robberies.
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Bling Ring member Alexis Neiers was a guest on Bilson’s podcast in October 2022. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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“I’m old enough and grown past it enough. You were a kid. Like, you want to talk about it — fine. I’m not gonna be like, ‘Oh, it’s cool whatever,’ but I wasn’t going to give them a hard time either. It was kind of just like, ‘Sure, say your piece. That’s fine,'” Bilson added on Feb. 26. “You were kids, but it was so f—ed up. There’s no way around that.”
