Fans eagerly await the famous masquerade ball where Benedict meets his true love Sophie in the upcoming Bridgerton season 4. A group of them even flocked to Detroit over the weekend for what was billed as an opportunity for viewers to “step into the enchanting world of the Regency-era. . . for an evening of sophistication, grace and historical charm.”
But upon arriving at Sunday’s event, which was rescheduled three days beforehand with no refunds offered, one attendee recalled thinking, “We’re not watching the same Bridgerton show. Like, there’s no way y’all are watching the same Colin, Anthony, and everybody else as me.”
In her now-viral TikTok, the user, named Nita, painted a chaotic picture of the Bridgerton-themed bash, which left costumed participants sitting on the floor, ingesting undercooked food served by staff in sports jerseys, and watching an exotic dancer perform on a pole as the evening’s entertainment. Step aside, Fyre Festival and Glasgow’s Willy Wonka Experience: there’s a new scam event in town.
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Though local news station WBCK notes that Netflix does host a touring event called The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience, this experience was not affiliated with or authorized by the streamer. Instead, it was organizer Uncle N Me LLC that staged the ball gone bad, charging attendees anywhere from $150 to $1,000 for entry—although some say that they weren’t even asked to show a ticket at the door.
“The way that it was described was, this was going to be a Bridgerton evening. We were gonna have classical music, good dinner. There was gonna be a play and they were gonna pick Diamond of the season,” experience guest Amanda Sue Mathis told local ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV. “They were gonna give away all of these prizes—and we went in and it was completely empty in there. There is nothing going on. They have a pole in the middle of the dance floor. A stripper pole in the middle of the dance floor.”
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Ayrton Hamrick told the affiliate that he and his girlfriend attended the experience to celebrate her birthday, even purchasing a “Duke and Duchess” package for $250 that was meant to include a professional dance card, professional photo, valet service, dinner, music, and entertainment. “Besides the lackluster event itself, they promised a cash prize to the best dressed (didn’t happen), that they’d choose a diamond of the season like they do in the show/other bridgerton inspired balls (didn’t happen), and had an itinerary with contradicting information,” another ticket buyer wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Event organizer Uncle N Me LLC released this statement to WXYZ on Tuesday: “We understand that not everyone had the experience they hoped for at our most recent event Sunday night at The Harmonie Club, and for that, we sincerely apologize. Our intention was to provide a magical evening, but we recognize that organizational challenges affected the enjoyment of some guests. We take full responsibility and accountability for these shortcomings. Please know that we are working diligently to address all concerns to ensure that all guests have the enjoyable experience they deserve …we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.”
Nita, who also railed against the occasion’s “Party City”-esque photo backdrops and the actor cast as the event’s monarch—“No shade to the Queen, but literally I couldn’t even get my bow in before she was trying to get me to pick up her business card”—concluded her nearly 10-minute TikTok with a warning. “I cannot stress enough that this was a scam,” she said. “Don’t go to another one of their events, especially if they’re calling it a Bridgerton ball.”
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