Benedict Smith
25 September 2024 8:34pm
Ticket holders who spent hundreds of dollars to attend a ball based on the Netflix hit Bridgerton were promised glamour, romance and “exquisite refreshments”.
But instead they were served undercooked chicken and entertained by a single violinist and a red-underwear clad pole dancer.
Ebone Colbert told The Telegraph that she was “disgusted” and “disappointed” by the experience after paying almost $300 for a “VIP” ticket.
The event, in Detroit, began more than an hour late, she said, meaning that expectant partygoers were forced to queue in the rain.
With just a handful of staff to serve hundreds of guests, Ms Colbert – who had to pick up her son later in the evening – gave up on the meal. Her cousin later told her that the chicken was “raw”.
During the evening, Ms Colbert and her husband were approached by a scantily clad woman who told them she was the “entertainment”.
“We were like, ‘No, why are you here?’ This is not a part of Bridgerton unless I missed an episode on Netflix. I don’t remember seeing a pole dancer,” she said.
“Nothing was left to the imagination. So I was like, ‘Um, no thank you.’”
Footage posted on social media shows a woman wearing a red thong dancing around a pole in a room that appears almost empty.
Ms Colbert compared the event to the disastrous Fyre Festival, where attendees paid up to $100,000 for what was meant to be a “luxury” experience. Instead, they were given cheese sandwiches to eat and slept on rain-soaked mattresses, with the businessman behind the festival later jailed for fraud.
The couple posed for photos on mock thrones – “the little prom chairs that the kids take pictures with”, Ms Colbert said.
However, the images which they received were overexposed and show the photographer’s reflection in the window.
The couple then left the event in favour of a fast food chain where they dined in their Regency costumes.
“I was just so upset because it was so much time-wasting, it took like an hour for me to do my hair… It was just so unprofessional. I was so disgusted that I paid almost $300 for this experience and it was nothing that I paid for.”
Rachel Eaton, an illustrator who also paid around $300 for a ticket, described the evening as a “scam”.
“Food apparently ran out after an hour, and some was raw. No one was there to pick up plates, so you had to deal with strangers’ leftovers yourself,” she wrote on social media.
The organisers are also said to have promised a cash prize to the best-dressed guests and to pick the “Diamond of the Season” – awarded in Bridgerton to the most desirable young woman – which did not take place.
Ms Eaton added that the advertised live music was just a single violinist, while the makeshift thrones where guests posed for photos looked like they came from a discount shop.
“The way that it was described was this was going to be a Bridgerton evening. We were gonna have classical music, good dinner,” a woman who gave her name as Amanda Sue Mathis told Detroit’s Channel 7.
“They were going to pick ‘Diamond of the Season’… 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.”
Bridgerton is a fictional historical romance drama with opulent sets and costumes. Netflix was not involved with the event.
The Telegraph has asked Uncle and Me LLC, the organisers behind the event, to comment on the claim they served raw chicken.
In a statement to the news channel, it said that “not everyone had the experience they hoped for” and apologised.
“Our intention was to provide a magical evening, but we recognize that organisational challenges affected the enjoyment of some guests. We take full responsibility and accountability for these shortcomings,” it said.
“Please know that we are working diligently to address all concerns to ensure that all guests have the enjoyable experience they deserve.
“Your feedback is invaluable, and we truly appreciate both the positive and constructive comments shared with us.
“We are reviewing resolution options, which will be communicated shortly. Your understanding and loyalty mean the world to us, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.”
The post Raw chicken, a pole dancer and one violinist: the Bridgerton ball compared to Fyre Fest appeared first on The Telegraph.
