Dazzling jewels, designer couture, private jets and lavish parties? No, this isn’t “Crazy Rich Asians,” it’s the cast of Netflix’s new reality series “Bling Empire.”
The official description of the show reads:
“Bling Empire” follows a wildly wealthy group of Asian and Asian-American friends (and frenemies) in Los Angeles. While their days and nights are filled with fabulous parties and expensive shopping sprees, don’t let the glitz and glamour fool you. Between running multi-billion dollar businesses and traveling the world, these friends are as good at keeping secrets as they are at spilling them. And there is certainly no shortage of secrets.
Filmed in — where else? — Beverly Hills, the eight-episode, 45-minute series debuts Jan. 15 on the streamer.
Some of the cast members already have established careers in Hollywood.
There’s Kevin Kreider, a male model and actor who was born in Korea and adopted by a white family in Philadelphia when he was 3 years old. Kreider has spoken openly about his struggles with identity, confidence, and perceptions of Asian masculinity (culminating in a viral TED Talk a few years back). Judging by all his shirtless selfies, it looks like he’s been able to conquer some of those issues.
Jaime Xie is a fashion influencer who boasts 260,000 Instagram followers.
Kane Lim is the son of a Singaporean billionaire. His Instagram profile lists his occupation as “Real Estate Developer/Investor/Philanthropist/TBD” and is full of photos of luxury items. “Just go shopping, that’s the best therapy,” he says in the trailer, which also features his wall of shoes.
Kim Lee is a “super famous” DJ who boasts, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!”
There’s also Dr. Gabriel Chiu and his wife Christine Alexandra Chiu, founders of Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, as well as Guy Tang, hairstylist to the stars.
Other cast members include Anna Shay, Cherie Chan, Kelly Mi Li, Andrew Gray, Florent Bonadei and Jessey Lee.
The show signals a push into unscripted content featuring Asians. HBO Max launched its own series about affluent Asians, titled “House of Ho,” last month. Bravo’s popular “Real Housewives” franchise has welcomed three Asian/Pacific Islander members: Jen Shah of “Salt Lake City,” Tiffany Moon of “Dallas” and Crystal Minkoff of “Beverly Hills.”
Check out the “Bling Empire” trailer above.