Bridgerton Ball Scam: Fans Paid Rs 25,000 for Gala… End Up with No Food, No Music and One Stripper

Bridgerton fans assembled when a US-based event management company announced a gala themed around the Netflix rom-com. The Bridgerton-themed ball promised a night filled with music, dance and exquisite costumes, with tickets priced at ₹25,000. The gala from 6 pm to midnight was anything but. As expected, fans who experienced nothing like the Regency era ball expressed their disappointment on social media, with many terming the event as a “disorganised mess”. Some even said that the entire setup looked “cheap”.

One fan, who spent Rs 25,000 to attend the Regency era dance, posted a thread on X (formerly known as Twitter) to expose the Bridgerton ball scam in Detroit. Rachel Eaton shared a photo from the venue that revealed a stark, bare-bones white hall filled with attendees dressed in their finest. One particularly disappointed fan was seen sitting on the carpeted floor, engrossed in her phone probably because there was “nothing to do”.

Eaton even warned people against attending any future event by “Uncle & Me LLC” – the company that hosted the Bridgerton-themed ball and failed to deliver. “Disorganized, dishonest, and will take your money guilt-free,” is what she said about the family-owned event company.

The pictures that several news channels aired showed people waiting outside the venue in the rain, only to get inside an overcrowded first floor. The night, as promised, was not “filled” with music as a sole violinist was performing at the venue.

“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,” Eaton claimed.

She further stated that the backdrops were not up to standard or as fans had expected given the pricey ticket. One of the walls featured a flowery printed sheet to create the illusion of being entirely covered in flowers, but it had creases on it. The photographer at the venue was underpaid, and non-iOS users faced difficulty getting pictures, as they were primarily sent via AirDrop.

And what about the dance at the “Regency Era” ball? They did host one—but it was just a single stripper performing a pole dance while attendees watched and recorded on their phones.

The gala night also promised cash prizes, giveaways and $2,000 (Rs one lakh) to the “best-dressed guest”. It also promised to choose “Diamond of The Season”. In the popular Netflix drama, the title “Diamond of the Season” refers to the young woman deemed the most eligible for marriage among the social elite, as selected by Queen Charlotte. Sadly, all these promises ultimately came to nothing.

Eaton also said she couldn’t attend the event due to rescheduling. She got tickets for the event that was supposed to happen in August but was rescheduled: “I ended up getting sick and couldn’t go. They did not provide refunds, nor did they respond to anyone’s email asking for one. At that point, I knew I got scammed.”

As per the company, they rescheduled the event to a later date after the venue cancelled. “This cancellation came after we had received approval from both the City of Detroit and the Fire Marshal. Beacon Park, in conjunction with the Castle, was initially chosen to accommodate all of our guests, with a combined capacity of 10,000,” the event management company explained, apologising to all attendees.