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Louise Thomas
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Dozens of Bridgerton fans in Detroit have been left outraged after they arrived at a “Bridgerton Ball experience” to find undercooked food, no dancing – and a lone violinist.
Some fans had paid $250 for a “Duke and Duchess” package, including valet service, dinner and music, but the reality was quite different – and was so disastrous that the event has been compared to the ill-fated Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience that made headlines in March.
Other people, including those who had paid $150 for a general ticket, showed up wearing their specially-bought lavish regency garb, and were ready to channel their inner Penelopes and Daphnes by taking a turn around the ballroom and immersing themselves in the world of the Netflix hit.
But they were met with barebones decor, consisting of backdrops that looked like they were from the “dollar store” – a sight far from the scenes depicted in the series – and, in place of the beautiful string quartet symphonies heard in the show, was a lone violinist, who played in the corner of a room without accompaniment.
Striking photos and videos from the event show that attendees, dressed in elegant ball gowns, were so bored they sat cross-legged on the floor and scrolled away on their phones.
One TikTok video shows an actor, in character as Golda Rosheuvel’s Queen Charlotte, sitting on a random throne plonked in the middle of a drab-looking room. Nita, a disgruntled ticket-holder who shared her experience on TikTok, remarked that the decor was “not giving Bridgerton”.
She added: “No shade to the queen, but I couldn’t even bow to her before she was telling me about her business and giving me her business card.”
Another bizarre decision was the hiring of an exotic dancer to perform a pole routine at the period ball.
Speaking to NBC news, Ball-goer Amanda Sue Mathis said the events were “heartbreaking” after months of anticipation.
“I mean all of these dresses that you see on these beautiful women, we’ve all been getting them tailored to fit us. So we spent extra money on costumes, all of this beautiful beading, getting our hair done, our nails done for this to be the way that it is,” said Mathis.
Ayrton Hamrick told the outlet that he’d bought the “Duke and Duchess” package to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday, adding: “We were told there would be valet service and we had to end up self-parking and paying for parking.”
Mathis noted that the event’s itinerary was far different than what actually transpired at the event. It had been promised that the event’s organisers were going to choose a “Diamond of the season” AKA the most beautiful elite young woman in all of the Ton, but none of this happened.
“The way that it was described was this was going to be a Bridgerton evening. We were gonna have classical music, good dinner,” Mathis said.
“There was gonna be a play and they were gonna pick Diamond of the season. 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.”
The peculiar situation with the exotic dancer was just one of the many strange moments of the evening that diverged from an advertised itinerary released by the event’s organiser, Uncle & Me LLC. The company has since disabled comments on its social media posts about the event, but that hasn’t stopped some users from taking to social media to brand the whole affair a scam.
One person alleged on X that the company hadn’t refunded her for the first cancellation.
“NEVER go to an event that’s being run by Uncle & Me LLC. Disorganised, dishonest, and will take your money guilt-free,” artist Rachel Eaton wrote, adding she later found out via TikTok that the cancellation occurred because the company couldn’t pay the first venue in full. Although she ultimately didn’t go to the rescheduled event, but saw the aftermath unfold online, she wrote: “Really hope this ends in a lawsuit because I want my $300 back.”
People in her comments section were shocked.
“THE STRIPPER THO??? AT A THING THEMED AROUND A SHOW SET IN THE 1700s????” one person wrote, another added: “The lone stripper dancing to a single violinist is sad yet hilarious.”
“Oh, this p***es me off so badly for all of you,” someone else commented. “Especially as someone who regularly attends Georgian and Regency balls. These kinds of events CAN be done! And for MUCH less than $300/person. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ticket even HALF of that. Y’all were cheated horribly.”
Others noted that the Bridgerton Ball reminded them of the viral Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience flop.
“Oh my god no they Wonka experience’d Bridgerton too,” one user wrote, while someone else dubbed it “the new Wonka experience.”
The owners of the Harmonie Club have since released a statement addressing the uproar over the event.
“We would like to clarify; The historic Harmonie Club is a new venue and events centre located in Paradise Valley in downtown Detroit,” the owners wrote. “The Harmonie Club can be rented by all for private or public events. We are in no way affiliated with the promoters and/or organisations that rent our venue for events such as the Bridgerton Ball. While we offer support for all events i.e., providing a proper back-of-house facilities and management team; The planning, programming, and execution of the actual events are handled by the venue lessees, promoters, and their teams.”
Recently, Uncle & Me LLC. shared their own statement claiming “full responsibility and accountability” for the debacle.
“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 apologise,” the statement read. “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.”
As for whether or not attendees and ticketbuyers would get their money back, they only had vague answers.
“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.”
