Why Alexis Neiers Wasn't A Fan Of Emma Watson's Casting In The Bling Ring

Alexis Neiers, now Haines, has a very iconic cry, thanks to the viral scene from the 2010 reality show, "Pretty Wild." At the time of the iconic clip — that also includes voicemails to Nancy Jo Sales, a journalist — Haines was on trial for her crimes as part of the Bling Ring. This was a group of teens, who were dubbed the Bling Ring, that broke into several high-profile celebrities' houses and stole various items from the homes.

Haines ended up being convicted for her part in the burglaries, but by 2013, a movie from A24 titled "The Bling Ring" sensationalized Haines' involvement and the heist situation as a whole. As Entertainment Weekly reported, Haines was only involved in one burglary during the Bling Ring's time. However, the movie shows the character based on Haines — who was played by Emma Watson — as someone who was heavily involved in most of the nefarious activities. Despite this inaccurate depiction of her involvement in the events, that's not the biggest reason why Haines disliked Watson's portrayal of her.

Alexis Haines (whose maiden name is Alexis Neiers) said she has never seen "The Bling Ring" because of how she was portrayed in the film, according to IndieWire. "The problem I had is with the comments [Watson] made about me and the role despite the fact that she already knew that I was a convicted ... like the heroin part, the drug addiction part had already come out," Haines said on Ziwe Fumudow's Instagram Live show. "So I was actually in treatment at the time they were filming the movie."

In regard to what Watson said about her, she remembers that it was along the lines of Haines being everything Watson is against. Haines said that at that point, she was struggling with trauma from her past and was a "full-blown heroin addict," making those comments stick a little more. Two years later, in September 2022, Haines still won't watch the movie. "That's the thing that's so frustrating when you have someone that's as brilliant as Sofia Coppola and as wonderful an actor as Emma Watson working on a movie together. You have this opportunity to do something really great and to dig deeper and to look at the complexities, but it's just lazy," Haines told Entertainment Weekly.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

On September 21, 2022, Netflix premiered its documentary, "The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist," and gave an inside look into the real Bling Ring members' lives and minds at the time and where they are today. Having cameras zooming in on the real-life world of Alexis Haines (formerly Neiers) isn't new. She and her family had a short-lived E! Reality TV series, "Pretty Wild," while her case was actually going on. However, the difference is how Haines lives her life today. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Haines shared that she is now sober and has two kids. Plus, you probably won't catch her crying on the phone about brown Bebe shoes anymore.

And unlike the 2013 movie, "The Bling Ring," Haines wants to back this documentary because it zeroes in on the humans involved. "I think the docuseries is so great because in the media reporting up until very recently there wasn't really a space for the nuance and the complexity of what happened in the crime," Haines told Entertainment Weekly. "The story became sensationalized and there wasn't space to talk about addiction and mental health. We still have a long way to go, but we're so much farther than we were in 2010."